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Hi Bruce, does shoes with plastic soles block the Qi flow in the feet?
hi phil
I do a lot of barefoot training in the dirt and around the trees, and im a big advocate. you can really feel the difference, and students who come and train with me also comment on it. arizona is good for that…
bruce has said that some shoes block the connection between your personal energy and the energy of the earth, but not so much the energy of the feet. that’s more an issue of having shoes that fit comfortably.
also, plastic soles block more chi than cotton or leather soles.
personally, id get my feet in the dirt whenever I can, get some nice and roomy shoes (hello Birkenstocks or sanuk’s!), but I wouldn’t let the wrong shoes get in the way of practicing.
peace
…….I’ve seen Bruce and his instructors wearing plastic soled shoes ranging from Crocs to ‘trainers’. I’m no expert but would be attentive to the fact that too much thickness insulates the body from feeling any effective connection to the ground, as would a hard rigid plastic. Too much cushioning or too much rigidity would both attenuate the sense of energetic connection. Some man made plastics would be better than some natural materials, some natural materials would be better than some man made materials. I’d welcome other thoughts on this topic.
I wonder if this research on human (and animal) electrical connection to the Earth is related to the chi connection issues raised: http://www.earthinginstitute.net/
Personally I do feel a difference if I train barefoot on the dirt, but that isn’t always practical…
……depends whether chi is purely electrical – the fact that People can feel grounded and connected when standing or practicing qigong or tai chi, through electrically insulating plastic soled shoes, suggests otherwise. I too like practicing in bare feet, but not in midwinter.
Indeed. I would suspect that chi is not purely electrical – but that electrical effects may be a part of it. I would be very interested in other people’s ideas on this one.
hi damian
my sense is that a part of it is electrical, part of it is electromagnetic, and a part of it is the vibration of the electrical/electromagnetic field.the word chi literally means energy, so any form of energy is a part of it; chemical energy, friction, pressure, tempurature, mass, momentum, all can be felt and discussed as chi, as well as the more subtle energies.
on some level, chi is the felt sense of the energy, so it has an awareness component. that’s why people don’t “believe” in chi, cause they have not developed their inner senses. if you can’t feel it and you can’t measure it, it’s hard to understand.
finally, chi also has a bigger meaning which is probably beyond the scope of the westen language to get at.
the big whatever is the term I tend to use, denoting it’s big and we don’t really get it.
yet.
I’m a huge fan of grounding, using earthing technologies and also just getting my bare feet on the ground. After living in Colorado, I’ve definitely had the very real experience of drawing chi from the air, from the sun, from the ground. I recently returned from Egypt, where I spent time practicing in some of the temples.
After a few of those temples, I started taking my shoes off, once I was sure I wouldn’t offend anyone, and the energy was so strong that I had trouble sleeping at night. I think we are definitely designed to be connected to the earth physically, but there are other ways we’re connected and draw energy from many sources.
Ultimately it’s mental – so I don’t worry about the fact that I’m wearing shoes most of the time, I just do my best to “top up” on ground chi whenever I can, and my strategy in this regard is always getting better.
As a final note, electrically it is possible to touch a metal pole to receive some electrical grounding benefits, and washing your hands or taking a shower also works, because the water is coming through metal pipes that are connected to the ground. I personally believe that the analytical mind goes calm when grounded, and thus the intuitive mind becomes stronger. This is why many people report getting good ideas in the shower, or while doing dishes.
Lots of interesting stuff here. It’s good to get other people’s experience with Earthing and connecting to the chi of different things in general.
I terms of the physical forces that would be considered a part of chi; electrical, magnetic, electromagnetic, chemical and many mechanical forces would all be due to the effects of electromagnetic field interactions (if I remember my physics right!). So there probably are many links between chi and electrical effects. I know there is some research into measuring the electrical conductivity of the skin along acupuncture meridians out there somewhere. Perhaps even the electromagnetic field interactions between people’s brains, hearts and other body systems is also a part of this.
It certainly does seem like there are some parts of chi that (currently?) are beyond measurement (with external instruments). I take the point that the Taoists consider internal experience to be a valid form of measurement. Personally I agree with this.
I’ve had lots of interesting experiences with Earthing over the last year or so. I believe you can get some Earthing effect from touching trees with your skin (as well as metal objects connected to the Earth). I’ve been sleeping on an electrically earthed grounding mat for some time now (months) and it certainly helps me to relax my body and mind more, and hence get better sleep.
I have also experienced the effect of linking to the energy of the Earth through electrically insulting shoes/surfaces, so there is obviously a lot going on here with the chi of the Earth. I do believe that the Earth is a living being, so I try to listen to it when I can.
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