My feet are free - I get to wear barefoot shoes and I wore them out!

I wanted to share a celebration with you that might sound silly, but I will explain why it is such a big deal, and how you can all walk in this freedom too.

            I wore through the soul of my walking / hiking shoes! I know, a silly thing to celebrate, but I found it so fun. It is my second pair to wear out. Such an accomplishment.

            It is thrilling to me because obviously I have walked a lot in these shoes, especially because my daily walk is on dirt, and the sole of shoes wear less quickly on dirt.

            Up until about 3 years ago, I always purchased the sturdiest, most supportive shoes that I could find. The search became very challenging from the early 2000’s on, because it really seemed like I needed more supportive shoes than I could easily find. I had super sturdy hiking boots to walk the same trails I walk now, the sturdiest on the market, along with super supportive tennis shoes, and Danskos for standing in clinic with (I’m a Physical Therapist).

            I always knew about the benefits of being barefoot, and had loved going barefoot at times as a kid. As a physical therapist, I knew the benefits to my whole body of walking using all the muscles in my feet, and allowing them to move through their full range. I knew how it affected the whole chain above. I knew the benefits, but there was just no way my body could tolerate it. The ligaments in my feet were tested as so stretched out or torn that they couldn’t be healed, there just wasn’t any natural support. And I was wobbly and unstable throughout my whole body, so with supportive shoes on, I had a little bit more stability, and didn’t walk quite as much like a bag of bones (more than 1 physical therapist had described the movement of my spine, pelvis and lower extremity as a bag a bones when I walked, and it was blamed on countless injuries, and ehlers-danlos syndrome, hypermobility, ligament laxity, and instability).

            Fast forward to my journey starting in summer of 2019 of laughing, and learning to be present with somatics and self-lymph massage, and redirecting and changing my thoughts, and learning to teach my body to trust me, and things started to change. Another key in this journey, that I started learning in 2021, was that God had created my body able to heal, and had not specifically allowed a genetic disease, and that I was able to heal, and had the Holy Spirit in me, giving life to my mortal flesh, and that God wanted me well.

            I got to start spending minutes at a time barefoot, while laughing or praising God. It was amazing. I just built up over time, and strengthened my feet and body.

            Now I can run around barefoot outside all summer (and sometimes spring and fall), and spend my time in barefoot style shoes throughout the year.

            I only have one type of shoe, and I just have the dirty pair for the hiking, and the newer and cleaner pair for everything else. I love it. It is nice too, since I have rather large feet, and barefoot shoes make my feet look a bit smaller.

            I love the freedom of these shoes, and I just celebrate that I had no problem wearing them without any insole, all the way through a hole in the bottom. I would keep wearing them, but I walk in puddles, and my feet have just been getting wet instantly, and getting all muddy through my socks and feet.

            Just know, that if you have to always have shoes on, even in houses that say you need to take your shoes off (been there, done that, I would wash the soles, and ask special permission), you too can have freedom.

            You may not want to always walk in barefoot shoes. That’s not a problem. I can do anything, I just am a pretty simple person, and like not having to make decisions on my shoes. I have always been one to have just a couple pairs of shoes. You can have as many as you want. But walk in freedom with me.

            I just wanted to share that fun celebration, and thank God for the freedom and ease I feel with these shoes! It truly is a gift that I am regularly thankful for.

That’s all I need to say, you can stop here, but if you did want to know…  My happy feet workshops that I did a couple or few years ago is available for download, and I also have it available on ALL the Align Memberships, just because I wanted to. So, feel free to join Align HERE so you can have unlimited streaming (and tons of other benefits), or download Happy Feet Workshops in my store HERE. All of the things I lead (free and paid), I believe help with whole body support, so join us. To get our weekly email with zoom links and schedule click HERE.  (takes you to the home page, click subscribe here, or scroll to bottom to subscribe to free live mind renewal sessions.