Walk Softly Nature

A New Barefoot Walking Group, Walk Softly Nature

I became more environmentally aware in some small way when I started walking without shoes. It was during Covid lockdowns and there were two reforested areas near my house that had naturally formed trails that I loved to walk over.

I started picking up broken beer bottles, discarded pizza boxes, cans and plastic bags that would never break down. I didn’t want those jagged bits of glass ending up in my foot, and I didn’t want at rubbish when I walked. I began carrying a rubbish bag and started to notice how cruel we are to our own environments, how cruel we are to ourselves, how disrespectful. I got to know the movement habits of the local alcoholic; the pattern of discarded beer cans they left distributed along the route back to their house from the bottle shop. I began to feel the local forest area was in better shape because I walked in it. It was taking care of me, and I was taking care of it.

One day I can across some smashed toughened glass on a walking trail in the middle of the forest. The jagged tiny squared off bits of glass were being spread along the trail by cyclists riding across them, the glass catching in the tires and spreading further each day. Each time I walked past I picked up some glass. One day a woman saw me and asked me what I was doing. “That will take a long time”, she said and snorted. It took me three months. But the trail was clear and safe to walk on after that.

Sometimes I would go for longer more strenuous walks, other times shorter ones. Sometimes, I would just sit and rest. I noticed the changing of the seasons and the wildlife. The resident fox and bush rats that no longer scurried away when I approached.

One memorable night I did a loop around the forest paths in pouring rain and darkness. There were tiny pairs of eyes staring back at me from the track. I discovered that they were the eyes of dozens of spiders. I was starting to feel part of nature.

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Initially I walked in barefoot shoes. I had been searching for a new pair of hiking boots and came across information about how damaging they could be to feet and posture. This resonated with my experience of hiking boots.

Then I came across a website by Steven Robbins MD. A family doctor in Canada. For some reason, he and some colleagues had done a lot of research on foot function and very generously published the results on his website along with his thoughts on feet and footwear. Essentially, he believes that shoes are dysfunctional body art and are responsible for a whole range of physical health conditions. He also believes that uncomfortable shoes and weak feet are why we want to sit so much, which is also the cause of many health problems. I spent three days reading through all his articles and decided to experiment with taking my shoes off altogether.

I did this first in Spring when it was warm, and the grass was still juicy, green and lush from plentiful rain. Then when I got more courageous, I started walking barefoot through Summer and learned that I needed to carry shoes with me just in case I found myself marooned in a field of pickles with no way out. Then I started walking right through Winter, learning that if I kept the rest of my body warm, my feet could tolerate the cold. I found that I liked walking in winter and in wet conditions most of all.

The transition to barefooted walking must be made mindfully and slowly and is at least partly dependent on age. Research shows that unshod walkers are more stable than shod walkers except for people over 70 years of age who are more stable with shoes on, possibly due to deterioration mechano-receptors on the soles of the feet. My transition has taken about five years, I am 58.

I am amazed that I can now walk easy over uneven bush tracks littered with sticks, leaves and tree roots, and not slip, fall or otherwise hurt myself. It is not only that I don’t hurt myself but afterwards I feel invigorated, renewed, healed and nourished. Plus is it great exercise.

I liked walking barefooted so much that I tried recruiting family and friends to come along but for some “strange” reason no-one seemed interested. I looked at joining a local walking group, but they often had rules that shoes had to be worn. So, I thought about starting my own group. I also found the walking app called Wikiloc, which has a barefoot walking category, and I started logging my walks for others to find and found another barefoot walker on the other side of the country in Perth.

I started talking to some people I know about my idea for a barefoot walking group and they though it was an amazing idea. There was a lot of trouble choosing the name and someday I will put a post about this in the group. These days I am either in barefoot shoes or no shoes at all. I never did buy that pair of walking boots.

Paul

Walk Softly Nature

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