The “Feet Rule”: Honoring Polarity and Energetic Flow in Healing Spaces

There was a time—years ago—when I was attending a group healing session, lying peacefully on my mat, ready to open myself to deep restoration. The lights were low, the music was ethereal, the facilitator’s voice soft and soothing… and then reality struck. My nostrils flared in disgust, my eyes bulged with alertness, I was no longer Zen’ed out. Someone’s feet—bare, releasing a death grip and unapologetically present—were just inches from my head. To make matters worse, their shoes sat right beside my mat like two silent witnesses to my discomfort.

There I was, trying to sink into a healing state—to release old trauma, to open my heart, to commune with God—and all I could think was: this cannot be what enlightenment smells like.

That experience, unpleasant as it was, taught me something profound about energy, embodiment, and respect within shared healing spaces. It’s the reason I now hold fast to what I lovingly call the “feet rule.”

When I facilitate, I always make sure that everyone’s heads face the altar and that their feet point away from one another. This isn’t just about hygiene or personal preference—it’s about maintaining the integrity of our energetic field.

From the lens of Polarity Therapy, the human body functions as an energetic circuit composed of positive, negative, and neutral poles. The crown of the head represents the positive pole—the point of inspiration, illumination, and connection to higher consciousness or what I would describe as the Christ light. The feet represent the negative pole—the grounding charge that anchors us to the Earth’s molten core. Between these two poles flows the rhythm of life itself, mirrored in the ebb and flow of our cerebrospinal fluid, just like the ocean’s tides.

When feet are placed near another person’s head, these polarities intersect and can disrupt the natural flow of energy. The positive and negative poles are crossed, creating interference rather than harmony. Energetically and personally, I find this misalignment unsettling.

By orienting the body so that everyone’s crown faces the altar and the feet face outward, we honor both the upward current of spirit and the downward current of grounding. The space becomes coherent, allowing each person’s energetic field to breathe and move freely.

Whether one interprets this as a matter of subtle energy, comfort, or simple courtesy, the result is the same: greater harmony, presence, and receptivity. The “feet rule” reminds us that even the smallest details in a healing space can shape how energy moves—between us, through us, and all around us.

As Alan Watts so beautifully reminds us:

“You are an aperture through which the universe is looking at and exploring itself.”

By respecting how we position ourselves in relation to one another, we honor this aperture—keeping it clear, aligned, and open to the flow of life. This is the heart of multidimensional healing: recognizing that everything, even the placement of our feet, is part of the sacred current that connects us.