As mentioned in the last Nature and Nurture article, Mycobacterium vaccae has been dubbed “nature’s antidepressant” and can be found in rich, moist soil. Studies have suggested that M. vaccae activates the neurons responsible for producing serotonin, which is one of the “happy hormones” that stabilize our mood and produce feelings of well-being. As well as depression and anxiety, a lack of serotonin has also been linked to chronic illnesses such as IBS and fibromyalgia. Since M. vaccae can be absorbed through the skin, whipping off your socks and shoes and having a wander around a green space is a great way to obtain some of its benefits.

Whilst some of us can be found traipsing around barefoot come rain or shine, if the Autumn chill is too much for your toes to take, harvesting and consuming organic vegetables from a garden, allotment, or community patch could be a great way to imbibe the benefits of soil bacteria whilst keeping your tootsies toasty.

Healthy Feet, Healthy Body

In the grand scheme of things, humans have been wearing shoes for a very short amount of time. It is believed that we first wore shoes around 40,000 years ago, which sounds like a long time. However, taking into consideration that modern humans have existed for around 300,000 years, we have been wearing some kind of footwear for just 13.3% of anthropological history. Furthermore, with synthetic soled shoes first making an appearance in the 1960s, humans have only been wearing rigid-soled shoes for a mere fraction of time.

It makes sense, then, for our physical posture and the pattern of limb movements we make during movement, or gait, to be improved when we spend less time confining our feet to shoes. Walking barefoot on any surface is beneficial for the muscles and ligaments of our feet. It can restore our natural walking patterns and improve foot biomechanics, leading to improved hip, knee, and core mechanics. Being barefoot also improves the proprioceptive neural input to the brain, which leads to greater awareness of the body’s position within space. And, if you need another reason to shun your shoes, going barefoot could create stronger leg muscles and in turn promote lower spine health.

Conclusively, as well as feeling delightfully liberating, barefoot walking could reduce EMR related symptoms, help to tone the vagus nerve for more effective stress recovery, boost our happiness levels, and improve our musculature and therefore our posture, leading to fewer aches and pains. That sounds like a pretty good deal to me!

My favourite way to practice barefoot walking is to find a smooth path through the woods, remove my shoes and socks, breathe deeply and relish the sensation of the cool earth against my soles (and, indeed, my soul), but there are plenty of different ground textures (think grass, meadow, sand, soil or rocks) to choose from. I challenge you to take just a few minutes over the next few weeks to give it a go: you may be surprised! If you dare to bare, we’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments below.