Greetings! This is a bi-weekly series where I share guided somatic experiences: journeys with our sensing, breathing, interconnected, and imagining selves.
Some of them, like today’s, are quite pragmatic, exploring our feet. Others could stretch your imagination, like shapeshifting into our animal selves. All of them are about connecting beyond words. Come, sense along!
They are best done in quiet spaces, where you can move, breathe, and play with ease. Feel free to get to the practice right away, or check out my story first.
Feet hold a very special place in my heart.
I have a lot to thank them for, but this one experience stands out.
A couple of years ago, my daughter, who was 10 at the time, had to be urgently operated on after breaking her arm in a PE class.
So we are in the hospital together. She is in a lot of pain, and I am trying desperately to hold it together. And before the nurse rolls her away from me, the doctor approaches. She explains matter-of-factly how this surgery could be life-threatening because she hadn’t fasted long enough due to this urgency.
Now I am close to losing it, and I am seeing big and wild fear in my daughter’s eyes. At that moment, without thinking, my hands find her feet, which are beside me, on the rolling bed. And I start gently pressing and letting go, passing on as much love and centeredness as I can master.
Our breath slows down as much as it’s possible under the circumstances, and we
Foot massage, since then, holds a special place in our relationship. Whenever we remember that surgery, it’s always there. Also, whenever my daughter needs some extra support, she asks for a foot massage.
So I am in love with feet and their superpowers, some of which are:
Out of all the spots and body parts, they are (on average) the safest and most soothing ones to touch. An equivalent to a mother-baby hug, which, later in life, can lose its safe haven spell.
Our posture is built on the position of the feet: we carry ourselves as well as we carry our feet. Posture and breath that it largely shapes is a major player in regulating our emotional state, as well as presenting us to the world and other humans through non-verbal communication.
Feet are balance keepers. And I mean not only physical balance. Every time we lose our cool, chances are our feet have lost the ground before, a heads up for regulating our state and balance in real time, if we notice.
And here is one more I am actively exploring at the moment:
Devotional and connecting powers of the feet.
It started when playing with my dog, Tiffi. I would extend my hand to her feet or paws and respectfully stroke them. After a while, she developed a taste for it and made it a habit to gracefully extend her feet to me in downward-facing dog: “You are allowed to kneel by your Majesty’s feet now.”
This act of me kneeling down, and her extending her feet to me, still gives me goosebumps and a sense of a very special bond that we owe to feet.
This role play also inspired me to connect to myself through my feet, with the “Your Majesty” vibe. Wouldn’t you say that sometimes we owe this vibe to ourselves?
What are feet to you? Any feet stories to share?
Sending love from my feet to yours 🐾
Yulya
Ways to further explore together:
Listen to the podcast:
The Breath of Life: featuring live conversations on Substack with people who are spreading aliveness and interconnectedness.
Life in Flow: exploring concepts fundamental to Flow in Life in improvised unedited conversations with two flow-co-creators.
Join an experience with me: in Berlin and Zoom room!
Join my old-fashioned private email list for exclusive experiment invites and ongoing events.
Book a Nature Team Walk for reset, fresh perspectives, and systemic insight
Take your team on an inspiring regenerative outdoor adventure. Where breakthroughs happen without being forced. Let’s chat to see if we are a fit.
