Walking with bare feet offers many benefits to your well-being and health. This healthfulness is due to the grounding properties of the earth and the electrical activities it provides. Often, allowing your bare feet to connect with the planet is referred to as earthing, as well.
With shoes on, the benefits aren’t able to make it into your body. The energy has to go directly from the earth into your bare skin to be effective.
Since shoes are so normal and the benefits of them are often discussed and advertised, earthing tends to be forgotten. Humankind generally believes that wearing shoes is more beneficial, but this is not the case. It can cause pain, instability, and loss of strength.
Even more surprising, wearing shoes can prevent the earth from making you healthier. Grounding can lead to increased immunity, disease prevention, and many other beneficial situations.
Surprising Benefits of Walking with Bare Feet
Once you learn about them all, you’ll be ready to take on the barefoot lifestyle right away.
1. Improves Sleeping Habits
Studies published by the National Institutes of Health shows that letting your feet touch the ground can improve your sleep. The studies show that it changes the electrical activity in the brain, allowing for feelings of well-being and relaxation. The practice of earthing or grounding should be done for at least a couple of minutes each day.
Additionally, earthing helps reset your biological clock, which contributes to developing healthy sleep patterns. Once your biological clock has been reset and you’ve relaxed, you’ll be able to normalize your sleep schedule. If you’ve been having trouble sleeping, taking a walk without shoes on might be your best option.
2. Helps Reduce Pain
In the same ways that touching your feet to the earth improves sleep, it also reduces pain in your body. The electrical brain activity provided from the universe will make it so that you don’t feel pain as severely. It can help with sore muscles and headaches, plus it can reduce the severity and length of migraines.
This pain reduction initially comes from grounding the body and reducing free radicals. Other painful situations can be alleviated come from the way a person carries themselves, otherwise known as their gait. Walking barefoot helps reduce pain because often back, knee and hip pain stem from a person’s improper gait.
Some shoes may cause a person to walk improperly or hinder their posture and balance, throwing off their gait. By walking with bare feet, this can be avoided, and you’ll walk the way nature intended for you. Allowing yourself to walk naturally will also help reduce or prevent pain in your feet, legs, hips, and neck.
Wearing shoes also cause other painful and uncomfortable foot ailments that can lead to further problems. These ailments include, but are not limited to, bunions, corns, calluses, fissures, and hammertoes. With these issues affecting nearly 75% of Americans each year, this is something many can benefit from.
3. Reduces Stress Levels
As with the others, this relies on the electrical brain activity that results from grounding. Since it allows you to relax, you’ll feel less stressed. Pair that with the improved sleep you’ll be getting, and you’re sure to be much less stressed.
Plus, earthing helps to regulate emotions and bring balance to the nervous system, both of which affect stress. This can help decrease both stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms rather quickly. The more time you spend outside without shoes, the more that the earth’s charge can benefit you in this way.
4. Contributes to Positive Brain Development
The more you walk outside without shoes on, the better your senses develop. You’ll become more alert, noticing sounds and things around you that normally wouldn’t. This helps you stay present at the moment, instead of letting your mind wander.
It also helps you notice small details, sharpening your eyesight and allowing you to focus more quickly. Plus, it stimulates your senses of touch and hearing since you’ll be fully in tune with your surroundings. The fresh air and scents of nature will heighten your sense of smell, as well.
5. Your Feet Will Be Stronger
Despite some people believing that walking barefoot may be painful or dangerous, this isn’t the case. Instead, walking without shoes on will make your feet stronger. It also teaches you to be more aware of your surroundings, leading you to avoid stepping on something dangerous.
Wearing shoes also weaken feet and ankles, because you’re making them dependent on artificial support. When you have no shoes on, the muscles in your legs, ankles, toes, and feet are stimulated, making them stronger.
Not only will they be stronger, but they’ll look better, too, because they will be more toned. You’ll also be less likely to get injured because of the development of strength and balance.
6. Improves Blood Function and Helps Reduce Heart Disease
High blood viscosity, which is a thickening of the blood, is a contributor to heart disease. When the blood gets too thick, it causes clumping in the cells. Earthing can lead to a decrease in blood viscosity, helping to prevent or lessen the risk of developing heart disease.
Additionally, it can help with hormone regulation and lessen symptoms of menstruation. This has to do with the pain-reducing properties, but it also has to do with improved blood function.
7. Foot Massage
The unevenness of the ground caused by small pebbles, stones, and rifts have the same effectiveness as a foot massage. As the feet are massaged, energy will be able to flow freely through the body.
Since walking without shoes gives you a free foot massage, it’s important to know the benefits of a foot massage. These benefits include, but are not limited to, the following:
- blood circulation improvement
- relaxing
- helps with sleeping
- reduces pain in the body
- improves your mood
- decreases feelings of depression
- improves foot health
- reduces swelling in the feet
8. Reduces Risk and Development of Osteoporosis
Studies show that earthing can change the number of minerals and electrolytes in the blood. Furthermore, the studies show that urine and blood tests showed less calcium and phosphorus being excreted.
These results came after just one night, showing that less calcium and phosphorus are lost from the body. Since osteoporosis develops and worsens as mare of these minerals are lost, it directly impacts the risk. The more often you go without shoes, the more your risk decreases.
9. Helps Treat Diabetes Mellitus and Thyroid Disease
People who take anti-diabetic drugs to treat non-insulin-dependent diabetes showed improvement through earthing. After only a few days, fasting glucose levels could be greatly decreased.
Earthing also affects the hepatic, hypothalamus, and pituitary gland, all of which directly affect the thyroid. For those who suffer from hypothyroidism, wearing no shoes can stimulate the thyroid and increase free thyroxin.
10. Strengthens the Immune System and Gives Energy
Because it increases red blood cell counts and lowers the number of white blood cells, it improves immunity. You’ll be better able to fight off any viruses or bacteria that may cause you to become ill. Plus, it’ll help prevent you from contributing immune-related diseases.
When you are feeling well, energy is essential to keep feeling that way. The ground emits higher frequencies, which help increase the energy levels of those who connect with it.
Things to Keep in Mind About Walking in Bare Feet
With all of these benefits, you might be tempted to kick your shoes off and get started right now. If your feet aren’t used to this, though, you may want to ease yourself into it. This discomfort is because your foot and ankle strength may not be where they should be.
You should first go without shoes for small increments of time. As you build your balance and strength, you can do it for longer times. You could also do yoga, which will help build the strength that you need.
You should also be careful of the terrain you are walking on. Rocky areas may have sharp rocks that could cut your feet. You should also avoid areas that have broken items, areas with nails or glass, and slippery areas.
Some areas don’t provide the grounding benefits, either, so you can avoid those, as well. These surfaces include the following:
- asphalt
- wood
- rubber
- plastic
- vinyl
- tar
- tarmac
- sand
- concrete
- ceramic
Final Thoughts on Surprising Benefits of Walking with Bare Feet
Walking with bare feet has so many surprising benefits. You are likely shocked that you didn’t know how beneficial it is sooner. With shoes being so highly praised, though, grounding is often forgotten or ignored.
Now that you know all of the benefits, you’ll want to spend time earthing each day. Remember to ease yourself into it if your feet aren’t used to being bare. The benefits will begin quickly, and you’ll soon be healthier, more energetic, and have a better feeling of well-being.
The next time you are walking through your yard, make sure to go barefoot. Before you know it, you’ll do it without a second thought, and you’ll begin to notice the benefits at work.
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