When you start practising mindfulness and guided meditations, it’s very often that you’ve been invited to put your feet on the ground and feel the sensations in your toes, soles and heels. And then you’ve tried to get in contact with your toes – probably starting with the big one. What happens? Are your toes there? Do you really feel each and any of them as a separate part of your body?
Me, not. I noticed that somehow I’ve lost my direct contact with this part of the body. I’ve looked at my feet now with more curiosity and interest. Yes, there are still there. But why am I not having any signals, any bodily sensations? For sure my communication and contact with the toes wasn’t very good. Closer look – and I found some changes started with my feet, is this the age? I’ve assumed, yes.
But then I’ve started practicing mindful walking and my interest in my feet has grown bigger. I’ve started observing them and trying to move and feel them more often. During this summer I was lucky enough to spend almost two month barefooted – walking on the grass around my parent’s garden or on the beach where we’ve been camping. Such a big difference – I’ve been reconnected again to my feet and especially to my toes. They started moving freely, they were nicely and naturally spaced, they were happy!
Then back to the city and everyday life – what to do now? I started reading and looking for options to keep my toes happy. Of course I came across a lot of articles stressing the importance of walking barefooted, there is even more info about the special areas of the sole (foot reflexology). But what to do for my toes in everyday life?
I’ve started my experiment and mission to be more kind and mindful about my feet. I tried at least once a day to move them, to wriggle them a bit and to feel the sensation in every toe. I’ve done a search for the bare-footed shoes and five-fingered shoes and socks. There is a lot going on! Now I am excited to experiment with five-fingered socks and a pair of five-fingered shoes for my everyday commuting in the city and long walks in the parks during weekends. It’s comfortable and brings me a great sense of freedom. Anyway, I am back on my feet and I feel my toes happy and free. I promised myself to be very mindful from now on about the type of shoes I am wearing and always to discuss the new paires with my toes 🙂
Now also I know why my daughter is always barefooted and insists on wearing school shoes which are at least a number larger – she’s listening to her happy toes!