Find Your Feet
We tend to live in our bodies from the waist up, or even the neck up. We spend much of the time in a head forward posture, looking at our computer screens with a fixed narrow gaze, or driving in our cars, running on two speeds: Fast and faster.
We lose our natural orientation to ground and space, our contact with deeper organic flows, and our gravitational security. To gain a sense of stability and safety, we then over compensate by contracting our transverse diaphragms in a kind of protective closure, starting with our feet.
The feet are a key component of our perceptual, vestibular, and navigational systems. They connect us directly to Earth, providing us with a firm support and a constant supply of energy. Not the adrenaline we overuse to push our bodies farther than they are meant to go, but a softer, slower, more sustaining kind of energy. In Chinese medicine, the entry point for this earth energy/qi is the Kidney 1 point on the ball of the foot, named “Bubbling Spring”.
As you ask yourself the question “Where am I?”…… your body shifts out of social/cultural mode and engages your vestibular system. Let yourself land. Let your weight settle. Notice the ripples through your system.
1. Imagination There are many ways to use imagery to increase your connection to earth and the energy that flows upward through your system. Here is one simple one.
Stand, sit, or lie down, however you are most comfortable. Let your weight settle. Notice the sensation of feet or back on the ground. Notice your breath. Bring your awareness to the outside environment and take in the sounds, smells, air currents, temperature…. then bring your attention back to breath, and to your body. Scan for tension, releasing any you find with an exhale… Find your way down to your feet… Let your awareness gather at the meeting place of feet and ground. Imagine that your feet can sink down deeper into the earth. It can be as simple or as complex as you’d like. Settling down into soil…making an imprint on the wet sand at the beach… sending your attention down through the layers of the earth all the way to the core… and imagine that the earth energy can flow upward through your feet and body effortlessly (as it does)….
2. Wake Up/Increase the Articulation in Your Feet:
Our feet have the potential for great articulation and flexible movement, though we tend to treat them more like blocks that carry us around. Greater articulation=greater connection with ground/Earth.
Begin by feeling your feet resting on the ground. Notice where the weight settles. Shift your weight around so that you make deeper contact with each part of the foot–heels, outer arches, inner arches, toe hinges, toes…then let your weight settle evenly and feel your connection to the ground.
Lie on your back with your feet up on a couch or chair. Push into the furniture with your feet, making contact with each part of the foot, and as much surface area as possible. Focus on the inner arches, as it is hard to contact them from a standing position. Stand and notice how this changes your experience of grounding.
Walk on different terrains whenever possible–grass, dirt, carpet, sand, wood, stone…
Massage your feet, or get someone else to massage them.
Katy Bowman is a great resource for healthy feet and movement habits: Nutritious Movement.
Try Happy Feet socks to give your toes space after being squished into shoes all day long.