Any other Barefooters out there? - Page 8

[trmpetplaya]

:

My dh has flat feet. They used to be much worse, but now that he's going barefoot most of the time they have started to actually develop arches. So from personal experience, barefooting definitely helps develop arches Dh also wore shoes almost all the time as a child. I never wore shoes. He has flat feet and I have lovely arches. Might be partly hereditary, but probably has something to do with how much we wore shoes as children.

Dh also has never been able to run because of his flat feet, but he can run barefoot

love and peace.

[mother nurture]

No experiences w/ flat feet-so, I am no help!!

Hope you mamas are having a good one.

Peace

[spiderdust]

Anyone have any opinions on Chaco sandals for those times when you can't get away without shoes?

[Past_VNE]

I thought Chacos were way too heavy and more formed and stiffer than any of the other all terrain sandals I've tried. I did not like them at all, despite their following. I figure the people who love them aren't used to flexible, lightweight and 'low-support' shoes and don't know what they're missing.

[trmpetplaya]

I've never even heard of Chacos.... but as far as not being able to get away with going barefoot, I've found that most places don't care. We went out to pizza the other night barefoot and nobody said one word. I was nursing my almost 8 month old while we were both barefoot in the pizza parlour Not a word was said to us though...

The local grocery store is fine with us being barefoot too. I think it helps that dh also goes barefoot. Since there are two of us, maybe people don't think it's as odd Dd is always barefoot too, but most of the time her feet are hidden in the sling.

I really like the nomadic sandals! I wore them once because I was late and in a hurry to get to the piano lessons I teach (I walk to my students' house) and then I was walking to the rummage sale I helped out at afterwards and the road is this terrible rough pavement so I have to go slow barefoot and needed to get there by lunch time so I was in a hurry again. I could still feel the pavement somewhat through the sandals so it was like halfway between barefoot and shoes. Very cool! They are so incredibly lightweight too!

My record is now 6 days without sandals. I only broke my (first) 4 day streak by wearing sandals for 10 minutes and then my (second) 4 day streak by wearing sandals for about 30 minutes and then my 6 day streak I broke because of being late for piano lessons so that was for about an hour. One hour and forty minutes of shoe-wearing in 2 weeks. Not bad! My feet feel great!

love and peace.

[itsang]

Originally Posted by trmpetplaya

My record is now 6 days without sandals. I only broke my (first) 4 day streak by wearing sandals for 10 minutes and then my (second) 4 day streak by wearing sandals for about 30 minutes and then my 6 day streak I broke because of being late for piano lessons so that was for about an hour. One hour and forty minutes of shoe-wearing in 2 weeks. Not bad!

6 days? you go, trmpetplaya!!

[paxye]

Originally Posted by trmpetplaya

. Might be partly hereditary, but probably has something to do with how much we wore shoes as children.

I never wore shoes as a child either... I hated them and would even sneak out without shoes in the winter... but of course when we mved to Montreal my mom wouldn't let me go barefoot as much because it was the "big City"...

I am also on a great streak of being barefoot... I haven't worn my sandals since the thursday before last... I have gotten a few comments but more questions... and it feels SO good!!

[trmpetplaya]

Originally Posted by paxye

I am also on a great streak of being barefoot... I haven't worn my sandals since the thursday before last... I have gotten a few comments but more questions... and it feels SO good!!

Doesn't it feel wonderful??? Dh and I walked through the 3rd of July streetfair barefoot just a little while ago and it was amazing that we were the only ones. We got some stares and no comments. We ended up going to the grocery store and coming back home by way of a shortcut over a gravel parking lot (to avoid the crowds, we'll see enough crowds tomorrow) and it was no big deal It was the really nasty sharp gravel too, but it didn't bother us.

I think that most people don't even think twice about wearing shoes. It's just what people do and everyone assumes there's a good reason for it (even though there really aren't many reasons to...). I love walking all over town barefoot because then maybe I'm helping at least one person think about the social norm and question whether shoes really are necessary. Maybe if they question this, then they'll question other social norms they might otherwise take for granted

love and peace.

[Lexi_029]

I am always barefoot too. I have an extra large purse to carry a pair of flip-flops in just in case I get yelled at to put my shoes on in a store but otherwise I'm barefoot.

[spiderdust]

The not being able to get away with being barefoot today had more to do with hot pavement than store regulations. I burned my wee feet walking back to the car!

[mother nurture]

Originally Posted by spiderdust

The not being able to get away with being barefoot today had more to do with hot pavement than store regulations. I burned my wee feet walking back to the car!

ouch mama !! Even w/ all my years of going barefoot almost everywhere I did this the other day I was walking from my car to the beach and the asphault was SO HOT! I burned my feet and actually had some blisters on them. As much as I being barefoot, I had to wear some sandals on the way back to the car (sweet dh went back and got me some). I was, however, able to walk barefoot even on the blisters

Last night we went to a festival in a small fishing town. There was an awesome band playing there. Dd and I danced the night away in our barefeet!

[trmpetplaya]

The 4th of July parade and booths and such were great! I saw a lady that I know and one of her little girls was barefoot. I told her daughter that I liked her shoes and her little sister asked to take her shoes off too So there were five of us (dh, dd, me, and the two girls) barefoot, listening to the community band! Good times

Dh cut his toe this morning. Of course he was wearing sandals and riding his bike... so it wasn't barefoot, but maybe shoes are useful for biking Do any of you bike in sandals? The only pair of shoes I own is a pair of clogs that wouldn't be good for biking... I don't know if I would be comfortable enough to bike barefoot or if it's safe. Something to look into?

love and peace.

[nolonger]

The only time I wear shoes any more is when I'm on the bike. My dd rides in her $1.99 flip-flops. She owns several other pairs of shoes, but she doesn't wear them.

I burned my feet quite badly about a week or two ago and had HUGE blisters on the soles. I was completely stranded until dd came home from school and I could use the bike because I couldn't walk anywhere.

My soles healed up amazingly quickly, though; I think it was within two days, three at the most. I still had blisters between my toes and in the other places that the shoes caused before I began going barefoot outside in public.

[mother nurture]

Originally Posted by noordinaryspider

I burned my feet quite badly about a week or two ago and had HUGE blisters on the soles. I was completely stranded until dd came home from school and I could use the bike because I couldn't walk anywhere.

My soles healed up amazingly quickly, though; I think it was within two days, three at the most. I still had blisters between my toes and in the other places that the shoes caused before I began going barefoot outside in public.

Wow mama. That sounds quite painful. I'm glad that you also healed well.

The 4th was wonderful! We just went over to another family we are friendly w/'s house. Me and dd went barefoot and dh wore some hemp sandals. But, they came off as soon as we got inside. This family is barefoot most of the time, especially the girls. The one is my student and she is always running around barefoot at school. We had music on and all the girls were dancing around barefoot all night. The best, though was when their youngest dd (my student who is 4) was dancing around the yard w/ sparklers barefoot. We got lots of pics.

Growing up w/ a summer beach home I actually biked barefoot a lot. I did occasionally wear sandals. Those rides, though, were more leisure rides and not very FAST exercise rides.

On a similar subject...I try to go walking and running 3 times a week. For this I wear sneakers: However, I do the feel of running barefoot. I went to visit some family a couple months ago and forgot my sneaks and ran barefoot, unfortunately it was on the sidewalk, like here, and it is difficult to try to maneuver around all the glass, rocks, etc.

[cfiddlinmama]

trmpetplaya - I swear you read my mind!! How do you do it? I was coming on here today to ask about my kids biking and there you are, asking the same question! I have always had the rule that they have to wear shoes biking for safety sake. I got to thinking about it the other day (I'm quite brilliant you know!) and I thought that they should probably wear closed toe shoes, cause sandals don't exactly provide protection. I was watching my dd1 ride in her flipflops and I thought that maybe it was a bit hypocritical of me to insist on shoes, but allow flipflops? Help! Somebody help me sort out my safety dilemma! I haven't worn shoes for several days now. Went to our 4th party barefoot and actually got my brother to take his off too! (Of course my kids were barefoot!) I have gotten more are you pg questions since I started going barefoot full time. I guess the only way it's justifiable for some one to be barefoot all the time is if they are prg. : :

[Ravin]

I've been more comfortable barefoot ever since my pregnancy. Even before that, I would go barefoot when I could.

I find myself in shoes far more than I used to, because my main transportation is the bus (shoes required) and bicycle (closed toe shoes for safety). I wear sandals (my current pair are Ghillies, sandals with a closed toe) from Nativearth Shoes. http://www.nativearth.com
The recycled conveyor belt soles are VERY flexible and let the foot move more like barefoot. DD is still in robeez-type shoes, though we tried Preschoolians last summer (HOT pavement). Hot desert city pavement and transportation issues are the main reason we bother with shoes at all.

[trmpetplaya]

Ravin - You should talk to the management of the bus system. Most buses allow it, but they don't want it to be common knowledge. Sometimes it just depends on the bus driver. If they know that you do it often and take complete responsibility for any injuries due to being barefoot then they'll usually allow it. You can always sign and turn in a waiver if they insist

Cfiddlinmama - Dh actually got hurt pretty badly on the 4th because he was biking in flip-flops. He sliced his big toe open and most people would have gone to the hospital and gotten stitches. He just washed it and taped it up really well and now it's completely healed, but he had to wear sandals for a little while at the 4th festivities and that made his back hurt. So flip-flops really aren't great to be biking in... Maybe he would have been more careful had he not been wearing any footwear at all.

I find that I'm more aware of my feet if they aren't "protected" at all rather than partially. In thin flip flops one could still get cut on glass or have something fall on the foot, but because of the illusion of being protected one probably wouldn't be paying much attention to those hazards whereas with bare feet it's easier to remember that it's important to be more aware.

love and peace.

[trmpetplaya]

I hate not having the search feature

love and peace.

[mother nurture]

Originally Posted by trmpetplaya

I find that I'm more aware of my feet if they aren't "protected" at all rather than partially. In thin flip flops one could still get cut on glass or have something fall on the foot, but because of the illusion of being protected one probably wouldn't be paying much attention to those hazards whereas with bare feet it's easier to remember that it's important to be more aware.

love and peace.

I am so much more aware when i am barefoot. I find myself present during my walking, actually enjoying and feeling each step and such. When I have on shoes-it's like I am just "running blindly".

I have found that being barefoot is coming a lot easier in public places. I usually get thrown out But, with the warm summer months I've been wearing a lot of long breezy skirts. Being only 5'1" (on a good day), my barefeet are usually covered, so management or whoever else, doesn't seem them.

Peace and blessings

[trmpetplaya]

Originally Posted by mother nurture

I am so much more aware when i am barefoot. I find myself present during my walking, actually enjoying and feeling each step and such. When I have on shoes-it's like I am just "running blindly".

I have found that being barefoot is coming a lot easier in public places. I usually get thrown out But, with the warm summer months I've been wearing a lot of long breezy skirts. Being only 5'1" (on a good day), my barefeet are usually covered, so management or whoever else, doesn't seem them.

Peace and blessings

I always wear long skirts so maybe that's why I've not gotten many comments... I hadn't thought about that. Dh goes barefoot wearing shorts and has heard more from people about his bare feet. Thankfully our grocery store is barefoot friendly

On Friday, dh stepped out of our house and onto a piece of broken pottery with his heel We have no idea how it got there... he even swept out front the other day. He bled a TON, but it was just a tiny little cut. He's fine now, but it was pretty scary at the time. So he's been wearing sandals the last couple days.

I got my new senior title!!! I'm so excited that I was able to think of one finally. It only took me 400+ posts to think of one

love and peace.