Winter’s Daily Practice
Posted on | January 7, 2010 | 1 Comment
At Reflections Mystery School, we have seasonal daily practices that correspond to the element of the season: Earth in Winter, Air in Spring, Fire in Summer, and Water in Autumn. These daily practices are meant to connect us in a physical and energetic way to the element of the season.
In the Winter, we ground energetically and we massage our feet.
Grounding brings us back to the present, back to our bodies. Here and now, we are effective agents of our Work. We are only able to answer the call of our vocation by being fully present. When our minds and our energy is scattered this way and that, like tangled yarn batted about by a small kitten, nothing makes sense. Threads that look like they lead somewhere double back on themselves and leave us feeling frustrated and overwhelmed. Taking the time to bring our awareness back and finding that still point inside of us gives us the space to listen and move with intent and purpose.
Massaging our feet further focuses our attention to the parts of ourselves that actually move us around this physical plane. When we practice an embodied spirituality, being aware of and taking care of our bodies is a holy act. Our bodies have a great deal to teach us, if we take the time to learn. Our bodies have a great dealt to tell us, if we take the time to listen. Massaging the feet communicates to the body that we do value its messages, that we consider it sacred and worthy of our attention.
Every year, someone asks of our teacher “how is massaging my feet a spiritual or magical practice?” She has her own answer, and mine may be quite similar. There is a saying about magic that energy follows attention. When we pay attention to our feet (our bodies) and care of them as holy, then the energy of healing and love flow to them and to all they do and represent to us: mobility, foundation, support, strength.
Our feet are the foundation of our bodies much as daily practice is a foundation of our spirituality.
Related posts that inspired me to write today:
Katrina Messenger on Radical Self-Care
Ketzirah on Sustainable Spirituality
Christine Valters Paintner on The Exquisite Tenderness of Bodies
Photo of my feet and my husband’s feet on vacation at the Delaware seashore, 2008.
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January 8th, 2010 @ 11:55 am
I love this! Funny, one of my favorite Kohenet training moments was when Yosefa (of blessed memory) had a jar of coconut oil and we massaged each other’s hands and feet with it. It was so perfectly what we needed.
That simple act of touch was amazing and restorative. It’s what inspired me to bring the shoulder rubs to Becoming, finally. I also bought a jar of cocoa butter to rub into my hands, but my hands are too icey to melt it down!