Barefoot in Winter

Some of my spiritual friends are doing a cold therapy such as cold showers.

Are you kidding? I'm not doing that!

But this winter, i decided to go barefoot around the house. I don't put on slippers when i go out to the deck to sprinkle bird seed on the railing for the birds three times a day. Our guest cottage is 30 feet out the back door, so i dash over to there in bare feet. I go to the wood shed barefoot and return with two logs for the wood stove.

An interesting side effect of this minimal cold therapy is that my restless leg syndrome has subsided. It's not gone altogether, but it's definitely weaker.

Proponents of cold therapy say that exposure to cold increases circulation, deepens sleep, and reduces inflammation. I will say that my sleep has improved apparently from having cold feet. It's really not so bad. I seldom notice that my feet are cool.

I know if my body is warm, i am more likely to drift into torpor during meditation. Maybe the next time i begin to drift into dreamland, i should just go take a cold shower.

Cold Feet

The snow on the septic tank melted today--a perfect rectangle of brown-green grass in an otherwise white yard of snow. In town, crocus and iris reticulata are already blooming, but my country-cousin climate lags a few days behind.

I've planted crocus on my septic tank in order to have some early blooms--a patch of yellow and purple in the center of the yard.

Noticing the particulars of the micro-climates in your own yard requires observation and a bit of curiosity. Those same skills are very helpful in developing a meditation practice. I doze off if i'm wearing socks when i sit. My personal climate does better when the body is cool. Cold feet can actually prevent my restless legs from twitching uncontrollably.

After all, if the crocus and snowdrops thrive with "cold feet," so can i.