Honouring the feet

Our feet are often taken for granted. Whilst we take much care of our face, our hair, our hands and our core body, the feet often get ignored, or cleaning them is simply functional and without due thought and attention. And yet, just stop a moment. From the time we can stand on our own two feet and walk, they carry us through life. Every single step of the way, they are there (often unthanked and unappreciated, and some will even go as far as to say "I hate my feet"!).

My inspiration and reason for writing this blog comes from a shamanic healing session I shared this week with a wonderful lady who is wanting to transform her relationship with money and financial abundance. After the relaxing down, opening sacred space and healing with the shamanic drum, my guides directed me to the feet as the first point of "work". So I held my client's feet and allowed energies to flow there, listening in, watching for messages or stories in my inner vision. It felt good and right and brought the whole guided shamanic journey for healing into sharp focus, beginning with walking on a path. The details of the session are obviously private and personal to my client so there is no more to share on that level, but here is what I can share.

Our feet ground us to the Earth and nature. They make our connection with the physical, material aspect of the world. They action our movement on the Earth. They allow us to change direction, turn back or re-route as many times as we need. We should be very thankful to our feet for offering us this possibility and capacity. With regard to interpreting the energy of the feet, they also allow us to hone in on the physical and material connections we have with energies, thoughts, attitudes, emotions, values and beliefs (in my client's case, her energy associations with money and finances), and they allow us to move forward, progress, step back, turn around or change direction.

Working with and focusing healing energies into the feet also helps us ground any evolving or transformed thoughts, beliefs, values and energies into the energy of the physical body. In this way, the feet are strongly associated with embodying 'healed' energy. This energy largely begins or evolves in the auric field that surrounds the body, informing it of how to 'be'. And, of course then, they allow us to really 'walk the walk' rather than just 'talk the talk' in that sense.

The other thing that came to my mind when discussing mine and my client's shared experiences from her session was a saying that I came across in a qi gong lesson I took just the day before, and that is "The feet don't worry". The mind and the heart can, and sometimes do, worry, but the feet don't worry, my teacher explained. They remain grounded in the present, the solid, the stable, and they find the balance as best they can. So the other thing I wanted to include here is this: when you feel worried, anxious, apprehensive or unsure, take time to move your attention to your feet. Stop doing or thinking and, as you breathe, imagine you take the energy of your breath into your feet, really find yourself there, present. Likewise, when you find time, why not hold each foot in turn and honour them. Touch them, share your warmth with them. Just silently thank each foot for carrying you through life this far and for always finding solid ground, even amidst uncertain times.

Conversely, when you have a fall or lose your footing, honour the message that may be held within the feet and their difficulty in being steady. At those times, what may be going on for you that is causing you to lose your footing or causing you to not stand solidly or balanced on your own two feet? Do your thoughts or feelings mirror that unsteadiness in some way? Likewise, if you have pain in your foot or feet, what could that pain be telling you? You may simply have been on them too long and not taken a break, in which case the message is 'sit down, rest up'. However, there may be other, deeper reasons. For example, if the direction of your life is changing and you feel like you're resisting the change of direction or finding that new path, could this be causing you physical pain as well as mental and emotional pain? This is, of course, just one example, but the body always has messages within pain and illness so stay mindful. Take time to be quiet and listen in. You may realise or discover something about yourself, your life, your relationships, your feelings and attitudes. And it may just lead you to taking action to put things right and bring things into balance.

Maybe this blog will be a prompt for you to tune in and honour your feet from now on. If so, all well and good.