It took 4 million years of evolution to perfect the human foot. But we’re wrecking it with every step we take.

Walking is easy. It’s so easy that no one ever has to teach you how to do it. It’s so easy, in fact, that we often pair it with other easy activities—talking, chewing gum—and suggest that if you can’t do both simultaneously, you’re some sort of insensate clod. So you probably think you’ve got this walking thing pretty much nailed. As you stroll around the city, worrying about the economy, or the environment, or your next month’s rent, you might assume that the one thing you don’t need to worry about is the way in which you’re strolling around the city.

Well, I’m afraid I have some bad news for you: You walk wrong.

Look, it’s not your fault. It’s your shoes. Shoes are bad. I don’t just mean stiletto heels, or cowboy boots, or tottering espadrilles, or any of the other fairly obvious foot-torture devices into which we wincingly jam our feet. I mean all shoes. Shoes hurt your feet. They change how you walk. In fact, your feet—your poor, tender, abused, ignored, maligned, misunderstood feet—are getting trounced in a war that’s been raging for roughly a thousand years: the battle of shoes versus feet...

Tags: barefooting, health, science
Current Mood: curious

Most of the hikers who have ever lived have gone barefoot. Throughout history shoes have been expensive or unknown. Naked feet quickly adapt to stones, twigs, and cold. I've hiked alongside thousands of barefoot hikers, and there's little terrain they can't comfortably negotiate. However the forced-shoeless will immediately adopt a pair of flip-flop sandals for a bit of cushion if given a chance. So why would the well-heeled give up shoes on the trail? Barefoot hikers answer: "The soles of our feet function as wonderful sensory organs and the myriad of sensations from earth, grass, moss, pine-needles and other ground textures can both fascinate and delight. Barefoot Hikers appreciate their "vistas" of ground textures as much as others hikers enjoy their vistas of hills, mountains, forests and plains. Walking barefoot adds a rewarding tactile dimension to any outdoor hike."

Tags: barefooting, exercise, nature
Current Mood: happy
Voices in my Head: "Belaboring the Obvious" by Spider Robinson