I am often asked why the bare feet?
The answer is neither a simple one nor straight forward. I started going barefoot in July 2011 after a week long course with Ben Rayner, “Into The Heart Of The Earth”. During this course Ben encouraged us all to go barefoot. The reason being that with bare feet you move through nature with a minimum impact, bare feet also gives us a direct and physical connection with the planet, it is a natural state for us, it’s only modern life that puts rubber soles on our feet and insulates us from the natural energies of the planet.
Didn’t indigenous people have footwear? Yes they did but the footwear that they had was designed to maintain that connection, made from natural materials and normally thin enough so that you can still feel every step that you take. I too have one such set of footwear, a pair of traditional moccasins, made from Elk hide; a very strong and durable leather, made to a traditional design, in the traditional way and made by my own fair hand! Wearing the moccasins really is no different from going barefoot!
There is also a style of walking that you should adopt when going barefoot, again this style of walking is designed to minimises the impact of each foot fall not just on nature but also on the human body. Basically it involves walking toe to heel not heel to toe, it is a little more involved than that, but that’s the idea.
I have found that being barefoot causes me to slow down my walking, allowing me to experience fully everything that a pass through, bringing me more into the Now. I also find that it grounds me and energises me as I walk, once on the move I rarely physically get cold feet.
To be honest going barefoot makes me feel alive, it makes me feel part of my surroundings, a part of nature, a part of the planet and not just someone passing through. Barefoot is becoming a way of life just as it was for our ancestors all those millennia ago, a perfectly natural way to live.
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