‘Should I get rid of my insoles?’ is a common question I get asked and, to save you the trouble of reading this, my answer is, ‘it depends’. Not very helpful, I know, I prefer to encourage clients think critically and make their own informed decisions. In a culture where we’ve been brought up to defer to authority it can be hard to form our own opinions and stick to them.
Read MoreThere’s an underlying theme that I notice the more I study and it’s that however much it may look like things stay the same, they really don’t. In the same way that water erodes rock, so forces gradually shape us. We may find ourselves falling back on tired-old pronouncements but if we take the time to trace things back we can see that it is often our actions (or inactions) that have contributed to where we find ourselves in this moment.
Read MoreThe definitive list of all the barefoot and minimal shoes that can be bought or shipped to the UK.
I was really impressed by the level of diversity and choice out there and was pleased to see so many companies who make handmade shoes have added the choice of Vibram soles, making it easier than ever to find the perfect style that suits you.
For most of our time here as a species we’ve been mooching around barefoot as our feet are superbly engineered to deal with rough and uneven terrain. The barefoot movement of the last decade has sought to unshackle our feet from the casts of shoes, supported by the resurgence of interest in all things wild and natural.
Read MoreIf we are more stable with a wide base of support, then it follows we are less stable when it is narrow; imagine how you would feel if your own contact with the ground was the size of an ice skate. No doubt with an ice skate sized base of support, your postural setup would be sub-optimal and this adaptation echoes all the way up the body because the foot isn’t languishing alone in the wilderness; it’s connected to everything.
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