Eulalia Benejam Cobb

When, years ago, my husband and I took ballroom dancing lessons, our teacher, a Russian, used to follow us around the floor yelling, “Hug the earth with your feet! Hug the earth with your feet!” If you have watched good dancers, ballroom or ballet, you know that they do exactly that, and the more light and airborne they seem, the more their feet hug the earth.

I spent most of my life living in my head, gazing down at my various body parts with diminishing interest the farther they were from my brain. It was a surprise when yoga led me to discover my feet. Later, tai chi introduced me to the dantien, a couple of inches below the belly button, the seat of power from which all motion springs. Feet, lower abdomen—all are located a lot closer to the earth than the top of my head. Now, after half a lifetime with my head in the clouds, I'm trying my best to hug the ground with my feet.