Hi everyone. I kind of fell into this by accident. I hate socks, summer dress at work allowed for sandals, and I ended up occasionally walking around the office with nothing on my feet at all. It's great isn't it! Thanks for letting me know I'm not alone! Wow if you could do that and dump your underwear you could live wearing just two bits of clothing, haha I have only done it a tiny bit outside the office. Only deserted areas so far. One place had very coarse pavement and I could literally only go a few metres. But I understand you need to build up thicker skin, and I am a small person with small and reeeeally soft feet. While you're learning do you think it's better to go without sandals/flip flops at all, or to carry them around with you? They give you an excuse to fall back on if you really need it, but it feels like they may in fact attract more attention than just walking around as if nothing's any different? That is, you're walking around barefoot, blatantly carrying a pair of perfectly good sandals? Also, I'm in the UK, and nobody does it here. Well, ok, I see the UK thread, so I guess a few people do. But I feel really, really out of place and like I'm standing out a mile. I'm a 22 year old guy and not a hippie kind of person either. I know there are good arguments for doing it, but I can't help thinking that I should 'just stop being daft and put something on my feet.' Those of you who live here, how much notice to people really seem to take? I admit it, I'm scared... Also - if you did it in school, you must have had balls of steel, and I admire you
Hi Andy28, Well, I'm not in the UK, so... Regarding your question about carrying flip-flops. I rarely do. When I first started going out barefoot, I figured there would be too much temptation to slip them on at the last minute. As a result, I rarely carry them with me. Every year in the spring when I first venture out, I also feel a bit uncertain, but after a few successes, I quickly regain my confidence from the previous year. I can't speak for the UK, but I've found that bare feet are accepted, or at least tolerated, in most places. The biggest thing is to get up the courage to give it a try. A few good experiences and you'll probably wonder why you ever wore shoes.
People make being barefoot complicated---a threat to our very society (filth, chaos, ruination). It's so nice to do and is made into such a BIG DEAL (other than in Australia, New Zealand, and a video store in my neighborhood). You may as well just do it, because people need to see it and just plain old get over it. You have every right to your life as they have to theirs. Go barefoot.
True. It's a shame that people make such a fuss over it. I suppose I'm not too worried about the thing in itself, it's just when you have to face people at work or others you see every day. If they want to make fun and make you feel bad, they can, sadly. On the way to the car after coming out of work today I took my sandals off for a few metres. I think the biggest problem for me is that I can't act like nothing is unusual, because from the first step I hobble along like I'm struggling to walk, because I am! It makes me look and feel silly. Where do you try to train your feet when you're at that stage? Or do you just have to ignore the hobbling?
You learn to go barefoot by...going barefoot. Basically, pick a surface that is easy to accommodate---nothing rocky or stony; white surfaces, rather than black ones, repel heat and are cooler to walk on. The first barefoot steps are always the toughest, because your soles aren't their toughest. This comes from practice, practice, practice, and only a LITTLE BIT at a time; say, a walk around the block---5 or 10 minutes here, 15 or 20 there, not necessarily every day. Practice in the mornings or evenings when temps are cooler---much less radiant heat from the ground. Parks are good, too, just for softness and duration. You'll probably feel a bit of muscle ache in your calves (m-e-h-h-h-h!) as you change your style of walking---lead with the toes, not the heel (toe, heel, toe, heel---no shuffling!). I wanted to go barefoot totally at the outset---remember, unlike the Man of Steel (Superman!), we're only mortal flesh---your skin cells will multiply and toughen, but only over time. Besides, it's a lovely notion: you MUST go barefoot some more today! You're in training!
Some excellent advice given here. I do know how you feel. The first few times you try it you do feel totally ridiculous and scared that everyone will stare at you, or worse still, make comments and tell you to put shoes on etc. You feel very self conscious to start with, as though you are doing something really wrong. But like with everything confidence comes with experience, and in fact everyone is so wrapped up in their own world they are not interested in your feet. Most people don't even notice (a little exhibitionist part of me is sometimes disappointed that I attract no attention). So don't worry, just go for it. You only live once so why shouldn't you do what you find comfortable. Don't worry about comments from people you know, either. They soon get used to it and my friends and family now never comment.
I agree. walk on sidewalks for practice. If the local school has a track that would be good too. As for what people say, if your walking about it really is important to mostly look down at where you're about to walk. Cuts down on pain and makes it difficult to notice any looks you might get. I threw my shoes away....Saturday will be day 60 of being barefoot 24 hours a day (yay). My soles are very tough, had to walk over some broken glass yesterday....no harm at all. As to England, I've walked there barefoot a lot. No one really cared. In Bath and London even saw barefoot joggers. Walked barefoot around Mayfair and I don't think anyone even noticed me.
Thanks guys. It's midnight here and I just had a walk around the street, sandals off as much as I could. Seems as perfect for practice as it's going to get, most people are asleep. Already feels different I think - the pavement kind of hurts-but-doesn't-hurt. Also down a quiet road today I stopped myself quickly shoving my sandals on when a car drove past, so that's a start. I need to make my mental skin thicker just like my feet! I know that if someone asked you could say that your sandals were annoying you or something, but the fact is that I know what I'm doing, I'm no good at hiding it and my reactions make me go silly as if I'm being a naughty little boy :/ Actually I have a tiny story to tell - I was on holiday in Tenerife recently. I had to get somewhere quickly so the sandals came off. Lovely excuse. As I was hurrying along some foreign guy (just walking along with his wife and kids) said 'blah blah blah blah... feet.' I faltered slightly, and then just carried on, didn't even really look! Haha! I can't understand you, and why would I care what you think!? We were out in the open minding our own business, it's not like I was running through a shop. This is fun. Damn society.
The horror...the horror.... At some level, we ALL care what other people think of us---some of us say so, others are in deep denial, the rest of us flounder about---so going barefoot (swimming against the tide) is a HUGE mental effort. Screw the shoes: FREE THE MIND!!!!!
qft nuspieds , with time i discovered 1) that i am not 100% impermeable to criticism about barefooting 2) that the issue is not as a trivial matter of preferences about dressing. i had to accept this. maybe sehosreven does not have to face this all time but most of us has to. going barefoot where you are not expected to is a ground breaking statement of freedom, one of the most sensitive because falling on unwritten laws that nevertheless receive far more widespread acceptance than real laws. consider the use of drugs: it is illegal nearly everywhere, but pandemic all over the world. people who would never thought of themselves as 'hippies' do drugs all the time, in contempt of serious laws, because drugs make them feel good, and doing things just because they feel good is typical hippie hedonism . also it was a means to fight the preemptive feeling that laws and social conventions MUST be respected no matter what they prescribe. now it is clear that the taboo about drugs really no longer exists , having people of all conditions who use those substances in more or less clandestine situations. by the way, square people had some serious points supporting the drug bans, but it turned out to be a profitable business which leads to another personal hippie rant of mine, which is 'bare feet are contempted because they come for FREE' but i already annoyed you on that. on the other side it is hard to imagine something more innocuous, more natural, more benignant, more of an unalienable personal right falling entirely into privacy than deciding about your footwear. damn most of us are no children anymore yet the nanny society wants us to obey and keep those shoes on and tied. having the nerve of breaking this rule means carrying a 'dropped-out' badge , and what's worst to squareheads is that they can't even call the cops , they can't do shit about that but yell at you and call you fag (which isn't legal either) and this drives control freaks MAD. because it is a legitimate way to bash their whole existence made of voluntary slavery. sorry for the long hippie rant
I sat next to a dentist on a flight a couple of weeks ago. All he wanted to talk about was teeth. I tried to get him onto another topic, but he was obsessed. He made a comment that was interesting though. He said that people with bad teeth are often stereotyped as being unclean, uneducated, and unfriendly (he pointed out that people with bad teeth are often self-conscious about smiling which leads to the unfriendly perception). The dentist wasn't being judgmental; he was just saying these are stereotypes people put on those with bad teeth. Sadly, he's probably right. This made me start thinking about the perceptions people have about bare feet. I think it's safe to say that the initial reaction is that people think a barefoot person in public is unclean and uneducated. Similarly, if the barefoot person has a chip on his/her shoulder about being barefoot, the unfriendly tag probably also applies. Sadly, I doubt we can do much to change these perceptions in the general population. On a few occasions I've had the opportunity to have a polite discussion after someone's made a comment about my bare feet. Sometimes their comments are funny, sometimes they're more negative. I've had a couple of women ask me where my shoes are when in an airport. I just tell them it's more comfortable being barefoot. Inevitably this leads to a discussion of how uncomfortable her feet are in her shoes. I had a female employee make some negative comments to me about being barefoot in a coffee shop last year. I just started talking to her. Once she realized I was a polite, rational person, she became almost apologetic that her manager discouraged bare feet in the store. I think many people have irrational perspectives on who would be barefoot in public. Going back to the dentist, there's probably a perception we're unclean, uneducated, and unfriendly. Given the opportunity, we can change that perspective, but only one person at a time. A funny aside - I had boarded the plane barefoot a few minutes before the dentist. When he got on the flight he never saw my feet. When we got to our destination he saw me walking through the terminal barefoot with dirty soles. He got a look of disgust on his face! Oh well! I was polite when I spoke with him. We had gotten into some discussions about pKa's and how pH can affect the effectiveness of local anesthesia, so he knew I wasn't an idiot. Nonetheless, his facial expressions showed his disapproval of my barefoot practice.
Interesting story I know that carrying sandals can encourage you to bail out and put them on when you're learning. But do you find that if you leave them behind you can actually walk further before it hurts than you think you can? I tried it a tiny bit last night but it seems quite risky - you have no safety net and if it does start to hurt you can't do anything about it, and you still have to get back somehow.
Remember: going barefoot is supposed to be fun, enjoyable! Just learn to get used to doing it; don't worry about survival just yet. Just practice (little by little) until you physically feel more confident---all the other stuff will follow along.
Do what you're comfortable with. As far as a safety net, not having one is my preference. It makes you commit to being barefoot from the time you leave your house until you return. If you find you're pushing it too hard on walks, that's another story. I certainly wouldn't encourage someone to hurt themselves. Just my 2-cents.
I've actually hurt myself by taking it too fast before I got thick skin on my soles. One time I walked barefoot on wet concrete. I was walking too fast for the condition of my soles rubbing on my feet. I actually got blood blisters on both feet. But after I recovered (thanks to patience and super glue), my soles were tougher than ever. I never have had blisters since then. So you might get injured in the process and get some blisters. But trust me - it's worth it if it makes your soles tougher and more resilient.
