Feet, Grounding, Calm

Nine Foundations of Whole Health

After 50 Whole Health webinars and all the information gathered together, it felt like the right time to pull together some of the most pertinent themes.

This chapter focuses on Feet, Grounding & Calm; our foundations. From where we stand, our relationship with gravity, and how this influences our awareness, nervous system, posture, and even the health of our liver.

3. Feet, Grounding & Calm: Foundations for Stability & Awareness

Our feet are the base support for our legs, hips, spine, head, and everything that stacks above them. Just as buildings and plants need solid foundations and roots, so do we.

When we feel our feet and where we stand, we connect into an embodied awareness of our whole nervous system and our breath. This links directly to the stress states we inhabit, whether we’re caught in heightened responses or able to come down into more relaxed tones. 

Our Relationship with Gravity

Unless we are in water, gravity pulls us from top to bottom. Feet are our contact point with the ground, and how we stand and move from them affects our whole system.

Stuffing feet into shoes, especially with rubber soles, interrupts this relationship. Few people now walk barefoot on natural, unpredictable surfaces. Without grounding, electricity doesn’t flow from us down into the earth, and this can impact the nervous system.

In summer especially, making time for barefoot contact with the earth can help restore this natural balance.

Standing & Alignment

When we stand and rise up from the ground, our thighs are supported above our ankles, and everything calibrates upwards through the natural s-shaped curvature of the spine.

In the modern world, however, posture is often compromised. Technology use and daily habits mean that many people stand with their ears shifted forward of the midline. This increases the relative weight of the head and places stress on the cervical spine and neck, rippling tension down through the whole body.

Often, people respond to this with intense exercise or “hardcore work,” which doesn’t address the root issue, our relationship with gravity and natural alignment.

Awareness, Nervous System & Breath

Coming back to the feet and standing in alignment brings us into full physical awareness of where we are in the here and now. From this grounded place, we can more clearly tune into our needs.

This isn’t just about spotting what is “wrong,” but about sensing the body’s interconnected systems.

From Feet to Liver

It may seem like a jump - from the feet to the liver - but the connection is real.

The liver sits nestled inside the right rib cage, tucked up under the diaphragm. How we stand affects how freely the diaphragm can move with the breath. This movement supports circulation, pulsation, and lymphatic flow through the liver - crucial functions for whole-body vitality.

When posture collapses or tension holds the body out of alignment, the diaphragm is restricted, and these natural flows are reduced. Grounding, standing tall, and breathing deeply restore this vital rhythm.

Coming Back to Centre

Grounding through the feet is not about rigid posture - it’s about awareness and adaptability.

By feeling our foundations and letting alignment rise naturally, we reconnect to calm, to circulation, and to breath. From this steadiness, we can support both the nervous system and the organs that rely on flow and space within the body.

This foundational support gives us the stability to meet life with clarity, adaptability, and calm.

This blog is taken from Chapter 3 of my Nine Foundations of Whole Health Natural Health Webinar, which is available to Whole Health Members.

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