Barefooting: Walking Barefoot For More Well-being
What if you took advantage of the summer vacations to free your feet from the shackles of shoes? Barefooting is a new trendy wellness method that recommends walking barefoot to reconnect with your sensations and nature. Everyone can take up this challenge, with the result being a greater physical and mental well-being.
It's good for your feet
The barefooting which consists of walking without shoes has more and more practitioners across the Atlantic and in Europe.
This hobby, which is preferably practiced in nature but also sometimes in urban areas, has first of all benefits for the feet. Indeed, our feet that carry the weight of our body do not position themselves in the same way depending on whether they are shod or not.
When we wear shoes all the time, the muscles, tendons, joints and ligaments of the foot gradually lose their effectiveness.
In the long term, this habit of constraining our feet in shoes can affect our overall posture and reflexes (called proprioception).
Conversely, walking barefoot provides a kind of beneficial self-massage to activate blood circulation and stimulate reflex zones as in foot reflexology.
It's good for your overall health
Even if it is less and less practiced in our Western societies, walking barefoot was already recommended in the 19th century for its multiple virtues.
According to the Bavarian priest Sebastian Kneipp, one of the pioneers of healthy living and natural medicines, walking barefoot would strengthen the immune system and treat certain physical (muscular for example) and psychological (such as stress) disorders.
This priest made walking barefoot one of the pillars of his method because he saw it as a simple way to strengthen one's health gently.
The tradition of walking barefoot has moreover endured in Germany where there are nearly 200,000 hikers who are adept at barefooting.
This community is called the barefooters, but also the shoeless or the pienusians. It includes some international and French stars, including Pamela Anderson, Jane Birkin and Yannick Noah!
It's good against stress
Walking barefoot is also a way to reconnect with nature, coming into direct contact with natural elements such as earth, sand or grass.
In France, there are a few rare barefoot trails that alternate different materials such as dirt, sand, leaves and grass to allow barefooting walkers to experience various sensations in their arches (see link below).
According to the supporters of this natural method, walking without shoes allows the sensors located under the arch of the foot to collect the energy of the earth. Barefoot walking would thus rebalance the nervous system, relieve stress, improve sleep and gain vitality.
And of course, it also allows to find a feeling of freedom and well-being for the body as well as for the mind. The feet are massaged, the blood circulation is revived and one feels calmer and more focused.
So, you know what you have to do if you want to take advantage of your summer vacation to de-stress and recharge your batteries! When the weather is hot, feet love to get some fresh air, especially in parks, in the forest or at the beach.
Good to know
If you are out of the habit of walking without shoes, you should begin barefooting very gradually so as not to hurt your feet.
Take off your shoes on short distances and on friendly terrains, such as sand or fresh morning grass. Vacations by the sea or in the countryside are an ideal opportunity to learn about this wellness method.
You can even start by walking barefoot at home to allow your feet to regain sensation and the skin on the soles of your feet to thicken little by little.
Then you can try barefoot hiking or even barefoot running, that is, barefoot running!
