Since the DLF Phase IV City Club is being renovated, all the members have been given the choice of using either the Phase III or Phase V club for a few months. We chose the Phase V club since it’s more easily accessible. We checked out the swimming pool on Monday and Krishnan went for his swimming session on Wednesday.
I drove him and Prof Chopra to the club and after parking the car, I went for my morning walk on the lawns there. Initially I walked with my shoes on and suddenly thought why not try and walk barefoot on the grass ? I immediately removed my shoes and socks.. ahhh, the grass felt so cool under my feet !!!
After walking barefoot for about 20 minutes I wiped my feet using the socks and wore my shoes again. I felt very calm, unlike the way I would feel after walking on the road inside our condo complex. Barefoot walking was very relaxing. I guess I finally understood what grounding meant. I repeated the same thing yesterday and the grass felt even more cooler because of the slight drizzle that we had on Thursday night.
I found several tiny beetles in the grass … and made sure I didnt crush any. There are some tiny ant mounds as well on the lawn, but you can easily avoid them.
To understand the whole concept of grounding I tried googling. I found this interesting article – Feel the Earth Beneath Your Feet and am sharing a short excerpt –
Nine benefits of Barefoot Walking
Reduces inflammation
Reduces cortisol
Increases energy
Reduces fatigue
Increases healing speed
Decreases pain
Improves mood
Reduces blood pressure
Restores balance in the body
Also found a book written by Clinton Ober and (late) Martin Zucker titled “Earthing”. Unfortunately the writers seem to have suggested some mats and other products to help with the “Earthing”… so they ended up with a lot of skeptic readers.
Finally I turned to my Master Osho and here’s what he has to say. These are excerpts from his discourses on Pythagoras which have been compiled into a book titled “Philosophia Perennis”. This discourse is titled “Awareness : The Master Key”.
“….. Pythagoras used to walk barefoot. It is a beautiful exercise for contracting the earth. That’s how Mahavira used to walk – barefoot. If you are walking on soft earth, the best way is to walk barefoot, no shoes. You have a tremendous contact with the earth. We belong to the earth! Half of us is part of the earth and half is part of the sky. And when you are walking in the early morning sun on the wet earth, you are enjoying both the sky and the earth. It was perfectly right! But now, on coal-tar roads, Jaina monks go on walking barefoot. Now that is very dangerous, harmful, harmful to the nervous system. To walk on cement or on coal-tar without any shoes is very bad for the whole nervous system, particularly for the brain cells; it affects them. To walk on wet earth is beautiful for the nervous system; it soothes.
Mahavira walked barefoot; it was perfectly okay. Zarathustra walked barefoot – perfectly okay.
Pythagoras walked barefoot – perfectly okay. But Jaina monks are still walking – in Bombay, in Delhi – barefoot. Now this is stupidity.”
So, get “grounding” by walking on grass, sand or soft mud, but never on cemented or tarred surfaces like modern roads. Do share your experiences with grounding.