It is a wonderful practice and truly generates a feeling of connection with our gorgeous mother earth, something that I am really starting to appreciate more and more. I am reading 'Witch' by Fiona Horne (remember Def FX anyone??) and she talks a great deal about the pagan people and their work as healers and earth worshippers. I am certainly not a witch (yet hee hee hee) but I can certainly relate to the idea of God as being in every tree, every grain of sand, and the earths innate wisdom as being second to none.
On the same topic, we had dinner with a lovely GP and his nurse wife last night and they were talking about wounds. Cuts, grazes, blood, scabs - you get the picture. Anyway, the good doctor had just done a radio interview where he spoke of the incredible overuse and horrific cost of wound dressings, especially for the elderly. He said after extensive independant research, it has been shown that the MOST effective way of treating a shallow wound is to wash it in - wait for it - WATER, and then let it dry in the fresh air. That's it. No fancy colloidal silver waterproof $50 dressing required. In fact, those dressings often cause more harm than good! It reminds me how disconnected we can be from our body's incredible ability to heal itself.
So, leave your shoes off and your bandaids at home friends and lovers - walk well and enjoy!