Barefooting

[Aphritha]

Store owners seem to vary from state to state...when I visited North Carolina last summer, I went EVERYWHERE with no shoes, but back home in Iowa, you can't even go into so much as a gas station without being told to leave
People do give looks, I just tell them shoes suck. As for stepping in poo/glass...poo washes off of a foot alot easier than a shoe, and after you've been barefooting for even a little amount of time, your foot is tough enough so that if you step in glass, its easily picked out in most cases. I've been lucky enough to not be in an area with too bad a bug problem...I hear those fire ants are no fun at all!

[samurai]

Good for you

[Kima]

It's going very well. I have a pair of minimalist sandals I can wear if I need anything, and I've been walking the streets and even hiking in the mountains completely barefoot. I love it, and my soles have toughened yet remain very supple. The tiny metal shard is the only think that got into my feet after six months. I haven't stepped in dog poo - not that it would traumatize me if I did! I do have a cut that opens in my right sole every now and then but it's due to the orthotics I wore for ten years and then threw away one day, and it's healing slowly. My feet are healthier than ever and I've realised that toes can be strong. Also, the ball of my feet seems to have flattened out, my toes spread out more clearly, and my arch is well defined.

The only worry now is that it's getting cold and I tend to have cold hands and feet, often to the point that blood stops circulating in my fingers. This hasn't happened yet but I will need shoes for the winter.

[Aphritha]

Yeah, winter likes to step in and kill shoeless fun...

[nollaig]

This thread is a great reminder, it's been years... years since I consciously kick off my birks and walked barefoot. I am gonna put this on top of my list of stuff to do before the snow flies here in Canada.

~n.

[Aigeann]

I'm always barefoot in the house. I'm unlikely to be barefoot outside with all our animals and because most places post against it.

I've always been so pleased to see our guests always take off their shoes during our rituals without ever being prompted to do so. That connection is so important!

Almost Samhain blessings, Aigeann

[ShadowCat]

I grew up walking barefoot whenever and whereever possible. My mom joked about it, telling me I must be a gypsie-child at heart. At home, I'm always barefoot (or in socks in the winter, there are there wonderful things called Catpads, thick socks with a few dots of rubber on the bottom to keep you from slipping on slick floors). Stepped on a wasp under a fruittree once, but that's about the only thing bad ever happening.

The best picture of me graduating lawschool is made by my dad: my abandoned highheels and my fresh mastersdegree both lying lonely at a table during the formal afterparty, while I was off chatting with folks on my bare feet. I had worn high heels, a gift from my nana, the whole day and just couldn't stand (in) them anymore, literally.

Now I own my own firm and I still walk around home, office and yard barefoot a lot of the time. People look funny sometimes, but mostly they like it. Maybe it helps that I live and work in a rural community and even wooden shoes are still worn by some around here.

One problem I've found is since I've got a bit of a weight-issue that if I step on something sharp (like that single piece of gravel on the paved sidewalk) it really hurts, because of the pressure. So, for outside-work I'm still searching for good shoes. Someone showed me "ninjaboots" online, those boots with two toe-parts. I'm also looking in to the five-finger-shoes. Anyone got tips or ideas on those?

[Kitty]

I am barefoot as much as possible, which means that as soon as I'm home, the shoes come off and stay off unless I leave my yard. Then, since I live in the middle of the city and some of the people in the neighborhood are not so nice about NOT breaking glass bottles on the street and sidewalks, I thus I wear shoes whenever I leave my yard. However, I stick to the 'barefoot' style shoes like vibram fivefingers. It has gotten to the point that I can't wear 'normal' shoes without them feeling uncomfortable on my feet after half an hour or so. Of course, working in a science lab, I have to wear shoes which cover the tops, bottoms, and backs of my feet, so that means shoes of some sort when I'm out. Which was why I searched out the shoes that feel the most like walking barefoot, since I have never liked things on my feet.

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who feels that way.

[Saracynth]

I'm so glad I saw this post! I've always wondered if I was just a bit strange as I really can't stand to have things on my feet.

At home it's barefoot for me - socks only if my feet get too cold. My shoes go on for the journey to work (slip on variety) and then come off and live under my desk for the work day. I'm not brave enough to leave my house/garden barefoot though - too afraid of that bit of broken glass or nastiness dropped by someone.

[Aigeann]

I'm so glad I saw this post! I've always wondered if I was just a bit strange as I really can't stand to have things on my feet.

At home it's barefoot for me - socks only if my feet get too cold. My shoes go on for the journey to work (slip on variety) and then come off and live under my desk for the work day. I'm not brave enough to leave my house/garden barefoot though - too afraid of that bit of broken glass or nastiness dropped by someone.

Thank you for your post and welcome to the Board! Blessings, Aigeann

[LunarLiz]

I'd love to know if anyone here walks barefoot on a regular basis and/or has heard of the term "barefooting".

As a child back in the 60's, I totally hated shoes. Loved wellys, but that was just for sploshing about in puddles with and mucking out the riding stables...

Still not a huge fan of shoes to be honest with you despite having accidentally trod on a dropped sewing needle as a teenager, and had to undergo surgery (but they couldn't recover it all so there's still a bit stuck inside my foot now, 30-some years on).

But I do wear toe-post style sandals to protect my feet now whenever I really have to.

Natures children don't like having a barrier between them and the Earth, I guess!

[BlazeLeeDragon]

Oh I can't stand shoes, I love being barefoot I wear boots to work, come home and off them come with the socks I'm almost always barefoot even when I go in my back yard with the dogs, barefoot all the way. very comfortable and natural. still wear boots when visiting others, and work and hiking but as often as I can I like to be barefoot

I find the more you walk barefoot asides from connecting with the earth your soles become callous and can stand being barefoot more often

In tai chi it's recommend to practice barefoot, so you can sink and move your chi with your feet easier and connect with the earth, often called grounding in many traditions.

[samurai]

Barefoot in England is hard going in all this wet,i found recently.

[Kima]

Barefoot in England is hard going in all this wet,i found recently.

I recently walked on ice and snow... but only for a couple of minutes!

[Aphritha]

I recently walked on ice and snow... but only for a couple of minutes!

I've been doing this alot lately. I am extrodinarily lazy when it comes to hunting up my boots, and so if I need to take the trash out or grab something out of the car, I just go barefoot. My feetsies are getting desensitized. I even got very angry the other night and paced up and down the sidewalk shoeless...I was too upset to care to find my shoes, and I didn't even notice my feet! Not sure if this was due to my feet having adjusted to winter, adrenaline, or a mixture of both...

[willow myst]

I actually love walking barefoot in towns and cities, the streets are swept daily in most centres and I love the different textures and the smooth feel of stone, concrete and other flooring. I find supermarket shopping much less stressful in bare feet as I am more comfortable and the cool feel of the flooring is quite calming.
I always wear vibram barefoot shoes now, I recently had an ankle reconstruction and my surgeon loved my shoes. He said he wished he could issue them on the NHS to everyone in his clinic.
I have also been to a few specialist barefoot trails which have different surfaces such as clay, stones etc i would love to do my garden like that so that walking round it barefoot was a sensory experience instead of the mud bath it is now! Lol.

BB
Willow Myst

[Aphritha]

I actually love walking barefoot in towns and cities, the streets are swept daily in most centres and I love the different textures and the smooth feel of stone, concrete and other flooring. I find supermarket shopping much less stressful in bare feet as I am more comfortable and the cool feel of the flooring is quite calming.
I always wear vibram barefoot shoes now, I recently had an ankle reconstruction and my surgeon loved my shoes. He said he wished he could issue them on the NHS to everyone in his clinic.
I have also been to a few specialist barefoot trails which have different surfaces such as clay, stones etc i would love to do my garden like that so that walking round it barefoot was a sensory experience instead of the mud bath it is now! Lol.

BB
Willow Myst

Streets swept daily? You can go into the grocery store barefoot? Barefoot trails? This all sounds heavenly....

[willow myst]

Hi,
I'm in the uk and happily tromp round Tesco, Asda or any of them barefoot. The best day for shopping in a town center barefoot is the day after market day as they really go over the streets well to clean up after the markets.

There is a couple of nice barefoot walks in Staffordshire and I visited a lovely one near Paderborn, Germany that had a lovely long walk several km in distance surrounded by lovely grass you could picnic on and a natural stream that you kept wading across as you walked round.

[Aphritha]

That sounds amazing. They hardly ever sweep streets here, and never sidewalks...I risk it and barefoot anyways but it would be wonderful to not have to watch my step.
That's definitely a blessing you have.

[AidenAiden]

Me and my wife daily go to the park nearest my home.15 to 20 minute walk there.No doubt it is healthier for the feet by reducing the risk of chronic injuries.