Barefoot holy figures, conclusion

Barefoot holy figures-Almost Barefoot

"Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." Exodus 3:5

There are different variations of this passage, depending on which version of the bible one reads.

The message is God speaking to Moses. Moses is the prophet most universally-recognized by all three Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam). He is regarded in all three religions as a holy man, and he is barefoot on holy ground upon the instruction of God.

Jews and Muslims typically avoid producing images of holy figures, although our research shows that not all Muslim sects explicitly prohibit visual portrayals of Muhammad, but typically, visual representations will be limited to lesser holy figures such as Moses, and the same applies to Judaism.

In all three Abrahamic religions, "God Almighty" is not seen, only heard, so we won't find visual representations of deities, shod or unshod. 

We see visuals of Christianity's Jesus and Mary, of Wicca's many representations of Goddess, as well as goddesses of non-Wiccan pagan religions, and we see numerous representations of Buddha and the Hindu's acknowledged son of God, Krishna, and countless other manifestations of Hindu gods and goddesses all of whom are barefoot when inhuman form.

SO we conclude that no matter who the holy figure is that is represented, that figure is ALMOST always BAREFOOT.



A statue of the Goddess Sophia

Mary, appearing as Our Lady of Grace

Jesus, the Good Shepard

A popular portrayal of the Wiccan Goddess's three forms, or "Triple Goddess" , from left to right, the Maiden, the Mother, the Crone

Barefooter thrown off plane for being shoeless....

When you go through airport security, TSA agents will make you take off  your shoes. One would think, given this rule, which thus forces airline passengers to wear easily-removable shoes, that the last thing flight attendants would take issue with is being barefoot in your seat.

But Professor Daniel Howell was thrown off a plane for nothing other than being barefoot in his seat, buckled up, minding his business.

"You would think, in this day and age with shoe bombers, that barefoot passengers would be welcome, but not at U.S. Airways," he said.

Howell's website has many useful link.  At right, Daniel Howell, Ph.D

Howell is an Associate Professor at Liberty University and author of The Barefoot Book, where talks about how 90% of modern foot problems can be linked to shoes. He's an avid barefoot runner and educator.

The link below is Howell's interview on the Today Show about, you guessed it, the benefits of going barefoot, where he also explains his experience with attempting to fly barefoot.

http://thebarefootbook.com/press.html

This is a fantastic interview for a lot of reasons.

His two, high-heeled hostesses give him a warm welcome, and one even confesses to having had foot operations in order to continue wearing her high heels.

He does wear shoes to work as required, but says he often goes to restaurants barefoot.

"Lot's of places welcome me [barefoot]; f they don't, I'll take myself and my money somewhere else."

He credits Old Navy clothing stores with being barefoot friendly, and it was at Old Navy in the Roanoke, VA airport that he bought a pair of flip-flops in order to make himself be considered flightworthy.

Barefoot running with Seven Sashen

Funny one-liners are something that Steven Sashen is famous for.



Steven Sashen running in Xeroshoes

Of course, those who know Steven realize that the comedy he brings to conversation is just coincidental perk that comes with any running lesson he teaches.

Steven is a professional All-American Masters sprinter and is among the fastest men over age 50 in the U.S. He is also creator of Xero Shoes. (see banner in this blog).

Xero Shoes are sandals that allow a runner's feet to have completely- unrestricted movement; they mimic the same movements as running barefoot.  But even as Sashen sells more an more sandals, he's quick to tell you that "nothing is barefoot running except barefoot running," and proceeded to open Sunday's lesson with that same remark.

Sashen stressed the importance of not working too hard when learning to run with or without shoes.

"It should be easy" he said and he then proceeded to demonstrate weight distribution of the runner's body head-first. "Watch kids run; their heads tend to tilt forward and the body follows."

A child's head grows to adult size long before the child is grown, so the head tends to fall forward when a child runs. But also, a child has not been conditioned by running habits that are taught, and by emphasizing this point, he is able to re-teach students. He then had the students tilt their heads in a particular direction and then run in order to feel the body gravitate in the direction the head was tilted.

Barefoot running form includes slightly tilting the entire body forward with a straight spine while hinging at the ankles. Gravity then pulls you forward as you begin to take your strides. Sahsen also encouraged shorter strides to keep balance. By not having to recover your balance like you do from an over-extended stride, you actually use less energy to run, even though you may be taking more steps.

Sashen is now teaching barefoot running classes in the Boulder/Denver area. More information is at the following link:

https://dabble.co/denver/fitness/classes/get-started-with-barefoot-running-with-steven-sashen

                                                  Lena Phoenix (left) with Steven Sashen (right)
                                                           on Shark Tank earlier this year. 

Xero Shoes can be purchased directly from the manufacturer by clicking the banner on this blog. They are manufactured in Boulder, CO. The company is owned by Sashen and his wife, Lena Phoenix. The couple and their well-known product were profiled earlier this year on the network show Shark Tank.

Almost Barefoot update

Greetings global barefooters!  I apologize for the lengthy absence, which I should have announced. But on the positive side, I gathered much new material to write about.

I attended a wonderful talk on Friday by America's most famous barefooters, Michael Sandler and Jessica Lee-Sandler, authors of the new book, Barefoot Walking (Random House, 2013).

I attended the Global Barefoot Running Day event in Boulder, CO, where Steven Sashen taught a barefoot runners class.  The day was a great success and the barefoot 5K was a blast.

The best thing about both events was meeting new, wonderful people, and finding out how many new people are trying running and walking barefoot!

This week, we'll also be concluding our series on barefoot holy figures.

Blessings! We'll be posting very soon!

Thanks for over 1000 views!

Hello readers-thanks for over 1,000 views. Sorry for the absence of new material!

I expect to change that tonight. Lots of personal stuff at the moment.

Blessings....look forward to International Barefoot Running Day, Sunday, May 5!

Barefoot holy figures in history

We can still debate why holy figures are seemingly always barefoot. We can also just accept is as natural, since if we believe we come from God-whose identity is up to you and your beliefs-then we realize that we were made before we even made shoes.

Being barefoot has an inherent connection with holiness in every culture. Hindu deities are almost always barefoot, as are Wiccan goddesses (except certain Norse and Scandinavian archetypes, but even in that context, we can find images of barefoot goddesses in winter. One could interpret the idea of a barefoot goddess in winter to be one whose holiness makes her impervious to the cold or conditions that would harm an ordinary human.

The images below are just a few of countless images of Wiccan goddesses.

Diana, Moon Goddess

The Green Goddess is a popular archetype of the Goddess as portrayed in pre-Christian times in much of the world, where worship often emphasized fertility and was Earth-centered. Statues of similar variations have been un-Earthed throughout the world. The goddess-centered religions spread beyond the realm of those religions considered the roots of the modern Wiccan religion.

 

The Triple Goddess image. this is one of many variations in the Wiccan tradition.

 

Hindu Goddess Lakshmi, Goddess of Good Fortune. Lakshmi herself takes many different, recognized forms, as do the numerous other Hindu Goddesses and Gods, who almost always appear barefoot no matter which image variation.

 

MAY 5 is International Barefoot Running Day-check for local events!

Hello barefeooters throughout the globe!

May 5 is International Barefoot Running Day and there are barefoot running events scheduled in places around the world and around the USA.

Check out the link below for an event near you!

http://www.thebarefootrunners.org/pages/ibrd_local_events_listing/
If there isn't an event near you, then it may be time to start one, even if it is unofficial this year. Take a run with some friends and help encourage others to go barefoot!

There may already be a local chapter you can join.  Please see the following link for more info!

http://www.thebarefootrunners.org/pages/ibrd_local_events_listing/






For Coloradoans, we have the Donut Dash in