Remember running around barefoot all day long when you were a kid?
You did it right back then and it’s time to consider going back to a barefoot life again. In our modern society, we wear socks and shoes all day long – well, most people do, as yogis, we are lucky to actually be barefoot most of the time… What most people don’t know is that over time, shoes actually change the physical form of our feet and they become weaker and less practical.
If we are walking barefoot, we experience what’s normal and most beneficial for our body. It is one of human kind’s most primal instincts, but through the comforts and conveniences of modern day living, we are losing something extremely valuable in the process.
One of the most obvious benefits of taking our shoes off is to have a connection to the earth and its magnetic field. The earth is full of negative ions and when we walk barefoot, we flood our body with these negative ions, which are especially important in today’s world. With our modern lifestyle, we expose our bodies to positive ions all day long through the huge amount of electronic devices we use, whether that’s our cell phones and laptops or microwaves and television. These positive ions cause inflammation, so connecting ourselves to the earth’s negative ions is profoundly beneficial to us.
But there is more… Going barefoot is like discovering a fountain of youth. We stimulate the reflexology points on the bottom of our feet, regain our natural stride, feel stronger and more active and our minds become sharper.
While there are many reasons to barefoot walking, here are our TOP 10 reasons to bare your sole.
#1 Greater Balance
We mostly aren’t aware just how much wearing shoes alter the natural positioning of our ball and heel. Some shoes position our feet in incredibly unnatural ways, which causes important muscles to weaken and even atrophy over time. This causes a lot of people to walk around with hugely underdeveloped feet, making it challenging to balance correctly. The good news is, with time and practice, walking barefoot will begin to make you much more sensitive to the vestibular system – the balance system – which has been marginalized with our traditional footwear. The more you walk barefoot, the more you strengthen the vestibular system and start to improve your balance immediately.
#2 Improved Strength
When you stimulate the vestibular system, you begin to allow those previously ignored new muscles to really flourish. That added balance comes with added strength and support in those newly worked out muscles. If you are a runner, you will notice increased power in your stride, if you are a swimmer, you will notice a little more ‘kick’ in your stroke. But even if you aren’t running or swimming, you will feel the increased strength by improving your ability to stand or walk for extended periods of time.
#3 Healthier Feet
Our bodies work on the use it or lose it principle, which of course also applies to our feet. Walking barefoot makes your feet a lot stronger, tougher and more resilient. And stronger feet means that we have the ability to move quicker and with more energy and agility – whether we wear shoes or bare our soles.
#4 Improved Posture
Because we wear shoes all the time that give our feet a soft cushion, the muscles in our feet are weaker and less flexible. Additionally, a lot of shoes have 1-2 inches – if not more – in height at the heel. To prevent falling over, we are forced to move our butts back and bend forward at the waist. This strains our hamstrings, back and neck as well as puts a lot of force on our feet, knees and hips and can lead to bad posture. When we switch to waking barefoot and play with our feet, we start to strengthen our toes, feet and ankles again, which gives us better stability, balance and posture. An added bonus of better postural alignment is that it can help to ease back, neck and even knee pain.
#5 Better Circulation
Coming back to the newly stimulated vestibular system, we can increase the blood flow to these newly rediscovered areas. It will also increase the blood flow to our legs, which means we get a boost in energy and endurance, even a temporary boost in our metabolism. And because we improved our posture and have less aches and pains in our joints, circulation is increased as well.
#6 Reduce Inflammation
Asthma, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, digestive issues and irritable bowl syndrome, etc. are all the result of excessive – and often times preventable – inflammation in our body. Free radicals that are associated with cancer are known to carry a positive charge and those particles play a significant role in our immune system and overall health, but can cause trouble when we don’t dissipate them correctly. Walking barefoot grounds ourselves in the negative charge of the earth, making it possible to naturally and safely discharge those free radicals.
#7 Better Sleep
Walking barefoot and being grounded in nature – a practice called earthing – helps us to relieve tension and removes positive ions to make space for negative ions. Negative ions are very relaxing and help us improve our sleep quality tremendously. Have you ever gone swimming in the ocean or went for a run on the beach and slept like a baby that night? That’s because you were earthing on the sand and in the water and flooded your body with negative ions.
#8 Balance Electrons and Influence the Brain
We’ve heard it before, our bodies are made up of approximately 70% of water. The more we are grounded in nature by walking barefoot, the more alive is that water throughout our entire body. We mentioned it earlier, walking barefoot in nature creates an ionic balance within our cells and tissue. Do you ever wonder why ancient exercises like yoga, martial arts and tai chi are all done barefoot? It’s because it can help us to wire our brain to be on our feet at all times. Walking in shoes doesn’t make us ‘think on our feet’ as much because we are somewhat disconnected, but walking barefoot helps us to balance our mental and emotional stability and overall well-being.
#9 Develop Your Senses
Our ancestors – the cavemen – walked barefoot on wood, grass, sand and pebbles, giving their feet an amazing sensory experience. Because we wear shoes all the time, we miss out on that experience. Stimulating our feet by walking barefoot transmits that information to a multitude of other areas in our bodies. We have lots of nerve endings and pressure points at the soles of our feet that open up our sensory world and allow our nervous system to explore more. Walking barefoot also makes us more aware, alert and present, because we have to watch where we are going. Our walking has become unconscious and by removing our shoes, we are making it conscious again.
#10 Reflexology Benefits
Walking barefoot stimulates the pressure points and nerve endings at the bottom of our feet, which helps transport chi – our life energy – to different areas in our body that are associated with those pressure points. This process is called reflexology and is used to stimulate our immune system, reduce blood pressure, lower inflammation and pain, diminish stress and tension and triggers many other healing processes in the body. A multitude of studies has shown that going barefoot and stimulating the bottoms of our feet can give us profound reflexology benefits.
Going barefoot can literally transform your life and restore your health, strength, balance and vitality as well as improve your mood, focus and memory. Who knew that such a simple practice can have such a huge impact?
KICK OFF YOUR SHOES AND ENJOY THE BAREFOOT LIFE
Joschi & Monika
#BoldNaked