I’m inspired and grateful to have spent many days this month dancing with my feet on the earth. I spent five days dancing here in the Bay Area in an Open Floor Ground Floor Lab, where with almost 40 dancers we danced with ten core movement resources and created lasting connections with one another. And as those of you who attended recent classes with me at the IJS online Yoga studio know, I am obsessed with my anatomy class these days. And I’m particularly in awe of the feet.
The gorgeous construction of our feet:
With the long bones of the toes beginning at the midfoot,
To where they meet the cuboid pile of boulder-shaped bones that allow us to articulate and navigate uneven terrain,
To the ankle joint that is actually comprised of the lowest end of the tibia and fibula bones,
To all of the muscles and tendons and ligaments of the lower leg,
Particularly the fibularis and anterior tibialis muscles that run down the sides and front of the shin to meet at the base of the big toe to form a strap under the foot that helps to lift our arches!
Wow! I'm blown away by all that is happening when we are blessed with the ability to simply stand or take a step.
Standing firmly
In Torah, two places where we see the word 'stand firmly' with the Hebrew root Natzav/נָצַב are in Moses's final speech to the Israelites and in the description of the ladder in Jacob's dream. This action is connected to one of the core movement resources we learned this month: ground.
Here are the lines from these two moments in Torah:
אַתֶּ֨ם נִצָּבִ֤ים הַיּוֹם֙ כֻּלְּכֶ֔ם לִפְנֵ֖י יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֑ם
You stand firmly [planted] this day, all of you, before the Eternal your God
Deuteronomy 29:9
וַֽיַּחֲלֹ֗ם וְהִנֵּ֤ה סֻלָּם֙ מֻצָּ֣ב אַ֔רְצָה וְרֹאשׁ֖וֹ מַגִּ֣יעַ הַשָּׁמָ֑יְמָה וְהִנֵּה֙ מַלְאֲכֵ֣י אֱלֹהִ֔ים עֹלִ֥ים וְיֹרְדִ֖ים בּֽוֹ׃
He had a dream; a ladder was firmly planted on the ground and its top reached to the sky, and angels of God were going up and down on it.
Genesis 28:12
What role does natzav play in both moments in Torah? And how can this phrase inform our embodied spiritual journeys?
In both cases, Jacob and the Israelites as a people have just experienced a dramatic exit from what is known to them and are on the brink of something new. Jacob has fled his family and home after having tricked his father into giving him Esau’s blessing and is receiving a dream about the future. The Israelites have been lifted out of Egypt and are wandering in the desert, about to enter a new life.
In both cases, they receive a vision for an unknown future. They must find the ground beneath them, and feel the solidity of what might seem like sand (or may indeed be sand!) before they set forth on a new path. In fact, in the text it says that Jacob 'lifted' his feet (וַיִּשָּׂ֥א יַעֲקֹ֖ב רַגְלָ֑יו) to continue his journey!
Root to Rise
Standing firmly helps us to feel our feet and find our relationship to gravity and the ground before we step forward. In my classes recently, we have worked with shifting weight in our feet, and with opening the muscles of our lower legs, as two pathways (of many) to stand with both softness and firm footing upon the ground.
But to really feel steady, we must pay attention to the equal and opposite actions of sending energy downward and upward at the same time! This way, we access the life force (hiyyut/חיות) that runs up from the earth through our being. This concept exists in our tradition (and elsewhere) as ‘Yeridah L’Aliyah/ירידה לעליה’ - Root to Rise.
We send our feet down, especially at the base of our big toe, pinky toe and center of our heel, and then we place our attention on the energy of the earth rising through the arches of our feet, through our legs, pelvic bowl and belly, up to our hearts, lungs and rib basket, and ultimately continuing on up through our skull to our crown, through lifted arms to fingers and beyond.
Finding our ground through our feet also can give us greater access to finding our center. We connect our feet to the core of our beings, our center of gravity, our lower belly. And we move forward from this place to manifest our dreams. (Stay tuned for more on finding our center in future writings.)
As we approach the holiday of Purim next week, we have the opportunity to explore so many themes that are relevant to our spiritual lives - embracing the realm of not knowing/uncertainty, revealing what is hidden, finding our inner Divinity, unity, sovereignty, awakening what is asleep, cultivating joy and courage - just to name a few!!
And through it all, we can always find our ground. We can always find our foundation: the part of our body that is touching the earth, no matter what shape or posture we are in. Lying on our backs, sitting in stillness, walking, balancing on one foot, moving in motion, or even when we are upside down, we are always in contact with the earth in some way.
As Purim arrives, I send you wishes for receiving any and all of the qualities that the Hebrew month of Adar (my birth month!) has to offer.
With Love,
Julie