Are your feet dead? Then why are you wearing caskets (shoes) on your feet? Footwear has changed dramatically with human evolution, whether for fashion, specific activities or just daily living. Shoes went from being a tool allowing us to move more freely in our environment, to a device that molds our feet into weak and deformed structures (bunions anyone?!). Look at a broken arm after taking it out of a cast; it looks thinner and is generally weaker than the non-cast side. Are we doing this constantly to our feet? The diverse exposures our feet once had with the earth’s surface has been reduced by thick soles, narrow toe boxes and an environment that is consistently smooth and flat (floors and sidewalks, for example). To top it off, most shoes come with some elevation from the toe to the heel, which effectively causes shortening of the calf muscles over time. High heeled shoes are the worst offenders here, but even typical tennis shoes have a slightly raised heel. Essentially, footwear impacts the entire body system from the feet on up.
The foot consists of 26 bones and vast amounts of fascia, vessels, nerves and other supporting tissue that provide feedback to your system with each step. Let’s briefly think about infants and their movement progression. They start as weak and immobile, and as the body obtains feedback from contact with surfaces through the hands, FEET and other body parts, the child can grasp, crawl and eventually take those initial wobbly steps. This growth doesn’t stop as we become adults; our body will slowly adapt to the “nutritious movement” we provide it over time. Sticking our feet in shoes constricts motion and reduces feedback from our surroundings, which impacts our gait when we walk, run and play. Over time, this lack of feedback (and subsequent alteration of gait) leads to inappropriate forces going into joints and tissues, which may eventually lead to overuse injuries, aches and pains and potentially the development of arthritis.
You have the power to CHANGE and PREVENT these issues. Movement patterns have been ingrained into your body over many years, so attempting to reverse this too quickly can lead to injury and breakdown of the system. Start with some simple changes in footwear, using them for just a short amount of time each day, and building to full-time use over the course of several months or even years
Check out this link for more information: https://youtu.be/_DRJ4ssPuTg
Elemental Health 