Now, today we have a very interesting topic that will change how we view things henceforth. Growing up, and I know many of us who grew up in the villages can bear me witness, walking barefoot was very normal and it still is. Unfortunately we walked barefoot because we could not afford a pair of shoes oblivious of the many benefits we were getting from just walking bare on the sand and grass! And did we really care about cracked heels? I bet we didn’t! Now we have developed even in terms of research and it is now obvious that walking barefoot is actually healthy and that is what we will be looking at today. Let’s learn together and kama kawaida, we engage in the comment section.
In your foot, you have 26 bones and 33 joints in 19 different muscles. It’s a very highly complex part of your body that allows you to move and it supports your entire body weight.
Shoes are
very unnatural and they compress your toes. Naturally, the toes should be wider
and when you're constantly compressing them then that creates a lot of problems
with your gait, balance, muscles, calves and your feet and that translates up
to the knees. Wearing shoes actually increases the risk of getting knee pain and
low back pain just because of the altered dynamics of your feet.
Wearing shoes
means raising the foot above the ground so we're losing communication with the
ground making things very unstable and so the bottom of your foot is really not
communicating with the ground making things very unstable. The bottom of your feet
communicates with the ground through a
sponge like cushion and if you wear a high heel that's even worse. Since you
spend most of the day in shoes, it's very important to get shoes that are very comfortable.
The most recommend
are those shoes that fit in the category of the barefoot
footwear, shoes that are closer to the ground and provide more space for
the toes. They’re wider and they're much more comfortable and they force the
foot to work harder which is a good thing because it creates more stability. Wearing
the wrong type of shoes in general causes the reduction of range of motion and they
increase the temperature of your feet so basically “cook” your feet in this
small space and create knee adduction. This means the knees tend to go
inward and that can throw off the dynamics of the knee increasing the risk of
knee pain and low back pain. Your Achilles tendon becomes stiffer, that's the
tendon in the back part of the lower ankle and affects your ability to move and
play sports. It also reduces your circulation and it can even shorten the calf
length and create atrophy of your muscles in your calf.
If you
wear high heels, there's one study done that shows that if your heel is greater
than five centimeters and you wear it for over two years, there's a significant
reduction in the size and strength of your calf muscles. The longer you wear
these types of shoes, you lose the strength of your foundation which can affect
the rest of the body because the ankle bone is connected to the knee bone which
connects to the hip bone. There are two things that can be recommended:
First look for a shoe that has less
of a heel that's closer to the ground and that provides more space on your toes
so you can have more stability.
Second, start walking barefoot on the
grass and the sand this is a very therapeutic exercise. This will make your
feet get stronger and you're going to notice that there's much less stress on
your joints.
So what are the benefits
of walking barefoot?
Walking
barefooted is going to provide lots of benefits and these benefits are at
different levels. Physical, mental and even spiritual!
Physically it is
believed that the earth has a magnetic field and so do human beings so when you
walk barefoot on the ground, your magnetic field naturally becomes aligned with
the earth's magnetic field and you experience a sense of harmony in your body. Your
feet has so many nerve endings and when these nerve endings are given pressure
by walking barefoot on uneven natural surfaces such as stones, it has positive
and healing effect on the body.
Psychologically walking barefoot also called grounding or earthling
energizes your root chakra and therefore provides relief from anxiety,
depression and other mood related disorders. Walking barefoot in water or on the grass
which is drenched in morning dew is extremely rejuvenating. This can instantly upswing
your mood and bring enthusiasm to all your activities. Walking barefoot not
only improves the blood circulation but also allows the body mind soul complex
to absorb a positive energy of the earth
When we live with such a reverence for nature we learn
to live in harmony with our natural environment in our day to day life. Cultivate
the habit of walking barefoot in your house or outside at least for 15 minutes
and experience some or all of these benefits.
Now, next time you see someone walking barefoot in the streets like Dr. Hamisi Kote Ali, the Founder and C.E.O of The Human Garage, try not to laugh them off because this is how we should all be walking – barefoot. And as the Dr. Hamisi quotes, “pain is not a lifestyle.” Until next time, it’s a goodbye for now.
https://youtu.be/JQo_edypQOE
Enlightened
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