Whole Body Barefoot: Transitioning Well to Minimal Footwear

Many work hard on good posture and better walking and running alignment, but it's critical to understand how what you put on your feet each day can play a bigger role in the function of your feet, ankles, knees, hips, and spine than you might realize.

By applying the principles in this book, you will be able to restore your foundation and prevent dysfunction.―Ray McClanahan, DPM Biomechanist and author of Simple Steps to Foot Pain Relief, Katy Bowman offers walkers, runners, and health professionals alike clear, accessible lessons on how the shape of shoes can play a role in painful feet, knees, and hips―and what to do about it.

When we have painful feet and weak ankles it seems like stiff, supportive shoes are the answer, but this solution can be temporary, especially if our issues stem from foot and leg weakness. In short, humans come with great "foot technology," we just need to learn how to use it. Minimal footwear―shoes that protect your feet while still letting them move freely―is gaining traction (get it?). Being barefoot is a natural human movement, but research shows simply kicking off our shoe-shackles and releasing our feet into the wild can result in injury. Whole Body Barefoot will help you safely and effectively transition to minimal footwear, reaping the enormous benefits of freeing your feet without injuring yourself along the way.

Whole Body Barefoot presents:

• 25 exercises to create strong, supple, feel-better feet
• The mechanics of bunions and pronation
• How to strengthen weak ankles and arches
• How to figure out your true shoe-size
• The importance of walking on natural surfaces―"Vitamin Texture!"

With clear, science-based explanations, Bowman lays out how conventional shoes and artificial environments leave us with sedentary feet as well as the steps necessary to restore lost foot function, and improve health...naturally!

Bestselling author, speaker, and a leader of the Movement movement, biomechanist Katy Bowman, M.S. is changing the way we move and think about our need for movement. Her eight books, including the groundbreaking Move Your DNA, have been translated into more than a dozen languages worldwide.

Bowman teaches movement globally and speaks about sedentarism and movement ecology to academic and scientific audiences such as the Ancestral Health Summit and the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition. Her work is regularly featured in diverse media such as the Today Show, CBC Radio One, the Seattle Times, the Joe Rogan Experience, and Good Housekeeping.

One of Maria Shriver's "Architects of Change" and an America Walks "Woman of the Walking Movement," Bowman consults on educational and living space design to encourage movement-rich habitats. She has worked with companies like Patagonia, Nike, and Google as well as a wide range of non-profits and other communities to create greater access to her "move more, move more body parts, move more for what you need" message.

Her movement education company, Nutritious Movement, is based in Washington State, where she lives with her family.