heron heartistry

Awesome (and very economical) opportunity coming up this May at the Hilton in Northbrook to learn more about barefoot shoes.

Read more here, and register:

https://anyasreviews.com/barefoot-shoe-expo-chicago-2024/?utm_source=klaviyo&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Xero%20Shoes%20Store%20%7C%20Anya%27s%20Chicago%20Event%20%7C%202-20-24%20%2801HQ47ANSD8375P3F0M6G4QPG9%29&_kx=epPhy59SjAUwsbyTIKemMPDnUq5W--L9nPhEegEai1o.eaZLKw

https://anyas-shop.com/products/barefoot-shoe-expo-chicago-2024-registration

If you've been on the fence but haven't taken the plunge yet or unsure of buying a shoe online, now you'll be able to see all of your options, try some on and get educated of why going barefoot and wearing minimalist shoes can improve your movement, function, connection and physical health.

Barefoot Shoe Expo Chicago 2024 Registration Come join us at the biggest barefoot shoe shopping event to ever take place! But that’s not all, you’ll also be able to meet and greet with the experts behind the brands you love. Be part of the community! Meet like-minded individuals who share your passion for barefoot living, whether you're a ...

Your body is a dancing cloud
Waiting to be released

Free

Of all its burdensome weights
Collected across thoughts
In boxes of judgments

Allowed,
To let be

Soaring

Into a pleasurable sky
Of Grace ever Lovely

As it once was
As a child

Freshly bloomed
From the womb

As Love’s
Gentle smile

Come,
To be embraced

By this soul
Embodied

Born into form
Within an Earthen body;

Remember,

Remember
Dear child,

How to feel this pleasure
Once more

Soft,
Fluffy,
Light,

Feathery,
Supple,
Sigh

A gentle presence
Of tender benevolent pleasance

Breathing in
Your Peace of Being,

Whispered,
Alive ~

As a dancing cloud
Light-hearted and
Laughing

Across your endless
Blue sky mind…

2021, barefoot poet

{ Image created using photos by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay and Jason Blackeye on Unsplash }

If massage
And bodywork
Offer us “nothing” but
Connection and touch

Gentled

By the presence
And intention of

Love

In this land
Where we’ve become
Afraid of

{ touch }

That is far more
Than enough

And everything
That could ever matter

For it is the one sense
We cannot live without

Of this,
There is no doubt

Or at least
Not long for anyway

Living within
This existence

Of Life’s cacophony
And clatter;

And yet,
It offers us
More than this
As opportunity
To simply
Be witnessed
Just as we are
In this one
Breath

Two-gether,

Here we breathe
Peace of Being

In our feeling
Love’s touch

Allowing to touch
And be touched

With the gift of
Utmost trust

Where our nervous systems
May be calm and rest

And feathers once ruffled
Smoothed over
And soothed

From the storms
Of suffering and muddle
That disrupt and confuse

Where one may find
Their own way

Back to pleasurable sensations
Of gentleness

And return to
Their tranquil nature

Of pastoral,
Idyllic Grace...

2021, barefoot poet

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

So come,
Let’s become
Unruffled
Two-gether
By Love’s touch...

{ Image created using photos by Kai Dahms on Unsplash and Kai Miano from Pixabay }

#1 thing you can do right now that is completely free to improve so many different aspects of your body is to go Barefoot as much as possible.

{ and parents with newly born or young children, please, for the sake of their growth and development, free their feet }

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"The effects aren’t just neuromuscular. “Take the lymphatic system,” Egoscue says. “It’s everywhere in your body. It’s just as pervasive as the circulatory system. And like the circulatory system, it has to pump against gravity. It drains upward, just like the veins. The structures act like little elevators to return waste back up your legs. They can’t do it without help. And what helps? Muscular contraction.”

The robust muscle action that takes place when your bare foot touches the ground helps the lymph nodes drain to their interlinking vessels. Egoscue says that’s just one example of how what’s going on with your feet impacts the rest of your body. Some others? “Balance, digestion, absorption, elimination and bowel movements—everything, really. The body is a unit,” Egoscue says."

Excerpt from this must-read article:

https://www.sonima.com/fitness/fitness-articles/barefoot/

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Think of it this way :

Wearing shoes
On your feet
Constantly

Covering
Beautifully designed structures
That were meant to feel
Meant to move
In order for them
And your body
To optimally function
And groove

Is akin
To wearing mittens
On your hands
While trying to use them
And function
Or even worse
Cramming them in devices
Like blocks, straitjackets or vices
That squeeze, misshape and damage
Your fingers’ and your hands’
Integrity and structure

Like much
Of modern footwear
That corrupts
Your feet and toes
Without room enough
As they oppress their dynamic
And highly advanced
Structure and function

Like trying to smash
The vast ocean
In a tiny misshapen glass
Restricting its graceful waves of motion
And elegant dance

Now, I ask,

Why would you want to do that?

2021, barefoot poet { aka, heron heartistry }

The Case for Going Barefoot More Often - Sonima Just because the shoe fits doesn't mean you must wear it. Here's how spending more time barefoot can improve balance, strength, and health.

The human body
Is the highest form
Of art
That hath been
Formed by Love

Thus it
Behooves us

To treat this gift
As such;

And, if this
Be truth that,

“Art is the highest form of hope,”

As German painter
Gerhard Richter
Once expressed,

May we be
The hope

That we
All need

~ Embodied ~

And for that,

May each of us
Learn to receive

The Loving touch
We desperately need

For it is as
Milton Trager said,

“You can’t give what you don’t have.”

2020, barefoot poet



{ Photo by Rod Long on Unsplash }

The body is,
What you and I,


Alone

Decide
The body to be;


May it be,
At the very least

In our infinite wisdom
To be seen

By the eyes
Of the wise

As perceived

To be


A sacred vessel
For the soul

To call Home
For a while… 💜

2020, barefoot poet

{ Image Created Using Photos by Mathew Schwartz on Unsplash and by Jake Davies on Unsplash }

Peace,

is always just
a feather of a touch
away

where the experience of
gentle Love
in this way
softens all of
the hardened edges
that are formed from
forgetting who you are
is Love
while you succumb
to the learned behaviors of
fear, anger and hate
judgments, shame and blame
and all of the excess
tensions and stress
of a day in the Life of
that are built up
like callouses
that numb

but this is not
our way

for Peace, Kindness, Compassion, Joy, Love
are our innate

and sometimes,
we just need

a tender reminder
of Grace…

2020, barefoot poet

{ Photo by Javardh on Unsplash }

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I would Love
To be that reminder of...

Just 2 days left on the whopping 20% off sale for the brand new Fall/Winter Collection at Xero Shoes { 25% if buying two different styles } :

There's no better time than the present to gift your feet some minimalist shoes as a treat.

Why would you want to do that, you ask?

Ummm, because aside from our hands and lips, our feet have the most nerve endings. Clue you into something?

Uh, you bet...

Our feet were meant to feel!
https://xeroshoes.com/go/FeelEarthBreathe/e5123750

And, you know what "they" say...

"Once you go Xero Shoes,
You'll never go back
To those prison* blues!"

{ prison = a metaphor for most conventional footwear that do not allow your feet to function as feet and that includes a number of problematic design issues which may disfigure and misshape your feet over time and lead to foot and/or lower extremity injuries and all up the chain of your body as well ~ design issues that include any of the following: Heel Elevation; Tapered/Narrow Toe Boxes; Toe Spring; Rigid, Inflexible Soles; Excessive Cushioning; Excessive Weight; and, Built-In Arch Support & Motion Control }

Now that you are educated, the choice is yours ~ choose wisely, and change your Life...

New Xero Shoes for Fall 2020! WIN the new 2020 Xero Shoes: casual, minimalist, barefoot inspired shoes for men and women, WATERPROOF snow boots, and more! LIMITED TIME SALE...

Even if you can experience
A relief from sensations of pain
And enjoy a sense of pleasure
If but for a moment,
Just a brief moment
A second, a minute or more

A feeling of sunshine
Within the rain,

A momentary reprieve
From all that is sore

There is hope
That the body
Will remember
How to feel Joy,
Once again

And ever more

And in that moment,
Given the contrast
Between pleasure and pain,
There is given
A choice

A voice,
Where the body’s gravitation
Is steered towards desiring
A pleasurable sensation

If only given
Half a chance

To experience
A lighter dance

And this is how
In all fascination

The body may,
“Heal thyself”

Within this bodywork partnership
That is merely a facilitation

Of the innate intelligence
Of your own body’s blessed
Healing elegance
That is your Divine medicine…

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Why wait any longer?

Schedule a session today ~
I am here for you...

Many who know me, know that I am a huge advocate for being barefoot as much as possible with my mottos being, “Free the Feet!” and “Feel Earth Breathe” and, when not possible, opting for as minimalist of footwear as possible and that may be needed for the specific activity in order to allow your feet to function as feet and the advanced technological exquisite gifts that they are while being so beneficial to the health, function and well-being of your body. After all, these things begin from the ground up just as every structure needs a solid, sturdy foundation by which to stand strong upon, and going barefoot keeps your feet in optimum working condition and shape ~ strong, flexible and functionally mobile, so that your entire body may mirror the same.

Here’s an article with 5 reasons why to choose minimalist, barefoot shoes { that is, when not going barefoot } from Vivobarefoot, who I Love :

https://www.vivobarefoot.com/us/blog/march-2020/5-reasons-you-should-try-barefoot-shoes-for-your-kids?mc_cid=0dbf742696&mc_eid=97d858c688

Need a 6th reason?

Because it simply feels splendiferous!

I really Love Xero Shoes as well, so give them some Love and check them out at:

https://xeroshoes.com/go/FeelEarthBreathe��They also have some really awesome information available.

Aaaand, FitKicks are another very minimalist, barefoot comfy “shoe” that are one of my faves and about as close to bare feet as one can be, not to mention extremely economical { though not the sturdiest for more extreme activities, however, I find that they are really well-made and more durable than they may appear }.

Any pair of all leather moccasins would also be another beneficial addition to your minimalist footwear as the natural leather is a conducive material versus a rubbered soul bottom.

How about a 7th reason?

Exposure to soil is good for your microbiome, and as it turns out mental health too!

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6780873/

https://qz.com/993258/dirt-has-a-microbiome-and-it-may-double-as-an-antidepressant/

“Through most of human history, our ancestors walked barefoot and slept on the ground, with perhaps a conductive animal skin between their bodies and the earth. Now our rubber-soled shoes, our cars, and our homes all insulate us from what may be some profound therapeutic effects of contact with the soil. When was the last time you walked outside barefoot?”

~from https://learn.eartheasy.com/articles/the-health-benefits-of-getting-dirty/

5 reasons you should try barefoot shoes for your kids | March 2020 | Blog

I am not
A healer

For you ~

You are.

What I merely
Try to do

Is to get
Your own body

To understand that
Truth;

Where I simply may
Facilitate

At best

To walk beside
For a while

In this
Precious Life

As a safe container,
A trusting place,
A gentle nest,
A sacred space

Someplace secure
To rest,

And the rest
Is up to you

To remember
How to…

{ Be Love,
That’s who }

2020, barefoot poet

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Who's ready to return to receiving bodywork sessions and much needed and essential healthy, therapeutic touch?

Curious ~ have you already? And if so, how is it going for you?

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{ Photo by Jake Davies on Unsplash }