There is a growing movement that recognises that going barefoot, or wearing barefoot shoes is best. That choosing this option creates stronger, more resilient feet and that the conventional shoes we have been wearing to protect our feet, actually distort and make them lazy. At the core of this movement is the acknowledgement that humans are animals. By stripping back technology, and looking at the way our ancestors would have naturally walked and ran, we have re-learnt to be animals once again. Once you start to experience the benefits of going forwards to barefoot, it is impossible to go back. And once this door has been opened, the barefoot movement can become a gateway drug into a whole new way of looking at the world. One where we learn to relearn from nature.
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Watch someone go without shoes for the first time on anything but sand or grass and it’s hard to believe we ever had the capacity to become the dominant animal on the planet. We tiptoe, wince and flinch our way over even the smoothest of rocks. Yet, watch a human who has not become reliant on the technology of shoes and the picture looks very different. Their feet are very different, they are wider, toes splayed out, protected by calloused soles, they have adapted, or perhaps unadapted to shoes. If you need convincing of how much our feet can do in their natural state, Tony Riddle just ran the length of Britain (900 miles) in just 30 days completely barefoot and Anna Mcnuff is in the process of running 2,260miles barefoot too. Their feet have became stronger and more resilient by removing technology, not adding it.
How do we use this philosophy to save the planet?
Truth is, it should actually read “How going barefoot could save humans”. Mother E will bounce back just fine once were out of the picture. If we want to stick around a little longer though, we need to re-learn how to become part of her ecosystem once again so she takes us a long for the ride.
The good news is it’s already happening. There are a growing number of movements that at their core, much like going barefoot, have observed what the natural way is and have applied it with effective results:
Movnat - (short for Natural Movement) is a way of moving and exercising in a natural way that the human body was designed for. There are a number of similar ideas to this that fall under the umbrella of ‘movement’
Biomimicry - A way of mimicking the engineering of the natural world to create technology that is far more efficient. E.G. The bullet trains in Japan copied the beak of the Kingfisher to vastly improve their aerodynamics.
Permaculture - A methodology for learning from the natural world to design self sustaining landscapes and food systems
Eating locally and seasonally - We are starting to understand the health and environmental benefits to eating local, fresh and in season produce which would have been the only option available before refrigeration and modern transport created a globalised diet.
Zerowaste - Humans are the only animals on the planet that create non-biodegradable waste. Years ago when we were living more in tune with nature, we wouldn’t have been the odd ones out.
Cold Water Immersion - More and more studies are showing that immersing yourself in cold water on a regular basis has numerous health benefits. Having hot water on tap is a very recent revelation for mankind and is one that the majority of people still don’t have access to. Cold water would have been the only natural option.
Natural Building - Using biodegradable, non-toxic, natural materials to build our homes. The only kind that would have been available years ago.
‘Natural’ food - Ironically ‘Natural’ doesn’t mean anything when it’s printed on the side of a packet. But eating food that is grown organic, free of pesticides and herbicides, is the truly natural way and is both better for us and the planet.
Mindfulness - Before our lives were inundated with distractions, like this blog you’re reading, we would have been far more mindful due to having far less stuff to distract us. We wouldn’t have need apps to help us be more mindful.
Economic models - Nothing in nature grows continuously. Forest fires happen for a reason, to clear out and start again. There are a number of economists such as Charles Eisenstein that put forward the alternatives to the continuous economic growth models that currently exist that reflect nature’s model of degrowth.
Renewable Energy - Nature only knows renewable. Our plants survive on solar energy, and it is perhaps time for us to learn to do the same.
This list can go on and on once you start to apply this lens and ask ‘What would nature’s solution to this problem be?’
This last point about renewable energy is a hot topic at the minute. While I believe it is an essential transition that will push us in the right direction towards living more sustainably, alone it is not the answer. If we aim to switch to renewable energy and continue to widen our disconnect from the natural world we will simply become lazier and even more reliant on future technologies saving us.
What we really need is to learn from the natural world to become strong, resilient and truly sustainable.