barefooting for health, the *graphical* evidence

i was telling someone today, "oh i was out in the woods hiking and it was pretty wet, so i took my shoes off and walked barefoot for about 2hrs.. and they said. "maybe you should of wore boots"...

WTF1!!!!1.. ggerrrrrrrrr ...

 

the few occasions in which i slip shoes on never match with my hikes, no matter the weather or the season . going hiking shod i feel i am losing most of the good. i often go hiking with shod friends, which i never get to persuade into trying barefooting , not even for half a mile on a dry path of soft , warm dirt (imagine crossing frozen streams or making it up rocky slopes or crossing large mud spots- btw when you're shod mud is a concern, not barefoot )

 

I often go hiking with shod hikers, and after two years i have convinced them that hiking barefoot is safe, healthy, fun and a general performance enhancement, as they often struggle to keep up on the longer walks, weighed down by their heavy boots.
However, they will not go barefoot themselves, or even wear sandals.
They were born and raised in a shod culture and the psychological comfort of shoes outweighs the physical discomfort of blisters, bunions, plantar fasciitis, hammer toes, athletes foot and tired, aching legs and feet.
They will never learn.

Then there are high heeled shoes. They cause pain, injury and long term disability, yet women love them, pay big bucks for them and celebrate their designers.
Words fail me!!

 

:iagree:
someone digs south park ? remember that episode in which everybody was plagued with blood stained underpants because of 'Chipotle mex food' and using "Chipotl-away" to clean them instead of breaking the habit ? totally loved that.
about high heels... go take a look at the feet of old, once classy ladies and die.

 

So that's why I have such wide feet. Also shoes are now made to fit our feet quite properly and can be rather comfortable if one buys a good pair. So, there's no longer much shock value to be had with this subject.

 

ok , then explain me why in the wealthy corner of the world people's feet are all the like of picture 2 , narrower and with bundled toes and no one has properly spaced toes. about your naive belief that "shoes are now made to fit our feet quite properly" i am sorry to shake your good faith but this point is controversial. studies sustain that a true ergonomic shoe is yet to be designed and beside that there are legions of people marching in the cheap shoes they can afford, high heels, and really nice and expensive traditional leather shoes that aren't ergonomic by the least bit. then there is another issue which is called foot perspiration: sneakers may be more comfortable than formal dressing shoes but they suck in that regard. i had lots of them , chosen among the finest brands, but no one was able to cope with my fierce foot perspiration. after one day shod , summer or winter , my socks turn into devices for chemical warfare. no, there is not yet such thing as a perfect shoe in my opinion, only better shoes than others.

 

If people wear shoes that are not the shape of your feet, for years, then of course they will affect the shape of your foot. Like those tiny pointed horrors. But, plenty of people wear shoes and have perfectly fine and healthy feet.

 

This was my point.

 

This is the crucial point: I believe that an overwhelming majority of people in the world, not just the western countries, has slightly to heavily malformed feet, the cause being constrictive shoes applied early and for the whole duration of childhood that cause a whole host of different illnesses like: athletes foot, allux valgus, blood circulation issues, flat feet, bundled and malformed toes, spine injuries, atrophy of feet and calves muscles, unbalanced muscular development, unnatural gait, plantar fasciitis, and if it is really bad shoes even direct injury in the form of abrasions, calluses, inflammations of the achilles tendon etc. I always used good shoes, mostly sneakers or quality leather boots and had several of those problems altogether for most of my life. being barefoot cured all of them for good.

 

I think this thread could've benefited from more words in the original post, and a lack of the lotus pictures.

You've explained your position since then, quite well; but I think the beginning has doomed you.

 

ditto. though I find a terrific pleasure from being barefoot i still love my old boots that could be really useful into some circumstances when protection is the first concern. i don't really "hate" shoes, only i find that being shod all the time is more troubles than good sides once you got accustomed to the bare. unfortunately after years spent mostly barefoot, boots don't fit anymore. i can barely slip them on without socks and still they hurt , this thing leading eventually to their dismission. my feet, left free to adjust themselves and regain functionality , really "told" me that my boots, along with other shoes i cannot use anymore, were detrimental. feet should not adapt themselves to shoes, it's shoes that should fit _perfectly_ from the beginning.