
When I first stumbled on the title “Born to Run”, on the Mark down section of Borders, Festival Plaza, Dubai, my first reaction was “AHH! another biography of some sprinter”. Nevertheless, I picked it up and quickly turned to the back cover of the book to read the blurb, a habit that has developed since my time in Chennai.
I bought it and my life changed or at least I think, some parts of it changed.
There are many things to pick up from this great book, but I got fixated with only two things – Chia seed fresca and barefoot walking.
Chia seed fresca is a drink that gives instant energy. A mixture of one tablespoon of good organic (I don’t know why the label organic is in place now. All things are supposed to be organic) chia seeds soaked in water for about half an hour, juice of half a lemon and some sugar/honey to taste. I do it without the sweet part. It is an instant energy booster. I don’t know if it has any effect on the body or it is just my mind convinced by the book!
Having suffered from three corns, plantar fasciitis and a slightly distorted metatarsals(after the fracture), I have been a user of soft soled shoes. As a result of this, my feet have turned softer than baby’s cheeks. There is no harm in having soft feet, but I believe they have been ineffective and are not serving their purpose. God made feet to walk and from my experience of the past one month, probably he designed them for barefoot walking.
One of the finest engineering marvels in the human body, feet can sustain enormous weight (especially after the holiday season), can delicately balance the human body and more importantly, move. With arches, nerves, muscles, tendons, fascia and bones (I have torn and broken the last two, when I used to wear shoes), feet are designed to relay critical information about the way the body has to behave, when they come in contact with any surface. Now we wear shoes!!!!
In the name of protecting our feet, we are sold comfy shoes that disconnect our one connection with the ground!
It has been about a month since I have started this experiment, and it has helped me. Due to barefoot walking strain on my lower back has dramatically reduced. My lifestyle does not allow me to go barefoot everywhere, but I try to minimize the usage of footwear whenever I can, especially on leisure walks, school drop offs and malls. I hope I can only increase this in the coming months.
Few things I felt while walking barefoot, I can’t classify them if they are good or bad yet.
- The calves and lower back strain has reduced immensely
- Toes splay (something they are naturally supposed to do while walking or running)
- When walking on hard unnatural surfaces, the strides are smaller, while in natural surfaces, the strides are bigger.
- Feet become dirty and needs washing feet a lot many times than earlier.
- One is more attentive while walking for the fear of something pricking your feet is always lurking around the corner.
Over the next few months, I am planning to incorporate barefoot walking seriously into my half-baked routine. Will keep you all posted if anything significant comes up.