Barefoot walking

I was very excited when it was recommended by Acharya Hema and Acharya Venkatesh to go on a barefoot walk every day after the afternoon classes. I have been a fan of barefoot walking for 1 year and I really enjoy every step I do. It's a phenomenon these days, so what are the real reasons why people are so interested in doing such a natural thing?

If you are a beginner...

Don't get too enthusiastic at the beginning and start gradually. If you are an adult and it's first time you will try barefoot walking, try 10-15 mins and different surfaces so you can observe the reactions of the body. Also choose a safe terrain not to hurt yourself. You will most likely have a different experience walking in the fresh grass to walking in the hot sand on the beach. Both are worthy to try!

TOP 7 benefits of barefoot walking

1. Better posture

From wearing shoes far too often our bodies become weak as we don't allow the deepest muscles to work. By walking in shoes, we allow only the muscles on the surface to work but the deep stabilization system becomes weak. One of the most common consequences is flat feet, causing many problems. By taking off our shoes once in a while we can improve the body posture and become stronger, not only from the outside.

2. Mindfulness

Walking slowly and mindfully without shoes is more than necessary, especially for beginners. It helps to prevent any injuries that can be caused by fast walking or not noticing sharp objects on the surface. Slow and mindful barefoot walking brings more mindfulness into our lives.

3. Creativity

By discovering different surfaces we receive many new incentives that we can use when we need to be creative. It surely helps by remembering a feeling of new incentives.

4. Sensibility

There is a good chance for gaining sensibility by barefoot walking. It allows the mind to discover different temperatures, wet surfaces, dry surfaces. All this information is usually new and by processing it the mind gains the ability to feel more.

5. Better immunity

With every contact of the foot and the surface it's like a self-massage. It works when the ground presses the acupuncture points which are directly connected to certain organs in our body. By stimulating them we encourage their function and make them stronger.

6. Safety

Here in India we usually go for a barefoot walk after the back bending class, which is super intense and raises the energy. It's a very nice feeling. Without the barefoot walking afterwards the energy which has risen from the practice wouldn't be grounded as much, it would be too intense. At the beginning it might feel unsafe to walk barefoot but the more we do it the safer and more grounded we can feel.

7. Balance

Shoes create for us a very good and stable support. By walking in them we don't think a lot about what they cause and when we first try to take them off we can realize that we don't have as much balance as with shoes on. The more we walk barefoot the more we become balanced and our lives as well.

Everybody can experience these benefits only by releasing the feet from shoes once in a while.

Why we forgotten to walk barefoot?

Our feet represent the basis of your body. The most natural movement for them is walking. Both these things we have not only forgotten but also, we make our children forget it by putting hard shoes on their feet straight after they are born. They do their first steps in order to help them and not develop any disorders in their posture. But with the first step is where it all begins. If we let our children feel the ground and be free to discover different surfaces by themselves, maybe there wouldn't be as many postural problems as there is now. The muscles of the feet don't have any chance to develop and create a strong fundamental. What happens is weakened feet diminish the function of other deep muscles in the body. The whole deeper stabilization system then collapses and develops wrong body posture, which is then inherited from generation to generation. Let's stop producing more physiotherapy patients in society & instead make some time each day for barefoot walking!

It is a great way the mind can expand. Through barefoot walking the brain can attain back its sensomotori functions that became almost lost from lack of contact with the earth in day to day life. It also helps us become more aware and mindful about our bodies. Putting on a pair of nice shoes and not letting our feet breath and absorb the information from surroundings limits the movement and the perception from the basis.

About my yoga journey

My journey begun when I started working years ago as a nutrition advisor and fitness trainer. Everything I do must have a deeper meaning. I started visiting yoga classes regularly and soon after I understood that yoga is much deeper than a nice stretch for the body. I then decided to attend a certified yoga teacher training run by Veronika Carmanova in Prague. This gave me a very nice foundation but I knew that If I want to be a good quality yoga teacher I must experience more. I decided to study yoga in Mysore in India with Acharya Venkatesh and his amazing wife Acharya Hema for 6 weeks to undertake their yoga teacher training program.
 

About me

I am 27 years old and the mother of a 6 year old baby girl. In childhood I was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Initially I refused to accept the medication prescribed until I realized that it's a part of me and it's my job to learn how to live with it. I suffer from emotional imbalance, relationship issues and feelings of emptiness. At times I attempt to destruct and destroy myself, finding joy in extreme life experiences and lifestyle. It's scientifically proven that even under restful conditions the brain of people with BPD is always in a state of tension. My brain is alway ready to act, fight, evaluate, observe - it never rests. It's very difficult to recognize that there is something wrong with me. Inside I struggle with depression and anxiety yet it's so easy to express myself as a very friendly, balanced and normal.

Form the craziness back to the discipline

My whole live used to be based on extremely undisciplined habits that were created by my crazy thoughts and actions. From the age of 10, when my father left us, I lost the ground under my feet. He was the only sign of discipline I had. I became very emotionally unstable in general. From the best student at school, I became the one with not the best results and always being the trouble girl. I started feeling unfulfilled and more and more empty. Then at 13, due to my personality disorder I discovered the beauty of drugs, sexual experiments, nightlife, money and I really believed that they were the real experiences and value of life. I wasn't conscious of my actions and I thought I was flowing. Everything seemed to be so amazing, and easy that I didn't see the things around me and didn't want to listen to anyone. I was blind and searching for fun, happiness and joy in every corner.

Years later I started realizing that is no value to be found with that lifestyle. I wanted to change. At this time period I gave birth to my daughter. It is very hard to share, but I need to be honest. My life became purposeless even after she was born and the devil inside of me refused the discipline I tried to set up and woke up again and pushed me to do very crazy, random things. I started visiting night clubs where I used to dance, which was a perfect activity for my sick ego. I was back to my old unhealthy habits. I broke down and ended up in a hospital with serious health issues. It was the first time in my life that I lost my senses and it felt like I had died, that I was halfway to hell. I was undernourished, and exhausted. With the help of one person who managed a life for me and my daughter I had a chance again to taste how it is to live a regular life which i was considering as boring and not enriching me enough. For two years I was living a life with a proper job as a fitness trainer and taking care of my daughter. It seemed like I was healed and we could live happily forever. But the samskaras or old memories were still present. They were just waiting for the correct time to come out and show me reality as it really was.

Into my life stepped another man who unintentionally mirrored myself, and I could clearly realize my past and what pain I was creating, not just to me but to others as well. I thought that the excessive lifestyle and not nourishing my mind and body with proper food, and proper thoughts could continue forever without any consequences. OOPS!

This was the second and last collapse of my life. I was at rock bottom and I ended up in a psychiatric hospital. There I realized that my disorder is a serious thing and I need to consider it as a part of me. I need to face it and I need to learn to live with it. The best way to do this is practice. Practicing yoga brings peace and stillness, two things I feared the most.

No pain no gain!

Six months ago, I seriously started practicing yoga at Atmavikasa and my body and brain didn't like it at all. But the good spirit inside of me, the purusha didn't let me stop. I saw unbelievable results in my mind and body after just two weeks of an immersion program. After these 2 weeks, I faced crazy detox symptoms for 3 days, including very high fever, vomiting and significant pain all over my body, particularly inside my bones. After it was gone, I realized that I have never felt that soft and strong simultaneously. I wanted to know more and discover the secret of yoga.

Here I am again at the best place to learn authentic yoga, the Atmavikasa Centre of Yogic Sciences https://www.atmavikasayoga.in, to study for a 6 week long yoga teacher training program where I am following 100% the program including diet restrictions. It is required as well to follow strict reasonable rules which help to participate the program effectively and successfully. Such as practicing on an empty stomach, drinking one liter of water straight after the practice to learn the body to absorb the water, nourishing your body with bananas and being silent not ta waste our energy and keep it for the chanting and philosophy class with Acharya Hema. I won't say it's fun, but I have had a lot of fun in my life and I am building better values so that I can help and inspire others. I am at the end of the forth week and I am very surprised with the results I already have. I feel lighter, cleaner inside out and have a very good energy. I also discovered how much my mind and body appreciate the discipline I am learning here.

How to build long sustainable discipline?

Firstly we build the understanding that your body and mind love discipline. When the mind understands the value of discipline it is much easier to build it. Having discipline on the mind inspires you to start doing, and practicing. Over time, disciplined practice becomes a habit.

To build discipline after such a long time of living very a spontaneous and random life it was very painful and sometimes I didn't know which way to go and what to do. The answer is PRACTICE AND ALL WILL COME. With time passing and with practice, the body will ask for good things and one of those good things is discipline. Discipline is not boring, rather it is what the body really needs because it knows what and when to expect and to be ready for it.

And what are my personal benefits of a disciplined life?

• less laziness

• less depression and anxiety

• sharper mind and memory which I really appreciate that still work for me

• less food craving

• regular digestion

• better results at job

• stability in relationships

• better sleep

• more patience

• no PMS

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