Running with Bare Feet

Yoga with Bare Feet! From "Yoga: The Poetry of the Body"

I just finished reading Chris McDougall’s piece on running barefoot in the NY Times magazine called “The Once and Future Way to Run” (see here). Having read his book Born to Runlast year (loved it!), I was familiar with the story McDougall was sharing once again in the magazine. Yet in the few years that have gone by, many more long-time runners and researchers are coming on board with his discoveries about technique. Check out the article and the video to learn this rediscovered training technique from the 1800s called the 100-Up.

As a yogi, I was particularly taken with the author’s assertion that technique and alignment would result in running without injury! We hear the same suggestions from our teachers in class, but sometimes find ourselves not actually following the recommendations. Yet, just like Chris and his desire to run for the rest of his life, I too would like to practice yoga for the rest of mine. So, when we find things that aren’t working and injury rears its unwelcome head, we all may need to look back in time and also around us to find the latest old and new thinking on yoga, too.

—Baxter

I also found this article fascinating, but what really struck me was the emphasis on running with bare feet. Of course we do yoga with bare feet! And I’m a firm believer that exercising with bare feet is the best way to keep our feet healthy, strong, supple and agile. Imagine if you wore thick mittens all the time. Wouldn’t it be hard to use your hands effectively? Now think about your poor feet being trapped in their shoes all your waking hours. (I once watched a woman who had been born with no arms eat an ice cream cone and take care of her baby just with her bare feet; they’re capable of so much if we just let them out of their little prisons.)

But what about our time outside the yoga room? This article exposed the fallacy of the idea that “good” shoes are those that insulate our feet from the ground on which they walk, with their thick, cushiony, high-tech soles. Of course we all know that stiletto heels aren’t the best footwear, but it’s now beginning to look like that all those fancy running/walking/hiking shoes we thought were so good for us might be throwing us off our healthy, natural alignment.

If running barefoot is good for us, wouldn’t the same be true for walking around the house or even out in the garden? And what about those times when we do need to wear shoes? Wouldn’t a “less is more” approach be the most beneficial for our feet?

—Nina