Well, just when I think I have set goals that seem impossible–being a breatharian, being able to endure extreme cold, re-wilding practices like squatting and living without furniture–I find that there is something called  “bare footing.”

I hope you will join me at Wellspring Tiny Home Village where we can encourage each other in this practice along with many other practices where it helps to have support.

I came across this practice when the Facebook page, Barefoot Vegan Christian came across my path. I liked the author’s writings about his 12 year bare footing experience. I recommend liking this page. Here is one of his posts.

“When I started being a barefooter I stopped going barefoot that first winter, years ago. Getting back to it was like starting fresh again, to work up to benefits of that with feet that could handle more. By the next winter, I was inspired already from hearing from barefooters that would go barefoot for a little while through snow. My climate here is not so cold for that. I realized I could try continuing barefoot through winter, and it was possible for me, and since then I continued going barefoot throughout the year every year. And my feet are great from that.”

Then I did some research about how to go bare foot, and I found this article, “How to Prepare For Bare footing.”

I’m drawn to anything that can prevent us from having to buy new stuff, or even make it. What if the world as we know it with all the factories and stuff that make things that we think we need–disappear. I thought about shoes, and I became nervous! I’m so glad to hear that we really can do without shoes.

Here is an article that gives instructions about running without shoes. He does recommend starting with the barefoot running shoes. That makes sense to me. Here is an excerpt:

“Even more important that the strength of your feet is your connection to the earth. Simply put, shoes shelter us from the surfaces we run on, but that’s not always a good thing. Read The Barefoot Philosophy for more.”

I read the Barefoot Philosophy. It was very inspiring. Here is an excerpt which explains the reasons for going barefoot–even if you don’t go barefoot all the time:

• “Light: When you’re barefoot, you feel light, and you’re not burdened by stuff. In anything in life, if you can be light, it’s a wonderful feeling. Think traveling light, or moving to a new city without too much stuff.
• Free: Walking barefoot, you feel free, without the restrictions of shoes. The fewer burdens and restrictions you have in life, the freer you are. Think of how easy it would be to pick up and travel, or move, or change jobs, or do something with a friend in the middle of a work day.
• Naked: Without shoes, you feel a bit naked, and being naked in public is scary. But it’s also an exhilarating feeling, and once you get comfortable with that nakedness, it’s kinda fun. Blogging can feel this way — you’re putting yourself out into the world, naked, and that’s scary at first. Doing anything different, where you expose a piece of yourself, is like being naked. But you get used to it, and it’s not so scary.
• Pleasureful: The point of walking barefoot is to experience the pleasure of feeling the surface beneath your feet. The sensations are marvelous: cool, warm, textured, plush, smooth, rough. In anything in life, if you can experience the sensations of whatever you’re doing, this is a beautiful thing. Think of the sensations of eating, swimming, washing dishes, sitting on a breezy porch, lying in the grass under the sun, kissing in the rain.
• Aware: Walking barefoot, you’re more aware of the ground you’re walking over — when you’re shod, you can walk for miles without really thinking about the surfaces you’re traveling over. In anything you do, increasing your awareness of your surroundings is a desirable thing. Think of walking outside vs. being inside a car, or shutting off the mobile device so you can talk to the people around you or pay attention to the beauty around you.
• Present: The beauty of walking barefoot is that it brings you back to the present moment. It’s hard to be stuck in a perceived slight by someone else earlier in the day, or worry about what might happen later in the day, when you are walking barefoot. In anything you do, if you can stay in the present moment, you will experience life to the fullest, will be less likely to be stuck in anger or consumed by worry or stressed by coming events.
• Non-conformist: One of the hardest things about walking barefoot isn’t the temperature or possible pain of pebbles, it’s the non-conformity of it all — it’s being worried that others will think you’re a dork, or homeless, or some kind of dangerous radical. And yet, I’ve learned to embrace my non-conformist side, to relish in being a bit different, to be proud I’m not one of the sheep. There’s nothing wrong with bucking societal norms, if it’s for good reason.
• Non-consumerist: The shoe companies would hate it if there were a major barefoot movement, because they’re no product they could sell you as a solution. This isn’t true of environmentalism — there are tons of green products that are making millions of dollars for corporations. I believe in ditching shoes like I believe in ditching any kind of productthat you buy as a solution to life’s problems. Life is better with less, not more, and when you think of yourself as a human rather than a consumer, you’re breaking free from the endless cycle of earning and buying and using up.”

Going barefoot is so much in alignment with minimalist living. I enjoyed reading this article called the 5 Types of Minimalism that describes the different kinds of minimalism. I think all that we do at Wellspring fits in with all of these categories.

This article from Spiritual Staircase talks about how “earthing” is spiritually beneficial.

“Making the time to walk outside barefoot in nature allows us to practice mindful gratitude of our environment and surroundings. We can presently experience an oxygen-rich environment with beautiful scenery, people, animals and other aspects of our 3D reality. The physical impact of walking is gentle and the motion can be nourishing for the soul.

The act of walking gives us the time and space for mindful reflection and to process our experiences. Taking off your shoes and connecting directly with the planetary energy can help to harmonize and recharge your energy fields as you do your ‘spiritual work’ – going inside to process your experiences, dissolve your veils and move towards reintegration with your Spirit.”

A great thing about doing research about things that our society definitely does not recommend, is that I connect with new people like the guy who wrote this blog post about going barefoot in winter called Winter Barefoot Walking and Living. In  this article he talks   about being outside more in the winter and waking barefoot in the snow and cold.  Here is an excerpt.

“What I also noticed is that being barefoot for those pathetic two hours a day helped me perceive cold and winter completely differently than ever before when I was wearing shoes and many more layers of clothes.

Since the winter is almost gone now, I know that winter barefoot walking really can help to overcome that cold-hate most of us feel. Suddenly -15°C doesn’t feel that unpleasant if you accept it barefoot.”

I’m sold. Especially since I am going to be living off grid, and right now during April in the Ozarks, weather can get a bit chilly. I want to learn to love the cold, be out in it more, and go barefoot in the cold. I want to go barefoot all the time.

I want to be a minimalist, barefoot, vegan, Christian, breatharian. I’ll add more labels when I think of them. I use to not like labels–but I am starting to like these!