Light~Foot Walking

 Light~Foot Walking or conscious walking or whatever you'd like to call it, has the ability to nourish, heal, transform, transmute and realign the system. 

I was gifted the suggestion of conscious walking many moons ago. Nowadays I do enjoy calling it light~foot walking because it sounds more hobbity. Also because I think sometimes I get mega excited when walking in the woods or on a nice sunny day or rain walking or hearing the snow crunching under my boots and because of that, the bottom of feet end up feeling mega sore.

I'll expand on this more, like opening a packet of information. Apparently with aging the foot pad inside the foot can wear down or something. Hormonal changes and depending on what we eat and how much quality sleep we get. I really don't know. There seems to be many factors when it comes to the bottom of our feet, not to mention walking on concrete, hard surfaces, the types of shoes we're wearing, if we have insoles and cushioning in the shoes, if we're just the type of person whose body does better with barefoot, or even if we've had adequate electrolyte-type hydration. 

I do sense that everything begins energetically first. Not from a guilt, shame, blame, judgemental, critical viewpoint but from a neutral witnessing self-awareness viewpoint. As an adult, viewing oneself with deep compassion and natural curiosity, your own innate inquisitiveness, not obsession. Simply picking it up and having a gander, feeling into it and putting it back down, on to the next thing. This is all part of practicing mindfulness and present-moment awareness. Once we reach the natural conclusion that our true nature is over-flowing with pure compassion, deep wisdom, stillness etc. This is of course learned through direct experience and cultivation practices with clear loving honest intentions. Such as sitting in meditation, working upto 20 mins. Chanting or Japa. Singing spiritual songs. Listening intently to spiritual music. Tai Chi, Qi Gong, Pranayama, Yoga Postures or some type of physical energy cultivation. Reading self-help books, spiritual books or anything to do with your deep interests. 

What does all this have to do with Light~Foot Walking? Well, it's all connected, in the most subtle and the most magnanimous way! It's all about what you are drawn to as an individual. Perhaps it's only one thing mentioned in this post, then that one thing leads you to another, to another, to another and next thing you know you are experiencing a level of freedom, autonomy and inner connectivity that may feel brand new to  you!

For me, it has mainly been through Tai Chi. I absolutely love moving very very slow. Apparently if you speed up some tai chi moves, it turns into martial arts fighting, pretty cool. Going even further back, for me, it started with Sun Salutation. 

Somehow I was gifted free class after free class of specifically sun salutation for a few years. It even got to the point where I was teaching my co-workers this after work, with yoga mats and all & I'd ended it with a relaxing Shavasana - or Dead Body Pose. My main takeaway from that was to feel root and grounded standing on 1 foot. 

By placing both feet on the ground, bending knees slightly, tuck tailbone slight, imagine pointing hips out, puff out chest, roll shoulders back, roll arms back, then relax spine, and finally imagine an invisible string pulling up gently at the center of your head, elongating your spine. Still relaxed, not stiff. Fix your gaze on one spot, eyes relaxed, jaw relaxed, can gently tuck tongue behind two top front teeth. Have a natural gentle slight smile on each out-breath. 

Now here comes the fun part: Lifting the toes, so you feel the four corners of your feet on the yoga mat. Gently place those toes down. Feel planted, rooted, like a tree in the breeze. Then gently raise 1 foot, into a any 1-footed yoga pose that feels comfortable for you. 

When I first did this I was shaking and kept losing my balance. The wonderful instructor of this free class kept encouraging and reminding me that when the body shakes, it is perfectly natural, it is the body's way of finding its own balance. 

After years of practice I am a pro star at balancing on one foot, right or left side. And in my mid-40s, feels like a super-power! I still loose my balance but my reflexes are good at catching myself and coming back to center. I'm not the pretzel-type of yoga postures person. I am all about energy cultivation. 

Transferring this awareness to Light~Foot Walking, can do this anywhere, in your home, in the mall, but ofcourse out in nature, on an all-natural trail, or on sand, or on grass etc. works the best! I'm sure you've all heard about grounding by now, so if reasonable to safely do so, barefoot is so nourishing. Please keep in mind your own limits and respect  your temple/body. If you can avoid an injury with self-respect and self-awareness of you and your surroundings, then why not? Make your life easier. 

That is what this all comes down to. You gotta to find your own true why? What is your clear intention(s). Personally, my main intention is to live simply, live with ease. 

Conscious walking aids and supports this intention. I remember in the 90s when us girls would try to walk in my Mum's high heels, we would say to ourselves, "heel toe, heel toe" to kind of maintain our own balance. It is similar to that but in sneakers or whatever you choose to wear on your feet. By the way I have choose to not wear heels for about 2 decades now and I ain't missin' them one bit! I like platform shoes with memory foam for extra cushioning but hey, that's just me. Love flip flops, sneakers, rain boots and insoles for support. I can definitely walk barefoot on sand and water for longer and hardly any soreness. And sometimes barefoot on grass, really depends on the terrain. Back to "heel toe" and what I like to call Light~Foot walking. I'll just jump right into it. This is probably just one of many different ways to engage with conscious walking.

So, I'm outside and I'm centering myself. Sidenote - Can always do some light stretches before, middle and after a long walk to aid in recovery and circulation. Breathe in and breathe out and smile, gentle, natural, subtle smile. We want to relax all those muscles and nerves in the face. You want to notice the ground, as not to step in dog poop etc. but mainly keeping gaze forward, slightly up. Basically look around you with people and devices and non-judgementally simply observe, most of these necks are craned down. So allow that internal energy to flow freely and with gentle self-awareness, support your head. Do all the planting, rooting and grounding first, even with your shoes on, gently lifting toes and all those steps, up to that string pulling slightly at the top of your head. Keep your core engaged and let yourself breath naturally as you  begin to walk. 

Heel toe, heel toe. Simply observe your breath, observe your whole body alignment, observe your gaite, observe your stride are you taking big steps or small steps? Are you walking faster pace than you'd actually prefer or slower pace than what you'd prefer? This is all for you, walk at your own pace. Here's where thoughts will come and go, come and go. Try to visualize them as clouds floating by and allow them to go, same as when you sit in meditation. This is when a tiny bit of prep work really comes into play and major MAJOR benefit. Choose a word, any word and look it up in the ancient language of your cultural heritage. Or any ancient language you are drawn to. For example Sanskrit word for Love is Prem or Prema. As I'm walking I am allowing thoughts to float on by and gently silently saying to myself Prema, Prema. I can do it in a sing song way or rap or operatic, have fun with it, play with it, it's the voice inside your head, just I & I. After a while this word you chose or mantra or chant or prayer, will over time, open.....like a flower, revealing it's essence/information/magic to you. Whatever I put my attention on, grows, expands and gets bigger. 

All the while, engaging the 5 senses on this walk. This is how you have transformed a simple nature walk into a deep healing meditation or what I like to call Light~Foot Walking. For the benefit of self, creates ripple effects unknown, for the benefit of all. 

Pro-tip: Experiment with backwards walking, please do so safely, within your skill and comfort level.

Happy Walking!