Mama Your Feet
There is great irony in the slow and steady enlightenment that’s happening in the Western world.
You see as far back as 1492, Europeans took to the sea for conquest. Arriving in a more "undeveloped" part of the world these colonisers looked down on the people and even labeled them savage for practices such as sitting on the floor; squatting when pooping; and walking without shoes
Ironically, however, today's world population is suffering from diseases that would benefit from these "primitive" practices. Our modern life is thwarted with diseases CAUSED BY COMFORT.
For example, falls are a serious issue that increases the morbidity rates of our elderly population in the Western world. The cultural narrative is that all elderly people will have less control of their balance over time, making falls a common occurrence. But we forget that elderly people's lifestyles also require less and less movement each passing year.
Not only are we all moving less, but when we are moving our environment is bland, flat, and far less complex than it was out in nature.
If you were walking barefoot in nature, your gait would have to adapt depending on the surface you were walking on. If it was stoney you’d tread more carefully; if it was sandy you’d push the ground away more forcefully; and if you were on something slippery you’d move slowly and deliberately.
Our need for comfort and "civilisation" put us in shoes and in doing so created all surfaces equally. This was a bummer for our nervous system, foot mechanics, and whole-body adaptability. Muscles atrophied, neutral input became weaker and by the time people reach their 60's, getting on and off the floor was almost impossible. By 70 they needed walking sticks, Zimmer frames, chair lifts, and hoists to the basic tasks of daily living.
I would like to postulate that for us to have more LIFE in our YEARS we need to expose our bodies to more variety. We need to take our shoes off and walk on uneven ground and as a result, we need to let our whole body adapt to the varied surfaces under our feet.
If you'd like more ideas on how to do this, please head to my Instagram feed and youtube for lots of free content on how to do so on your own.
My book, co-written with my best friend, Adel, goes into some detail on our beautiful feet. Love your feet!
Sending you hugest love and happiest feet,
Celly x