A Spiritually Enlightening Online Magazine. May's Theme: "Appreciation"
Volume 5 Issue 4 ISSN# 1708-3265

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I appreciate many things I have in my life. However I am such a simple girl, I think I appreciate walking barefoot the most. Walking barefoot is truly amazing. I am in love with the way Mother Earth feels beneath my feet, letting her energy flow within me is truly an amazing feeling. Feeling the fresh morning dew underneath your feet is a welcome experience in the early morning hours. Feeling long grass tickle your toes is just plain downright fun and walking along the sandy shores of the beach is an incredible feeling as well. Often times when I am tired or just not feeling 100% I choose to walk outside in the freshly fallen snow and invigorate my body and soul, this is the best feeling ever! Experiencing all the textures and temperatures on the planet from the bottom of your feet is remarkably stimulating and enjoyable. Walking across pebbles, cement, warm tar, the coolness of marble or tile, carpeting or wood is very therapeutic to the human body. I came to this planet barefoot, I was married barefoot and I will leave here barefoot. I LOVE to be barefoot!

Shoes separate us from Mother Earth and nature itself, I like to be one with these things. I do not believe we were meant to wear confining, restricting shoes, little prisons made from dead animals or other questionable alternatives. Wearing shoes causes all kinds of foot issues, blisters and bunions to name a few. When we wear shoes our feet become painful and deformed. By walking barefoot we do not have any of these issues.

I was looking through the local newspaper and I read an ad for Reflexology Foot Massage, a type of treatment in Chinese Medicine. According to this ancient treatment nearly all of our body parts have special connections to the soles of our feet and when these areas are massaged, it helps to heal the body. I get this treatment each day by walking barefoot. Naturally by walking barefoot Mother Earth is once again providing for us, and it is done far better than we can accomplish it ourselves.

In many ways walking barefoot is the feeling of freedom and simplicity, no restrictions. There are no harmful affects on the Earth when we walk barefoot. Hiking boots can erode a hiking trail, look at the boot prints and what they do to the ground the next time you are on a hike. Then think how it would look if you were hiking barefoot. Yes, I often do hike barefoot, it is a nice feeling to climb to the top of a hiking trail with no confining shoes. Naturally I do not walk everywhere barefoot, I do own a few pairs of flip flops which I will wear, and even a pair of hiking boots for those tough climbs, but I cannot wait to rip them off my feet as soon as I can. I do not walk barefoot when it is 100 degrees outside or in the middle of a freezing winter. I do drive barefoot; some think that driving barefoot is against the law, but I have done my homework. I have checked with the highway patrols in a many states, and it is not. Just another one of those stories our Mothers like to tell us, I guess.

So take off your shoes, come join me for a walk and get back to feeling Mother Earth in all her glory.

Keep Them Bare
Raw Love
Melissa

You can read Melissa's interview in March 2008's issue of Timeless Spirit Magazine.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Many of you are not aware of Melissa's situation at this time.
Please take a moment to read this.
I thank you for your time. namaste' Aleesha

Melissa Gilbert is a Raw food Chef, a Certified Raw Food Nutritional Consultant, and a Raw Food Coach. She is also a Certified Personal Trainer and works with her client's nutritional goals as well as getting them established in an exercise regime.

A writer for Pear Magazine, a raw lifestyle publication, Melissa is also a regular columnist and Associate Editor here at Timeless Spirit Magazine.

Currently getting her Bachelor of Science in Holistic Nutrition and taking classes to become a Hygienic Doctor, she is mother to toddler, Alex and wife to David as well as mother to 2 grown children and 3 grandchildren.

In her spare time Melissa enjoys the great outdoors, mountain hiking, biking, snow shoeing, camping in the backwoods and sailing. A Shaman in training and Tarot card enthusiast, Melissa (and her family) practices Buddhism with Pagan influences. If you would like to learn more about Raw Foods you can reach Melissa via email or visit one of her websites: www.LoveRawLife.com, www.rawtoddleralex.blogspot.com, and www.rawmom.blogspot.com.

Copyright (c) 2008 by Timeless Spirit Magazine. All articles are the copyright of the particular writers and cannot be reprinted without their expressed permission. All rights reserved. International copyright laws prohibit reproduction of or distribution of this page by any means whatsoever, electronic or otherwise, without first obtaining the written permission of the copyright holder. We retain legal counsel to protect our copyrights.

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