Slowing Down – Kiss The Earth With Your Feet

Growing up in Southern California, barefoot was the only way to be. Certainly as a child, and also later as an adult.

But sometimes I forget that the earth is awaiting my foots embrace. That how I walk is how I am living my life.

The natural flow of rhythms and cycles of our time here emerging as continuous full circles of precious life moments.

The last two years of impact from a global pandemic had the potential to teach each of us, not about “lock down”, but instead about the art of “going within”. Of reconnecting and slowing down.

Reconnecting with something we have lost.

During this time we were faced with many challenges. Amidst those challenges we were also given a choice.

Continue on with the cultural pressure of constant busyness and multi-tasking?

Or inhabit more fully inner reflection, placing mindful attention on strengthening and deepening relationships with our families, ourselves and the natural world in as many moments as possible.

Some of us did, and some did not, yet it was an opportunity.

“We can’t change the world, but we can change the way we live in it. “

Grant Hine, Ecotherapist and Guide

Sometimes I find myself still entangled in the web of busyness and multitasking insanity, even as an elder who knows a better way to live life.

The ingrained cultural pattern of disconnect from nature and our natural sense of being became our way of inhabiting our life moments as individuals, parents, partners, bread winners…..and we still can amazingly fall back into that pattern.

Perhaps all it takes as a reminder to slow down and reconnect…..is to take off your shoes and socks, feel the earths energy……and walk as if you are kissing the earth with your feet.

BENEFITS OF WALKING BAREFOOT OR STANDING WITH BARE FEET ON THE EARTH:

• Reconnects with earth’s energy – receiving antioxidant negative ions (vs positive free radicals)
• Opens and expands breathing in harmony with the earth
• Quiets the “monkey mind” into a more peaceful, less cluttered state
• Frees your feet from the confines of shoes enhancing a natural gait
• Improves awareness of your body and your senses in relation to the world around you
• Drives healthy changes in the heart’s rhythm, respiratory rate, blood oxygenation, and pulse rate to reflect a more balanced and calmer state.
• Improvement in glucose regulation and immune response
• Reduces cortisol levels, which are associated with lower levels of stress, thus boosting the immune system
• FEELS GOOD!

(Feel uncomfortable not wearing shoes, but want the benefits? Try Earth Runners)

Now listen to and watch the video below to see what others have experienced with slowing down in their own lives…….the benefits, the beauty and the quality of life’s moments…..where “I don’t have time” never leaves your lips…..

“Make the time for yourself, where you can be quiet so that you give your mind space to think. Give yourself a chance for your body and spirit to walk together as one to do what nature guides you to do.”

Antoinette Pienaar

“Jul 22, 2020 Most of us know the feeling well… as we grow up and fill our days with more busyness, time seems to fly by faster and faster. No surprise really, given how hectic our tech-fueled, multi-tasking lives can be and the speed at which everything seems to happen these days. We need to find ways to slow down a little. Once we strip away the noise of everyday life, our perspective shifts and we experience life in a whole new way. It allows us to better appreciate the events and people around us, rather than feeling like we’re living our days in a blur. It doesn’t require a change of life, but rather a change of mind.”

This film features : Warren Bradley, Antoinette Pienaar, Trui Snyman and Charlie Galli Filmed in South Africa and Eigg Island (Scotland)

Who is Green Renaissance? We are Michael and Justine – passionate filmmakers, living off-grid and dedicating our time to making films that we hope will inspire and share positivity out into the world.

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Gaye Abbott, Natural Passages Consulting, 3/31/22. Please feel free to share this post and link to WildlyFreeElder

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