Kick your shoes off

Have you ever felt inspired to kick your shoes off in the most inappropriate places and walk barefoot outside?… I have many a time.

Of course, most of us know what it feels like to get to the seaside, take off whatever footwear we have on and sink our feet into the sand… that would seem like a normal and acceptable thing to do wouldn’t it?

I’ve burnt my feet on hot sands in overseas countries and on a hot pavement in Australia, when backpacking in my teens. Not good.

I stopped barefoot walking outside after I became aware that I might actually seriously hurt my feet on something even worse, like a lethal snake or a spider at the time. There aren’t so many dangers like that in the UK, but nevertheless, I stopped.

Health Benefits

A few years ago, a National Trust warden that I know, asked if I had heard about the health benefits of barefoot walking. I hadn’t, other than I used to do a lot of it in my teens, because it felt nice, when I had less “self-preservation awareness”.

So, it’s a thing… barefoot walking outside. When you do a quick search online, you’ll see plenty of sites advocating the health benefits of barefoot walking outside. Obviously, it comes with a level of awareness and common sense of where to do it.

Knowing that walking barefoot on the grass, is believed to help reduce inflammation in the joints and improves balance, twisting my ankle recently, spurred me back in to giving it a try. 

I’m so glad I did. Once I re-researched the benefits, I discovered a wider list of health benefits that barefoot walking outside is purported to support: Reduces stress, better sleep, helps prevent varicose veins, improved body balance, reduced cortisol levels, free foot massage, improved posture, stronger feet, balances hormones.

For me, getting outside to reconnect with nature, especially during and after a busy day on the telephone or laptop, really helps me regain a sense of balance and quickly. It just seems to work, like magic. 

By taking your shoes off and also being very aware of where you place each step, ‘no sharp stones please’, helps you also stay present and focused in the now moment. 

This is a very helpful ‘state’ to put yourself in to, because it means that the busy mind, which can so easily get distracted or overloaded by vast quantities of incoming information or all that internal chatter, can be trained to slow down and create space.

Creating a greater sense of spaciousness in our minds and therefore our bodies too is a good thing… just think about it, who wants to feel like they are running a marathon in their mind every day, with all that filtering and processing of internal and external “noise”?…

Reconnect with nature

For me, taking my shoes off and consciously choosing to slow down to walk barefoot in nature, in often unfamiliar territories, helps create the spaciousness in my mind and body that helps me top up my feel good feelings, in a really grounded way – and quickly.

Yes, I have to avoid those stones, shards of glass and even the odd doggie doo doo but, in doing so, I feel connected, present, relaxed and better able to face the rest of my day in an even more positive way and if it’s nearly sunset time, I know I’ll get an even better night’s sleep.

Why not try it and see what happens to your sense of wellbeing? Ignore the funny looks you might get for returning to a natural state of being and instead stay focused on keeping your feet safe, one step at a time. It might just be a helpful health game changer ☺

Here I am, on the Preseli Hills, the day after twisting my ankle (in my lovely smart long boots). The swelling disappeared 24 hours later after this, along with some sound therapy and CBD oil lovingly massaged in.