Ten Toes Down: Connection with the Earth
One of the most transformative daily practices in my life has been spending some time each day with my bare feet touching the bare ground outside.
Sitting outside in meditation, I listen to the sounds of nature all around me and I focus on the sensation of my bare feet on the ground and how that makes my body feel. Taking slow inhales and exhales I sink into the calming sensation of being a body and feel the intimate connection to the planet that I exist and depend on. The longer I sit in meditation the more the boundaries between my body and the earth dissolve until I am in a non-dual state where my breath is the earth’s breath.
Having our bare feet on the earth like this reminds us on an embodied level that we are the earth.
And being earth comes with the full spectrum of emotions.
There is a significant amount of grief involved in being the earth. The earth has been suffering as a result of human action for many years now. The destruction of forests, ecosystems and our oceans has taken a toll.
The earth feels all of that.
We feel all of that because our psyche and body is not separate from the psyche and body of the earth.
When you connect to the earth in this way you may feel this planetary grief and it may remind you of grief you feel in your own life. Or vice versa, your own grief may connect you to the planet’s grief.
There’s a healing in being able to hold grief in the container that the earth provides.
Earth has room to hold it all.
And because we are earth, we have room to hold it all.
But there is also so much joy and beauty in being earth. This embodied experience of having your feet on the earth has a richness and a beauty to it that is impossible to fully put in words.
The creativity, beauty and tranquility of this planet is something we live in and something we can feel that we are. The pain of environmental destruction and earth harm is there because of how sacred, precious and stunning this planet is. A conscious recognition of this incredible beauty is necessary to hold alongside any pain or grief that may be present as well. This can be intellectually understood but the soul medicine comes with engaging in practices where this can be felt.
The earth is here to help us live in the fullness of what is.
It is here to remind us we can hold the full spectrum of experience within us and see the sacredness in all of it.
It is here to remind us that it is a listener and space holder for our grief and sorrow.
It is here to remind us of the intrinsic beauty and miracle that we are.
The relationship we build with the earth through simple practices like having your bare feet on the ground is a critical part of navigating this time period emotionally, spiritually, and physically. The meta-crisis (the convergence of crises that humanity currently face) naturally evokes a broad range of emotions within anyone who has their mind, heart and soul open to the reality of our current situation. Feelings of despair, hopelessness, frustration and grief are a natural response to the predicament of our times. But so is excitement, hope, elation and a soul-knowing that a more beautiful world is possible (and the knowing that we get to play our own unique role in this unfolding). The better we can get at validating, acknowledging and holding this spectrum of responses the more we can navigate this period of transition with grace, clarity and wisdom. A felt connection with the earth through our bodies is here to help us do that.