Put your feet in the grass. Why not? Are you the person who gets fidgety about the soil, nervous about planting your body on the earth? Are you afraid to step away from your computer? I know sometimes I am!
"Oh, I'm in my garden all the time!" People tell me. I am too, but are you taking your shoes off and planting your feet into the earth? If you are, I commend you.
Most often, I keep my sturdy gardening shoes in place as I dig my hands in damp soil. My son rolls in the grass and I smile indulgently, thinking about ants, beetles, and old dog poop as I carefully lay out a picnic blanket before claiming my spot in the sun. Getting my hands dirty, and knees stained with mud feels like enough. I am happy.
Hands don't count! Really, they don't. While placing your hands in living dirt does release pleasure inducing hormones (it has something to do with microbes according to scientists), it is not nearly as grounding as putting your feet in earth, and this is what most of us need. We spend hours in front of computers and televisions. Even those of us who don't own a tv are being overstimulated on a daily basis, in corner stores, atm machines, waiting lines at corporate institutions, and even at the gas station where advertisements run on a loop. With our rollercoaster economy, our sense of survival, at the most basic levels, is also being triggered.
Our chakras (our body's energy vortices that process incoming experiences) are over-stimulated intellectually, vibrationally, primally, and emotionally. All of that energy needs to be grounded on a regular basis. Think of lightning in the sky grounding via a grounding rod, vs. accidentally burning down a house. Give yourself a grounding rod. You will function better for it.
The easiest way to do so is to take off those shoes and socks, scrunch your feet into an inch or more or dirt, and simply breathe. Listen to the world around you. Stay there for 5-20 minutes. How much time will you allow yourself to take in the natural rhythms of the earth?
So I dare you. Right now, step away from the computer screen. Who will miss you for just a few minutes? Who can you bring? Go outside right now and put your feet in the grass. Shhh.... just go!
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© 2012 Dailey Little. You are welcome to reproduce this article provided you do so in its entirety, including the copyright and this blurb: "Dailey Little is a Reiki Master and active practitioner. She teaches Reiki & other fun stuff through her private practice in Santa Rosa, CA. Join her joyful community for ReikiShares, Free Clinics, and eco-activism by signing up at her website, www.SantaRosaReiki.com"