'Thank You God, for my Feet'

During this Lockdown time, I have really missed by daily swim! I am lucky to have a nearby Sports Centre with a  large heated indoor pool, but of course, this has been closed again for some weeks now. This has meant I have concentrated on walking for my daily exercise, and I am so blessed to have beautiful countryside just outside my door.

For many of us during lockdown, walking (or running!) has become the most accessible form of exercise. This has led me to think more about feet! It is easy to take things for granted...unless there is a problem with them. So I have decided to say 'Thank you God for my feet!' every day before and after my walks. 

I have also been looking again at Jenny Beeken's inspiring book 'Standing, Sitting, Walking, Running'.* Its subtitle is 'How your posture affects your mind' and Jenny gives much helpful advice about this. In her chapter on walking she writes, 'Walking is one of the most wonderful actions of our human bodies, indeed of any body among the mammals of the planet, for as you walk you can feel just what is happening to the body and the effect it has on the mind and the whole self.'

I remember well in Jenny's classes how much attention she helped us give to our feet and indeed each individual toe, and how great it feels to walk barefoot, aware of every toe and every part of the foot, giving thanks meanwhile. On my travels in warm climates I have loved seeing how many local people go barefoot everywhere possible, and marvelled at the mountain guides and porters in the Himalayan mountains using only flip flops on their flexible feet!

I also recall often the reclining Buddha statues I have had the opportunity to see
and meditate beside. (The inscriptions on each individual toe can be a focal point for meditation in themselves!).

So a thought for these last weeks of lockdown, and any future time when our movement may be restricted, is to give thanks for the gift of your feet (even if you do not think they are very beautiful!) and the ability to move around (which sadly many people do not have due to political imprisonment, war wounds, disability or sickness).

And finally, advice from White Eagle (in the chapter called 'The Master's Way' in 'The Quiet Mind': 'The wise man does not argue, he remains silent and goes quietly on his path, concerned only with learning to follow in the footsteps of his Master.`

 *Polair publishing ISBN 978-1-905398-33-1