Weekly Wellbeing Newsletter
Do You Love Them or Hate Them?
This week we are giving some much needed attention to a part of the body that is often overlooked, and which most people either love or hate. Yet this part of your body supports you every day, and is directly connected to every other part of your body. It’s your feet. Some people have a foot fetish and love a foot massage, other people think they are ugly and stinky and freak out at the thought of having them touched. In this newsletter, I want to open you to a whole new perspective of the value of your feet.
Did You Know?
You may know that the nerves in your feet connect to the rest of your body, but did you know that your connective tissue, your fascia, does too. A simple way to understand your fascia is to think of it like a skin wetsuit. If you pull the wetsuit tight around your feet, then it will pull the rest of the suit tight and down. This tightness can limit ankle mobility, shift your centre of gravity, cause pain in the calves, knees, hips, and lower back and lead to restricted flow of blood and lymph. It can even draw down the skin on your face and contribute to the signs of aging.
Feet and Moving Forward on Your Life Path
Psychologically and spiritually your feet are symbolic of your ability to move forward and have direction in life. This links to the topic of my article and podcast for this week, which is how to find your true life purpose (see the links below to learn more). In Yogic traditions the feet represent security and being grounded.
When you experience pain or issues in your feet, it could be a sign to slow down and evaluate the life direction you are moving in. Good questions to reflect on are:
Do I feel safe?
Do I feel supported?
Am I ready to take this step in life?
Are Your Feet Red or White?
That might sound like a strange question, but the colour of your feet may indicate emotional issues that you are experiencing. Redness in the feet or toes can indicate pent-up frustration or anger or feeling curbed in life. Pale or white feet can indicate extreme fatigue or “giving up”. If your feet feel heavy, then it can indicate that your nervous system is overwhelmed and energy is pooling in your lower extremities to help the body ground itself. Stiffness, tension and pain in your feet can indicate a subconscious desire to flee something in life, or a reluctance to step forward in life.
This Week's Practices
Go Shoe Free Daily
An easy way to care for your feet is to walk barefoot (or in socks) for at least five minutes a day. This exercises your feet and helps to connect you with the earth and ground you. You can heighten the effect of this by walking barefoot on grass, sand or earth. This connects you directly with the energy of the earth which can restore the electrical balance in your body by allowing the body to absorb electrons from the earth. Grounding your feet in this way can help shift your nervous system into a resting state and may reduce inflammation and improve sleep.
5-Minute Stress Reset
When you are feeling stressed, anxious or overwhelmed, or are overthinking, try this. Place your feet flat on the floor and then let your awareness travel down your body to your feet and the connection of your feet to the earth. This brings your energy down from your head to your feet, and can help slow a swirling brain and give you a moment of presence. Doing this for a few minutes can be enough to create space for clarity in your thinking and reset your nervous system.
If you would like access to this week's twenty minute guided practice video on how to effectively release your feet and ground yourself, then you can join the Living Midlife Well membership community for only $7US per month. Click the link below to learn more
Learn more about the LMW Member CommunityLet's Connect
Your feedback helps me to serve you in ways that are valuable to you. This week I would love to know if you practice grounding and if so how you do that.
You can reply by email to support@janinlattimore.com
A quote for the week...
“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.”
― Eleanor Roosevelt
Weekly Article: What Is My Life Purpose? A Midlife Guide to Living True to Yourself
Your passion is your purpose. To find yours, answer the $10 million question.
In this week's article and podcast I'm challenging the idea that purpose has to look like service or sacrifice, and making the case that following your bliss is not only good for you, it's the most powerful thing you can do for the people around you.
If you're in your 40s or 50s and that restless, reaching feeling has been showing up lately, this episode will give you a framework for understanding what it's telling you, and three practical questions to help you answer it.
Read the articleListen to the Podcast Version
What's New?
Looking for a writing journal to reflect on how to find your life purpose and live your bliss? I just added this design to the Living Midlife Well shop
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Aroha nui, much love
Janine
Janine Lattimore | Living Midlife Well | janinelattimore.com