First, Bare Your Feet

“There’s something different about you,” I said to a fellow Ashram yoga devotee as we drove to a seminar in Los Angeles.

“What?” she wondered.

“You’re wearing shoes. I hardly recognize you.”

The joke wasn’t far from the truth simply because we're used to seeing each other with bare feet. We remove our shoes before entering the Ashram, as with most yoga studios. And because there is a good spirit of community inside those walls, where acquaintances can become good friends and maybe even family, you get used to seeing them a certain way.

Of course it’s practical to be barefoot preceding yoga or meditation, but it’s also cleaner, humbler, and steeped in tradition across many cultures. Science claims health benefits to going barefoot, including increased blood circulation and pressure point massage. 

It also seems to create an air of informal familiarity. Trust. And dare I say it, coziness? 

In fact, could you imagine Congress debating bills in their bare feet, leaving their wingtips at the chamber door? Would more humility, wisdom and compassion infuse their debates? 

If so, I’d probably end up saying, “Congressman, there’s something very different about you.”