The power of words
Photo by Lathika Vithanage
“Walk as if you are kissing the earth with your feet.” - Thich Nhat Hanh
I absolutely love the use of metaphors when relating to the Alexander technique. Over the years there have been images of fireworks, fountains, sea lotuses, coat hangers, dogs noses, light sabres, angel wings...you name it! This use of words has the power to spark imagination and in turn influence my whole structure.
As soon as I read this metaphor of Thich Nhat Hanh, I experience my feet differently. They're tingly, alive, full of sensation. These same feet that I take for granted day in and day out are now alive and in connection with life.
My feet become a portal between what at first seem like two worlds.
There's my inside world. From the soles of my feet I can connect to my whole structure balancing above. My lower legs balancing on my feet. My upper legs balancing on them. My pelvic bowl. My spine allowing my rib cage and shoulder girdle to balance above that. All the way up to my head balancing on the top of my spine. Everything is connected and balancing and rebalancing, with my joints allowing spaciousness and possibility. Everything is grounded through my feet but also naturally directing upwards.
And then there's my outside world. Through the soles of my feet and the contact they have with the ground below me, I connect to the support beneath me and also around me. I can let go and do less and trust that I am held.
Yet in this moment, these two worlds are one. I feel nourished and whole from the inside to the outside and back again. What an incredible experience of unity this quote has brought to me. Grateful.
In his 1983 book Indian Running, Nabokov describes how the indigenous people of America, rather than thinking their feet go down to the ground, know the ground always comes up to meet their feet. So I would like to extend upon this quote today and say: Walk as if you are kissing the earth with your feet and the earth will kiss you right back!
Journaling prompts: Can you think of another metaphor that effects the sensations in and around your body? Can you afford to surrender to gravity a little bit more? What happens when you do?
