Going barefoot

When was the last time YOUR bare feet touched the ground? No I’m not talking inside your house or property. And no I’m not talking about outside your properly either. Nor am I taking about a public pool or activity centre.

What I mean, is earth. The earth that we stand upon, the earth that we live upon. The soil, muck, grass and leaves. When was the last time your bare feet had contact with this element? The last time you took more than a few steps in this? The last time your felt soil in between your toes, flattened grass as you trod on it or felt the cool dew still prevalent in blades of grass on the soles of your feet.

When was the last time your feet felt any of this for more then a minute? Probably even the thought of this is enough to ‘horrify’ some of you. Eeeeewww!!! All that wet, muddy grass and soil clinging too and making a mess of my lovely clean feet? No thanks!

And herein lies the problem. We’ve been conditioned to think that we should be ‘clean’ at all times, that any sort of grime or less then perfect appearance is socially unacceptable. ‘I can’t go out that door and face the world in my NATURAL state. What will people think of me?’

‘I need my ‘face’ on, my teeth whitened and freshened, my hair brushed and combed, my beard trimmed, some sort of body fragrance and my clothes ironed/ pressed. And they have to be my nice clothes, not my old tatty clothes that I wear inside. And a pair of non scuffed shoes… And they have to match my outfit too!!!’

‘I can’t have people staring at me, thinking I’ve let myself go, that I’m a hobo or tramp you know.’ And so we’re conditioned that ‘clean’ is good, ‘dirty’ is bad. How many times have you automatically cast judgement upon someone you came into contact with what was your definition of unclean? It could be a manual worker like a mechanic or road worker, a dog groomer or forestry worker / lumberjack. Perhaps it may even be someone in a dis-sheveled state or even a genuine homeless person.

As soon as your eyes light upon them you feel a natural aversion to their physical presence. Not me I hear you say. BS! C’ooommnm we’ve ALL done it! It only takes a split second, and is a natural reaction akin to a reflex reaction. So the thought of encountering someone with mud and grass on them or having this physical state yourself induces the same thoughts and feelings.

But here’s the thing, mud, soil, grass, they’re part of nature and so thinking that having these substances upon our bare flesh is unnatural, is like saying that nature itself is unnatural. Not I’m not saying that we should all go for a good roll in the mud ( but hey, if you want to, that’s cool by me). What I’m saying is that it’s OK to have parts of your body come into contact with the natural world from time to time.

As a matter of fact what can be considered unnatural, is spraying and coating ourselves with chemicals that come from areosols, tins and bottles. Things like hair lacquer, deodorant, cosmetics, perfumes and aftershave even down to the very soaps and shampoos we use. Most of us are unaware of the harmful and even toxic chemicals and ingredients contained within them. Here’s a tip, if the product you’re using, contains parfum’s or parabens and doesn’t state they’re made from natural sources; chances are they’re harmful to your body as both have been linked to cancer!

But anyway, back to my original point. The best way of exposing your body to the bare earth is via the feet. We do it whenever we are at a beach ( those of us lucky enough to live close to a beach can do it more often) we take off our socks and footwear and walk in the sand. So why not in a field? Through a forest? Upon a mountain top? As long as it’s safe where you can see the terrain you’re walking upon and with no risk of injury, then why not?

Besides experiencing something that you are no longer (if ever) familiar with, more importantly, you are reconnecting with nature, the natural environment. There are lot’s of people who do this. People such as hippie’s, naturists, wicans, sungazers and druids. But also everyday people are taking it up for clearing of pollutants and grounding purposes. Another image that springs to mind are initation ceremonies for magic. I’m thinking of white robed people walking barefoot across a patch of grass.

https://www.top10homeremedies.com/news-facts/benefits-walking-barefoot-grass.html

What we need to do is think in terms of energy. EVERYTHING is energy. Even if you know little about using or feeling different energies, you’ll still understand the basics of how energy can rise and fall within oneself. Ever hear a song you love played on a radio station or tv music channel? You immediately get infused with an energy ‘boost’. You may start singing or dancing, experiencing feelings of joy and happiness. Conversely, if you are already in a positive happy state and let’s say you enter into a dialogue with someone who’s miserable, in a depressive state or full of anger even; then that positive state drops, you get ‘bummed out’.

There are just two examples of how energies can rise and fall in a person. In attempting Spirit commication, one raises their energy or their ‘vibration’ by drawing energy up through the body from the earth. This is similar to the Eastern mystical practice of the raising of the Kundalini, the serpent energy , studied by Hindu Yogis and Tibetan Monks. The Earth itself as mentioned is an energy source that can be tapped into. There are Ley-lines all across the world that connect monuments and ancient famous sites such as Stonehenge in England, Machu Picchu in Peru and the thye great pyramid of Giza. Dowsers use dowsing rods to find these ley lines which run the earth’s energy. Think of a grid covering the entire earth, as that’s what it is; an planetary electro-magnetic grid and where there lines meet are places of power.

This is why those particular sites were choosen, because of the strong energies that could be ulitilized at them. But one doesn’t have to travel to a far flung location. As already stated, any local park, walk, trail or piece of green is more than ample for our purposes. Perhaps you’re wondering why there’s even a need to be barefoot at all. Well most modern footwear that we use for walking about in have rubber soles. Rubber is an insulator which is good for blocking or resisting anything passing through it. Think of water or electricity, if they are insulated against, then therefore energy itself is also. So we are not connecting with the earth agin, this time due to the material in our footwear. Seemingly coincidental is it not?

Thankfully for those out there that barefoot is not an option, different companies are making compatible footwear for earthing and grounding. Having a direct connection to the earth either barefoot or with compatible footwear can also increase the quality of your medatations and the experiences within them. Why not give it a go?

https://www.earthrunners.com/

Women's Footwear for Earthing

https://www.softstarshoes.com/