Feet are a masterpiece of engineering perfectly designed to support a healthy, strong, lean, agile, nimble, and pain-free body. Healthy footwear should have no negative impact on our health, while poorly-designed footwear can lead to an unhealthy posture and even injury. Today I want to introduce my minimalist sandals! Earth Runners are minimalist sandals inspired by the world-renowned long-distance runners, the Tarahumara Native American Indians of Northwestern Mexico. These custom molded sandals recreate that one-of-a-kind primal experience of running or hiking barefoot while minimizing the risk of injury to your feet.

But Earth Runners go a step further and enhance your body's natural connection to the planet Earth. Earth Runners' barefoot technology allows for the energy flow of electrons between your feet and Earth. Both the copper plug and connected conductive laces ground you electrically by allowing electron transfer from the planet – directly to your body. So this earthing and grounding footwear enhances your connection to the earth, allowing you to fight jet lag, increase energy, decrease brain fog, increase your time to fatigue and generate greater immune system strength.

Earth Runners were created to re-wild the modern era human lives in response to the typical modern domesticated lifestyle, which is causing numerous health, psychological and social issues. Through re-wilding, they aim to bring more energetic, healthier, and more resilient individuals and communities back to society.

In congruence with ancestral wisdom, it's apparent that we need to incorporate more simple nature-based lifestyle practices and outsource less of our life to modern technology.

What is Earthing?

There's been quite a buzz recently among athletes and health enthusiasts on how to more quickly and easily recover from acute or chronic inflammation and injury through earthing. Although I already knew about the importance of having an intimate connection with the planet we live upon, the more I study about earthing, the higher desire to go back to nature I have. The surface of the Earth is negatively charged, which means it holds a vast, seemingly infinite supply of free electrons. When you’re in contact with the Earth, you absorb these free electrons through your skin. Scientifically, you are equalizing your electrical potential with the earth, which means if you’re electron-deficient, you’ll be soaking up electrons through your skin when you connect to the surface of the earth.

What happens when you soak up negatively charged electrons?

The electrons

• Act as powerful antioxidants that neutralize free radical damage, which wipes out inflammation, reduces pain and stiffness, and much more. Medical science now recognizes that all disease is caused by inflammation (typically chronic, long-term inflammation).

• Return the body to its correct, healthy (native) charge. This improves blood viscosity (eliminating sticky blood), which in turn increases circulation and blood flow, by increasing zeta potential.

The negative electrons you absorb negatively charge your blood cells. When your blood cells all become negatively charged (like they are meant to be) they electrically repel each other — so they no longer clump together.

That’s why people who are on blood thinners need to monitor their blood viscosity when they routinely ground, because over time they will need less blood thinning medication and will eventually no longer need blood-thinning medication at all. This is also the case for people who take blood pressure medication, because lowering inflammation of the vascular system lowers blood pressure at the same time.

Benefits from Barefoot

I try to be barefoot as much as possible throughout a day. According to Dr. Bruce Pinker, benefits of walking barefoot include:

• better control of your foot position when it strikes the ground

• improvements in balance, proprioception, and body awareness, which can help with pain relief

• better foot mechanics, which can lead to improved mechanics of the hips, knees, and core

• maintaining an appropriate range of motion in your foot and ankle joints as well as adequate strength and stability within your muscles and ligaments

• relief from improperly fitting shoes, which may cause bunions, hammertoes, or other foot deformities

• stronger leg muscles, which support the lower back region

As we walk, our breathing starts to synchronize with our motion. We experience a sense of expansion and freedom. Ultimately, walking becomes more than just exercise; it becomes a form of healing, removing our stress and replacing it with wellbeing on every level.

Healthy and Pain-Free Feet

Most footwear today attacks from all angles. From narrow toe boxes to raised heels to cushioned soles and stiff arches—our feet are subject to all sorts of confinement and artificial support. Most shoes go way beyond the innocent intention of protecting from hazards underfoot.

Several studies have investigated the kinematic and kinetic differences between rearfoot strike (RFS), midfoot strike (MFS), and forefoot strike (FFS) patterns at foot landing and their effects on running efficiency on a treadmill and overground conditions. There is an interesting study to document actual foot strike patterns during a half marathon in which elite international level runners, including Olympians, compete.

While good minimalist footwear mimics being barefoot, if you are used to wearing standard modern shoes, the way you use your feet has most likely been altered. Stiff shoes with cushioned soles limits range of motion and lead to heel-striking.

Grounded Conductive Lacing System™

•  Featuring two parallel stitches of conductive stainless steel thread up the entire length of the lace and secured to the bottom of the sandal with a copper plug to keep you grounded.

• The foot's contact with the stainless steel thread on the bottom of the lace allows for efficient electron flow between the skin and the earth via the conductive thread - copper plug circuit.

You can read more about the primal experience of living grounded to the earth, just as all life on this planet has evolved to do, and how training outdoors in earthing shoes offers optimal athletic performance and recovery.