Spring is an excellent time to start exploring the natural environment, & what better way can there be than taking off our shoes & using our feet the way nature intended.
I started my personal barefoot transition in the spring just five years ago.
The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that human feet are for more capable than most people imagine.
And the best advice I can give is to “take your time!”
Don’t rush the transition & do more than your body can cope with too soon!
If you want to go on barefoot hikes & take it carefully, you’ll soon be amazed at what you can achieve.
Here is a blog post I wrote in 2011 about transitioning to barefoot.
There are many adjustments for the body to make if shoes have been worn for many years.
Firstly, the tender skin on the soles of the foot needs to thicken and toughen up. The skin on the soles of our feet (and palms of our hands) is unique in that it has the ability to form protective layers. It responds over a period of weeks and months of gradual exposure to rough surfaces. It is best to walk barefoot in the house initially. Then starting outside with soft natural surfaces like sand, soil, leaves, moss and grass. Then increasing the roughness of the surface, including tarmac, and also try to increase the size of the gravel you walk on, till you can tolerate almost any surface.
Depending on how many years you have been in shoes your feet will vary in how long they take to adapt. Some people need…
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