Don't barefoot run before you can walk

As I mentioned in a previous post, I made the decision to walk around barefoot as much as possible to try and toughen up my soles a bit and allow my feet to adapt and react to new sensations before starting to run barefoot.

Walking barefoot has not been nearly as uncomfortable as I anticipated it might be - with one exception: The Stares!

I suppose it does look somewhat odd, seeing some random bird sans shoes trotting about Staines town centre in her lunch break (I do draw the line at entering any actual shops with naked soles), and my emotions run from mild embarrassment to slight annoyance that society should dictate to me that my feet should be shod outside of socially acceptable shoeless situations, such as the pool, the beach, the garden and flash flooded festivals when wellies aren't an option.  I have even taken to carrying my sandals in my hand in the hope that people are more likely to think I'm saving my tootsies from a blister rather than being either A: mad or B: too poor to afford shoes.

My solutions was making some barefoot sandals, which was surprising simple to do, requiring some elastic and some beads.  Wikepedia defines barefoot sandals as:

Barefoot sandals are something of a misnomer, referring to straps or jewelry such as anklets and toe rings that have no sole; barefoot sandals originated in South Asia and are popularly worn at religious festivities and events primarily for decoration rather than protection

Whilst on closer inspections it is easily apparent that my soles are in a state of undress, from a distance it can appear that I am wearing a soled shoe of some description and therefore I can avoid the dreaded 50 yard stare!

There are dozens of sites out there offering a huge variety of this type of footwear, from crochet examples to bejewelled and dazzling, or you can do as I did and make your own. I used a pattern I found in a book, but it wasn't dissimilar to the instructions here: http://mandycrandell.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/how-to-make-barefoot-sandals.html

As for the sensations of walking barefoot, I'm really rather enjoying it - from loose gravel to sun warmed paving stones to cool dewy grass. Each surface differs enormously, and is a different sensual treat for my tootsies.  I do have the odd sharp bit of gravel make me flinch, but its not really painful.  The feet are hyper-sensitive for a reason: to give you good warning when you do step  on something sharp, or otherwise uncomfortable, so you don't put any more weight down and damage yourself.

Walking barefoot on soft grass is on of the greatest pleasures I've experienced (and my life has not been short on pleasure).  It's a treat for the feet, and also helps centre me and connect me to nature too.