Remember the incident when Mr. M.F.Hussain was disallowed from walking into a western hotel because he was barefoot. It was clearly immodest and bad manners for a person to walk barefooted then. Just recently, I read about the ‘Society of Barefoot’ which says that it enjoys walking barefoot as the nature intended us to.

This got me thinking, why traditionally in India people preferred to walk barefoot? And what are the benefits of ‘home barefoot walking’ that the west too seems to be adopting it?

The answers to these questions were truly amazing.

I realized that many of are foot troubles would not exist, if we had walked barefoot in our childhood. As the children who go barefoot have lesser foot deformity, they enjoy greater flexor strength, can spread their toes more and their feet are more agile.

No matter how hard the shoe companies try they can never make a shoe that suits the shape of human feet. Walking in shoes, therefore, does more harm than good because it results more aches and pains in the body. Some of our foot muscles even get lazy by wearing overprotective shoes.

However, it’s not too late even now. If your start ‘home barefoot walking’ it’ll provide you immense benefits.

The fitness of your feet will improve as your toes will straighten out. Barefoot walking will put even your lazy foot muscles to work, thereby, toning them and making them stronger.

Barefoot walking helps the leg muscles pump blood back to heart and is therefore effective against varicose veins. It helps in relaxing tired feet and helps overcome flat feet.

In summers, walking barefoot will cool your feet. You can walk on morning grass, on leaves or a piece of log lying in your garden. It will bring you closer to nature and help in relieving stress and refreshing your mind.

Some traditional exercises like yoga, tai-chi and martial arts are practiced barefoot. This is because ancient philosophies believe that Chi- the life –force energy- can be absorbed through the soles of feet. By walking barefoot you can absorb ground chi thereby increasing your vitality, ability to think clearly and capacity to work.

So go on, enjoy walking barefoot.