Becoming A Barefoot Family

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After years of suffering with foot pain, I discovered the benefits of going barefoot.  I have since transitioned myself and my children to barefoot compliant footwear and could not be happier.  Check out my barefoot story!

For years and years, I suffered with foot issues – foot pain, numbness, and general discomfort.  Doctor’s blamed years of dancing, my naturally wide feet, not enough arch support, too much arch support…  But no one could fix my foot issues.  I really felt defeated and decided that it was just how it was.

I went for a physical after my second child was born.  During this physical, my doctor commented on how wide my feet were.  She asked if I had any foot pain.

This doctor had been my family doctor since I was a child.  She prescribed my first pair of orthotic insoles for my shoes.  

I told her that my feet had gotten wider during pregnancy and that there was no more pain or discomfort than before I had babies.  Her remedy for my foot pain was that I needed to lose weight (I was 30lbs lighter than I am currently and had just given birth to a 10lb 13oz baby).  I was sick and tired of my foot issues, which have existed long before my weight issues, being blamed on my weight.  I decided that I needed to find a different approach, even though I had no clue what it was.

Fast forward many years.

My husband was listening to the Joe Rogan podcast and Joe was interviewing Katy Bowman.  I immediately fell in love with what I was hearing.

After the podcast, I immediately went on to research Katy Bowman.  Her website, Nutritious Movement, is so full of information and I spent days reading all that my brain could absorb.  I wanted more!

For Christmas last year, I got a Kindle.  The first ebook I bought was Whole Body Barefoot by Katy Bowman.  After reading that book, I knew the solution to my problem was something I was naturally doing – going barefoot.

see my review of Whole Body Barefoot here.

I have always been the type of person to run around in the grass barefoot.

Do you like being able to feel the ground under your feet?

I love the feel of the different textures and different temperatures.  Being a kid, at the cottage, my parents never knew how I could run through the woods barefoot and not stub my toe or get a sliver.  I never hurt myself being barefoot.

As an adult, I caved to the pressure of needing to wear shoes.  No other Moms at the park were walking around with shoes on.  No other adults were walking in the woods barefoot.  Most adults even had flip flops on at the beach!  Why wouldn’t you want to let your feet touch the warm sand?

Of course, there is a time and a place for shoes like at the grocery store!

Reading this book made me realize that it wasn’t just a sensual need to be barefoot, but my feet actually functioned better being barefoot.  I started listening to my intuition and would take my shoes off at the park or on a nature walk through the woods.  It felt fantastic to let my feet function like they should.

Finding Unshoes

I searched and searched for shoes locally that would fit my new concept of being barefoot compliant.  Something lightweight, flexible, with a wide toe box, and something that held onto your foot so you were not gripping the shoe with your toes to keep it in place.

I gave up the local search and found Unshoes online.

At first, I was a little hesitant to spend the money on Unshoes.  This hesitation was mainly because I had never seen a pair in real life.  Being a very tactile person, I like to be able to feel things before I buy them, especially shoes.

I order my first pair of sandals, Keotas, and have been in love since.  I may need to buy more!

It was the middle of winter when I ordered my sandals.  I was longing for summer and my way of manifesting the warm weather to come was to buy my summer shoes on one of the coldest, -40 degrees, days of the winter.  Despite the snow on the ground and the frigid temperatures, I tried my shoes on the moment they arrived.

When they arrived I was very impressed with the quality of the shoes.  Things that had bugged me about cheap sandals in the past, were not present in these shoes.  They were very well designed and felt like they were made with quality materials.  Until I read Whole Body Barefoot, I didn’t even notice that I was gripping my flip flops so aggressively, but my toes immediately relaxed when I was walking in these shoes.  They hold onto your foot and are super comfortable.

After wearing my shoes for over a month, I ordered a pair of sandals for each of my boys.  They each picked a colour and they all love their sandals.

It is funny how you don’t notice little things like how your children walk until it is pointed out to you.  I have noticed a difference in my children’s gait and how they hold themselves wearing these shoes.  Their old sandals, which were closed toe because I was afraid they would stub their toes, were heavy soled, not flexible at all, and cumbersome.  With these shoes, the freedom of movement within their feet was almost instantaneous.

My boys are very much like me, they love running around barefoot.

With their new sandals, they have the freedom of being barefoot without me, as a mom, worrying about what they might step on.  They can still feel the terrain under their feet, but not the sharp poke from a spruce needle or a thistle.

We are now on the hunt for our fall and winter footgear.

I doubt we will able to find a pair of boots that will withstand the -40 degrees snowy winters that we get here in Alberta, Canada, but I will try my best to find something!

If being barefoot is important to you and your family, what kind of shoes do you love?