Feeling ungrounded? Get into your feet!

Last few weeks have been a bumper ride… seems like for many friends at least…some cosmic madness. So how best to get grounded when life feels weird and precarious? The answer lays at your feet,literally.  And the even better news is that your feet are at your disposal always and it just takes a flash of a moment to shift your attention from the storm in your head to the sensation of standing on the earth.

Sunday  at Ecstatic Dance,  our feet were the  meditation focus. Just like in any meditation, you lose track of your breath and get involved in some thought… so the invitation was to keep remembering our feet. What magic! You felt instantaneously grounded by just stomping and jumping on the floor. And the place was so alive! No room for spacing out when you felt the thunder of other people’s feet pounding away around you. You physically felt it… in the core of your being, in your heart beat, in your root chakra, like a living drum beat. Vitality was throbbing palpably . It was exciting!

The energy was fiery… not the plodding, slow energy one might associate to being grounded or the Earth element. Might have something to do with the music choices… lots of tribal African and Indian tabla beats. God knows, the traditional dancers in those countries have amazingly complicated dances with the feet.The  Charleston and the waltz also enticed the feet into whimsical flurries, sweeps, slaps and flips. “Waltz of the Snowflakes” from the Nutcracker had everyone flying in shear glee, a most glorious, touching sight. Men were leaping like Barishnikov… proof positive that EVERYONE has a secret ballet star fantasy.

It was a great reminder of how simple it is to get out of your head and stop worrying. Just put on a thumping tune and get into your feet… easy to do at home or bring that intention to your next dance. As I wrote this, I realized that it doesn’t have to be  any particular music… simply bring your awareness to those magical appendages at the end of your legs. They get you where you want to go. Back home to yourself.