Feet First
How grounding, earthing and “glimmers” can bring us back to center
Do you ever forget that you have feet? The body part farthest away from our brain tends to be neglected in favor of our preference for (over)thinking our way through modern life. Sometimes I’ll end up in a yoga pose where my feet are in the air and think, “Wow, this is what it was like to be a baby. My feet and my hands are equally as interesting!” And then I think, “Am I stoned?”
In our physical body, feet are kind of like the subconscious “shadow” sides of ourselves. They’re often ignored, covered up or considered dirty. But in order to have full integration of the self, we need to get grounded, rooted and in touch with the most foundational parts of our existence.
I’m not saying that a foot soak will help merge your dualistic consciousness into one evolved being...or will it?
While I admit to having laughed off the term “Earthing” which seems to make a novelty out of the basic human need for connection to nature, there is actually hard evidence that walking barefoot in nature helps ease chronic inflammation. Considering that we live in a culture of “quick fix” pharmaceuticals that monetize our illnesses, it only seems natural that we’ve had to create a jargon-ey term to remind us of the free benefits of nature. And after reading some of the research on Earthing, I’m wishing I had a private backyard to roll around butt naked in all day. A girl can dream!
When we consistently disconnect our bodies from the ground by wearing shoes and dwelling in buildings all day, we are actually depriving them of a necessary source of electrons that keep the inflammatory response at bay. According to one study, “Accumulating research on earthing, or grounding, points to the emergence of a simple, natural, and accessible health strategy against chronic inflammation, warranting the serious attention of clinicians and researchers.”
Studies found that walking barefoot on the earth improves health and well-being and they note that, “Grounding reduces or even prevents the cardinal signs of inflammation following injury: redness, heat, swelling, pain, and loss of function.”
One friend recently told me that he was convinced that moving to Hawaii for a year where he was barefoot most of the time played a large role in healing his lyme disease. In the same conversation, I also heard that a doctor’s directive encouraged an elderly sick patient to dig a hole and sit with her feet in the dirt regularly. I mean, yes, a thousand times yes.
Working with hemp flower has largely been inspired by the trust that there is a symbiosis between humans and the plant world that is impossible to replicate in a lab. Working with any plant internally or externally, encourages us to connect symbiotically to our natural environment. Much like the human need for social connection and physical contact to be able to regulate our moods, heart rate and blood pressure, we also have a need to sync the body to the earth’s energetics. Both of these approaches are the evolutionary pillars that humanity was built on and help us regulate our jacked up nervous systems.
Starting from the bottom up (ie: remembering we have feet) allows us to stop bypassing the crucial element of grounding safely in our bodies and surroundings before moving on to healing larger pain or trauma.
Treating your feet to any kind of love starts to ease the disconnection that we often experience all day when we are inside buildings, inside shoes and inside our heads. A huge part of my somatic healing journey, supported by therapy of course, has been grounding and feeling into my body in order to teach my nervous system not to listen to everything the brain (especially the amygdala, or our ‘survival brain’) has to say. By feeling into the feet, legs, pelvis and hips we help diffuse the fight or flight response that is so often our default mode.
Glimmers and Rituals
We hear so much about “triggers” in pop psychology and how our traumas and fear responses get activated, but when focusing on healing we should also be aware of what are referred to as “glimmers”. Glimmers are the opposite of triggers in that they are moments of calm, safety and presence. The more of these that we have, and the more of these that we focus on, the more our body and brain work together to learn that we do not need to be living in our “fight or flight” response.
Here is a short meditative ritual for grounding in the 1st chakra and practicing getting to those “Glimmers” of calm that teach us we are safe:
Fill up a tub of warm water and drop in a CBD Bath Bomb
Settle into a seat with your feet in the water
Breathe in and out three times imagining roots growing from the bottom of your feet to the center of the earth
Visualize the oils in the hemp and other herbs penetrating your skin and easing inflammation
Squeeze the feet and toes as tightly as possible for 5 seconds and release, repeat this several times
Become aware of any tingling, pulsing or vibrating sensations in the feet and stay with them
When your thoughts distract you, bring the attention back to the sensations in the feet
Express gratitude for all the places you’ve walked today
Sit quietly practicing allowing thoughts to come in without engaging in them
When you dry off I highly recommend laying on your back and putting your feet up against the wall, it’s so calming!
Everyone has access to meditation and nature! It’s free and the benefits are real. Try not to discourage yourself by believing you are doing it the “wrong” way. There are a million right ways because what works for each of us is different.
Enjoy your happy feet!