I was always the wild child with scabby knees and tousled hair, mud between my toes. The road we lived on can best be described as a dirt track where we ran about barefoot until it was time for dinner and then again before a warm bath to wash off the dirt as best we could. We had no TV except for the small black and white box my mum would rent every summer for two weeks to watch Wimbledon, and the dialup internet took five minute to fire up, so outside was by far the best place to be. I remember sitting on a wooden toadstool in kindergarten tying knots in my shoelaces because I hadn’t figured out the bow thing yet. Proud of my long row of knots, I finally headed outside, only to be faced by all the red smiling faces running in from the cold. I was too late. These events, and many others, made me a fan of the barefoot way of life.
Somehow, as we all do, I learnt to wear shoes. We are taught that shoes protect us, however recently there has been a surge in both science and wellness as to the advantages of being barefoot. Barefoot running for example has a number of benefits, from injury recovery to boosts in emotion. Special barefoot running shoes have been created by brands such as Adidas and Vivobarefoot, to simulate the real barefoot experience whilst protecting your precious tootsies from harm.
As a child, nature was my home. Slowly, as an adult life has taken over, I am less inclined to climb a tree or jump in a puddle, but allowing myself the freedom of running barefoot opens up this world again. Suddenly I feel grounded and connected, noticing the improvement of my proprioception and tracking my thoughts and feelings into the earth. I am connected to the Earth’s rhythms, meaning I can sleep better and switch off more easily from the daily grind. Being barefoot doesn’t have to mean I am that wild scabby kneed child again, or that I’m a full blown hippy, it just means that I allow myself for a moment, to feel truly free, and that in itself is healing.
