When was the last time your feet touched the ground? I mean, really touched the ground so you could actually feel the vibration of the earth? When have you felt the morning dew between your toes and let out a big...ahhhh.
As children, we naturally want to take our shoes off and run barefoot. As adults, we subscribe to the social conventions of having to..well...confine our feet and look for the most suitable or the most beautiful footwear. We confine our feet for everything. But what if we just tried to take our shoes off for things like working in the garden, or standing outside to let our pet out, or taking the garbage out.
Earthing, or grounding or barefooting is the practice of connecting to the energy of the Earth. The earth is a mass of energy and electrons. When we allow our feet to interact with that field, it helps neutralize the electrons in our body which has the potential for wellness. The benefits are multidimensional! When our body's chemistry is neutralized, this has an effect on the free radicals that roam our bodies and cause inflammation and disease. Psychologically, connecting to our Mother Earth can help to reduce stress and anxiety.
As a reflexologist, I always recommend this to my clients young and old. As a meditative practice, but also as a means to reflex your whole nervous system through your feet. Walking on natural elements, stone, pebbles, dirt, mud, grass can apply pressure to those subtle points on the feet that can only be 'reflexed' by intentional applied pressure.
As a reiki practioner, I recommend the practice of connecting with the energy of the earth as a means to balance and recharge. We are all masses of energy. We all have our own unique vibrational blueprint. If we believe that the sun nourishes us and feeds us, why not the earth? We grow our food in her soil..why would it not nurture us?
I recently had the honour of being a guest on Rogers Ottawa Experts talking about 'Stepping Into Barefooting'. The other guest, Sue Regan Kenney, owner of Barebottom Shoes, is an avid barefooter! She lives the majority of her life in her barefeet..feeling and connecting to herself and to the earth.
In light of the this recent discussion, I would like to invite you to challenge yourselves to try it!! Step into your feet and out of your comfort zone. Start by taking your shoes off in the house. Allow yourself to feel the coldness on your feet. Take it a step further...stand out in the back yard on the cold wet grass. Believe it or not, over time, your feet will naturally aclimatize and adapt to your surrounding enviornment.
So challenge yourself to a bit of barefooting every Monday!! Barefoot Monday!! Thank you to my friend, Brian, for the suggestion. Every Monday, whether you are at home or at work, take your shoes and socks off! See how it makes you feel. Journal about it if you want to. Do it for as long as you want to but do it on the Monday!! Please share with me how it goes and how you like it!
BAREFOOT MONDAYS!!! Mother Earth will thank you for sharing.
http://earthingcanada.ca/earthing-beginners-guide/
Blessings