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Ditch Your Sneaks: Discover The Blissful Power Of Being Barefoot
Dirty Feet Confessions: You Toe-tally Won’t Regret It.
You know how you carry some memories, that are triggered by physical sensations, in your back pocket throughout your life? Well. Bare feet on a wet lawn will always trigger my back pocket memories (and not in a foot-fetishizing way).
I can vividly remember sprinting through the backyard of my childhood home after a light rain.
My toes are slipping just past the cool lush grass to sink into a slightly mushy earth.
The soft ground is
forgiving,
refreshing,
and relaxing.
I look for any excuse, any possibility to kick off my shoes and walk outside barefoot.
And if I’m being honest… I still practice that habit.
Why do I prefer dirty feet?
Why are the pads on my feet tougher than most working men’s hands?
Maybe it’s because I spent so much time barefoot as a child.
Maybe it’s because I take pride in walking on rugged terrain without hesitation.
Maybe it’s because it simply feels good.
…It’s hard to pinpoint an exact reason.
It turns out, there is existing hard evidence that can explain your natural liking to be barefoot. How can the simple act of being barefoot impact our physical and mental state? I’m here to elaborate.
Do Children Benefit From Being Barefoot?
Next time you go outside to garden, read, play with your pup or kids, kick off your shoes. There’s more to the experience besides dirty feet.
Foot Culture
The culture of shoe-wearing differs drastically throughout different regions of the world. Frontiers in Pediatrics decided to explore the physical differences between growing up barefoot versus growing up in shoes (shod).
The participants include children (6-18 years old) from two regions that have contrasting foot cultures. Northern Germany and South Africa. As it is the norm for kids of Northern Germany to wear shoes throughout school time and during their recreational activities, it is also the norm for South African kids to be primarily barefoot throughout their days. [3]
The kids participated in different tests that assessed their balance, jumping, and sprinting abilities.
The Results
Well, it turns out that being either primarily barefoot or shod can play a huge role in developmental motor skills for kids…
Can you believe that habitually barefooted kids between the ages of 6 and 10 years old were found to have better balance? That being said, no differences were found in the adolescent age group.
The primarily barefooted kids within 6-10 and 15-18 years old also had better jumping skills than the shod population. [3]
Use your parental instincts and judgment to decide what territory is and is not worthy of your child’s bare feet.
The Art Of Grounding
Do you ever wonder why you or your kids have such a strong urge to just be barefoot?
Does this natural urge mean something greater than simply letting the dogs breathe?
…Have you heard of grounding?
It’s a practice that involves stepping outside, barefooted, and making contact with the Earth. When your body (holding a different electrical charge than the earth) touches the ground, there’s a transfer of electrical charge.
Ahh. I know what you’re thinking… “Here we go with some hippie advice. Are you going to tell me to stop wearing deodorant too?”
Truth beholds, there is scientific research to back up the art of grounding (and I am in favor of deodorant, but that’s beside the point).
The surface of our planet is an electrically conductive circuit. [1]
Where does the Earth get this charge?
The Sun’s solar energy,
Strong upper atmosphere winds
AND thunderstorms. [1]
What Are The Physical Benefits Of Grounding?
I bet your curiosity is growing.
The ground is powerful enough to change the electrical charge of my body… how does this affect my physical well-being?
In the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, clinical studies concluded that grounding can improve physical health by
Lowering blood viscosity
Decreasing inflammation.
Lower blood viscosity is linked to improved cardiovascular health.
Decreased inflammation is linked to stronger immune systems and pain control.
Can Grounding Improve My Mental State?
Let me take your imagination back to a similar memory that we probably share. It’s a warm, sunny, blue-skied kinda day. You go outside and lay on your lush lawn for an hour or two. Maybe you bring your book with you, maybe a sketch pad… maybe you even take a nap.
When you finally go inside, how do you feel?
At ease?
Restored?
Bliss?
Grounding has a HUGE impact on your parasympathetic nervous system (PNS).
PNS is the part of your brain that regulates the “rest and digest” actions including:
Promoting bodily relaxation,
Saving energy,
AND promoting digestion and urination. [2]
With an improved PNS, grounding will also support a healthier night’s rest!
And in turn, your body develops better stress regulation.
Dirty Soles And Gratified Souls
Go outside, kick off your shoes, and reap the benefits!
Improved balance and jumping skills in children
Improved blood viscosity
Better cardiovascular health
Decreased inflammation
Healthier circadian rhythm
Better stress regulation
If we think about it, there’s no real harm to being barefoot in safe terrain (free from sharp objects, excessively hot surfaces, etc.).
This will increase your connectivity with nature through your sense of touch, whether it’s via some plush grass, gardening dirt, sandy beaches, or lakeside.
Don’t worry, I remember my mother’s rules: always wash your feet with soap in the tub before going to bed.
DISCLAIMER: the soap doesn’t always remove the grass stains.
We hope you enjoyed reading about the power behind bare feet! Sign up for our emailing list to stay up to date with the latest blog posts on (insert backlink to email opt-in page).
Sources:
[1] https://doi.org/10.1089/acm.2011.0820