Barefoot fitness



At the Studio in The Honeycomb Hub we have a barefoot philosophy. Though some found the concept foreign at first, all our members have embraced the idea.

So, why have we decided to adopt this barefoot philosophy and barefoot fitness? Apart from the huge benefit of bare feet not naturally smelling, there are many pros to releasing our feet from the confines of shoes. 

To bust a few myths about going barefoot:
-One of the worries can be that you may contract germs, however the skin is naturally designed to keep out pathogens. We are more likely to contract germs by what we touch with our hands in our daily life and then inadvertently touching our mouths however we do not go about our daily life with gloves protecting our hands from all we touch.
-Injury can be another concern about being barefoot, but losing the shoes actually toughens the soles of the feet, preventing them from injury (not that I would personally recommend walking through a construction site, or near acacia trees without shoes).

Exercising with bare feet can help strengthen the foot and increase mobility while also teaching you to land and move more gracefully on your feet.  Whereas forcing your feet to be confined to a shoe can limit movement and have a negative impact on balance, stability and proprioception (our unconscious perception of movement and spatial orientation arising from stimuli within the body - our awareness of our own body). When barefoot, your heel is on the floor unlike when wearing sports shoes where the heel is often slightly raised and your arches supported. Having our feet flat on the floor can strengthen the ankle, arches and leg muscles.

One of my personal favourite benefits of going barefoot is that it improves your Qi (Chi), your natural life force. The major energy pathways flowing through your body either start or finish at the feet. Our feet are often the only part of us that touch the ground and going barefoot allows us to connect with the ground and release any stored energy.

While in the Studio at The Honeycomb Hub we shall ask you lose the shoes. We hope you embrace the philosophy and reap some of the benefits of being barefoot.


    

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