In order to gain super powers, or at least overcome one's own weaknesses you got to embark on your own quest. Congratulations! By reading this post you have started on your journey to greatness! Fame, Glory, Honor are waiting for you along the way, so stick with it. Whispers: “I believe in you!”
To start, we must recognize the problem at hand: in developed countries there is a very high likelihood of injury while running, and walking. You may have noticed this from your own experience or from the experiences of others. The solution? Learn to run like our ancestors, with bare feet or very thin flexible shoes. More on this later...
The Accident:
I first was awakened to this strange fact after I started looking for solutions to my own hiking related problems. Growing up I was always prone to ankle and knee injuries. My loving all knowing parents assured me this was normal in our family (unfortunately true), and that we were just not meant to run (gladly false). I did Boy Scouts as a teanager with my local church congregation (loved every moment of it) and that helped me get into hiking our Utah mountains and finding crazy, YouTube approved, adventures with my friends (we always told our parents after the fact. They were ok since their was no drugs/sex/or alcohol involved). We got injured often, always taking it in stride, and recovered quickly. Until we didn’t.
Hiking down the side of a mountain January 1, 2015 with friends - we were feeling anti social that New Years Eve, so diched the world and went camping - wearing a heavy pack with all my winter gear, I hyperextended both knees severely, slipping on the hard ice packed trail. I slid the rest of the way down the trail back to the car to avoid further injury. At home my knees were never the same. They always ached, would swell up if over used. Over the coming months my knees didn’t recover especially the right one, and would drop me with pain if I tried to even walk the block.
Three months later I also suffered a severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) after getting thrown from a horse. My knees became a low priority for doctors.
The Guide:
Somewhere in the rehabilitation process from my TBI I was seen by a physical therapist helping me getting back into exercising. I asked him about my knees. This guy was a miracle and, without meaning to, started me on my barefoot journey.
He said that my knees and ankles were weak and thus not being used correctly causing injury. I had a weak body, causing bad form, weakening the body further. He prescribed some exercises to help work them out similar to a knee replacement patient would get after surgery. He also recommended that I work my way up to walking and hiking again to help my TBI recovery.
The Epiphany:
The epiphany came at home as I researched how to get into running with my pre-existing problems. Somewhere on the internet and in books, I discovered barefoot walking. Barefoot experts prescribed almost identical exercises as my physical therapist. They explained how to strengthen my feet and legs, and even taught proper (barefoot) running form.
I was skeptical at first, but the logic resonated with me. They argued that for most of human history people have been going barefoot. We only put on shoes to protect us from unfriendly environments (ie: ice, snow, rocky mountains, or cactus thorns). Humans, like all critters, evolved our own effective transportation methods. Over the past century as our shoes got thicker, heals higher, and more "supportive" foot ware, our feet, calves and bodies became softer, more injury prone. The best way to counter this? Physical therapy! Especially taking off our heavily padded shoes - our high heels, and start walking "barefoot" with a shorter more natural stride.
I was skeptical at first, and after trying a walk around the block barefoot, I was sold. My knees didn't hurt! The worst pain I had was the sols of my feet not having proper calluses, and my metatarsals getting a proper workout for once!
Life After:
From there it was a long barefoot road of self discovery. I learned that my young self was right, that it was actually comfier to go barefoot everywhere. My child brain had recognized that as long as I was un-shod I could run and play injury free, only to have society force my feet into clunky shoes for then unknown reasons. I learned that my body was actually built to run/walk/explore for long periods of time.
The best part: my knees don't hurt when I don't heel strike in my walking/running. I can go miles with a normal barefoot gate.
I experience all the normal side effects like straightening toes, wider anatomically-correct feet, elation reawakening to the feeling of the ground under my soles, weird looks for talking about barefoot life with people, love of all forms of pedestrian travel, etc… #noregrets!
Back to You:
Now it's your turn! Send me your email for your free copy of our Six Steps to Transition to Barefoot Life and begin your barefoot journey today! My story is by no means a comprehensive guide to transitioning to barefoot, it’s a process, like learning any new sport. That's why I will provide you with a free copy Six Steps to Transition to Barefoot Life, because I remember all the little road blocks I ran into in my journey, and had I not had a guide, I probebly would have given up. Please know that transitioning to barefoot works. There are many people like you out there who have had similar life experiences, and have discovered the many benefits of a barefoot lifestyle.
We live in a disconnected world. So much of society relies on the whims of a few big marketing agencies to tell them what's good for them without ever listening to there body, or their inner voice which actually has their best at hart. Going barefoot is something deep down we all admire in a person, because we want that life to be ours!
Nothing ever happens unless you do it! Take the advice of Nike's marketing teem and "Just do it!" Transitioning to barefoot will change your life for the better, and it starts one step at a time.
It is true that: Happy Feet = Happy Life.