Perfect Poise, Perfect Life
Bring your body into balance and revolutionise your life
By Noel Kingsley
Publisher Hodder Mobius
AVAILABLE HERE
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Walking barefoot
Forde Abbey, Dorset
Forde Abbey was Dissolutioned in 1539 like most other monastic houses in this country and is now a private residence open to the public. We tried to visit during the summer but ran out of time and anyway, we'd heard that it was really busy with visitors. Yesterday it was a peaceful haven out of the main tourist season, with gardens groomed to match the stateliness of the majestic building that remains.
We walked on the extensive lawns, over the grassy Mount to the Bog Garden, around The Great Pond which is monastic, through the magnificent and intimate Rock Garden. And as we strolled, grass underfoot I thought how 'unnatural' it is that we spend so much time walking on concrete pavements or sidewalks, on tarmac roads; this is what we have come to expect, but in bygone times we would have mostly walked on turf and so much more comfortable it is too. These lawns were like spongy velvet and to take our shoes off for a while in the warmth of autumn sun and spread our toes between the grass and clover gave a wonderfully free sense of being in touch with the earth, of being grounded. Do you ever walk on grass barefoot? This is nothing to do with being a 60's hippy or a 'New Age' weirdo; it's doing what we were/are probably 'meant' to do as creatures on this earth. There are other aspects to walking on flat man-made surfaces that are unnatural too as our feet fall in exactly the same pattern or movement with every step. This can cause calluses, stiffness and strain whereas if we walk on uneven ground our feet fall at a different angle with every step so exercising our ankles, the soles of our feet and avoiding repetitive strain.
If you have not walked barefoot on grass for a while or never before at all, give yourself a treat for ten minutes. Just make sure the grass or ground you walk on is free of broken glass! But you may feel a wonderful sense of calmness, of being connected with nature and when you put your shoes back on, although the constriction feels a little 'unnatural' your feet will probably be beautifully refreshed.
The owners of Forde Abbey may not be too impressed with people walking around barefoot, but it's probably far closer to the way the monks of a thousand years ago would have walked on the same ground.
And by the way, the house is magnificent too! Well worth a visit if you come to this part of the world. :-)
