This morning, I was reading a chapter about the benefits of walking barefoot. I’ve been thinking about guiding a two or three-mile barefoot hike at a local forest preserve and was searching for insight and came across the following quote:
Our feet have almost twice as many nerve endings as a penis, making them one of the most intensely tactile and sensuous parts of the body.
-Annabel Streets | 52 Ways to Walk | Page 121 | © 2022
After I read that, I put my book down, stared at bare feet and wondered, “Is that supposed to inspire me?”
Because it didn’t.
However, it did remind me of an article I read in the local paper several years ago. It was about a young man who was part of an organization that walks barefoot every day. Even though there was absolutely no mention of the nerve endings of a penis, I was still inspired.
It was winter but I was eager to give barefoot walking a try. I wasn’t particularly good at it, not at first. Walking on frozen sidewalks and earth feels like you’re getting burned and scraped at the same time, but I kept trying and now it’s something I do every day. I don’t do it for long periods of time. I’ll do little things. I’ll take the trash out or go to the basement or drive or walk Barbara. Right now I am writing barefoot.
Though I’ve been a practicing barefoot-walker for more than a decade, my mind still plays tricks on me. It tries to talk me out of it.
“You’ll get stung!” “You’ll cut yourself!” “You’ll get pulled over!” “You’ll step on broken glass!” “You’ll fall!” “You’ll step on a slug!” “You’ll step in…something wet.”
My mind tries to scare me away from connecting with the earth (or my home or my car). My mind tells me to stop being direct.
I hate when my mind tells me to stop being direct and I hate when my body sends me signals that interfere with my intuition. But I love finding ways to rebel against fear.
I hope you’ll consider joining me on a barefoot hike. I’m still working out the details of when and where, but wanted to write about it today in hopes that it would sort of whet your appetite to go on a barefoot hike with me.
Thanks for reading. -Connie
Connie Kuntz 