{"id":149,"date":"2021-07-23T08:15:23","date_gmt":"2021-07-23T07:15:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/barefootbudapest.hu\/en\/?p=149"},"modified":"2021-11-22T19:50:35","modified_gmt":"2021-11-22T18:50:35","slug":"but-i-find-flats-uncomfortable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barefootbudapest.hu\/en\/2021\/07\/23\/but-i-find-flats-uncomfortable\/","title":{"rendered":"But I find flats uncomfortable"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you see the logic in the post\u00a0Barefoot, yet in shoes<\/a>\u00a0but are baffled by how flat shoes, including the very fashionable ballerinas,\u00a0feel uncomfortable, you may want to consider what this discomfort really originates in.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The narrow toe box of a standard shoe doesn\u2019t let your toes splay freely, which shifts your natural balance and makes your muscles, tendons, ligaments and joints either under- or overwork in order to maintain this corrupted balance. That state is not only unnatural but also one that requires enormous extra effort, and will almost inevitably lead to some kind of external compensation, i.e. artificial support. Unfortunately, each intervention into the natural functionality of our bodies tends to lead over time to further, even more serious interventions, often creating a vicious circle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On top of that, in case the soles of your shoes are not thin and flexible enough, you lose ground feel, and with it the rich source of information that is the basis of the normal functioning of your feet. With your big toe pushed inwards, neither can you roll and push yourself off the ground with each step as you should. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, a flat sole cannot account for the natural comfort of a shoe all by itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, if you tried on a shoe that is not only flat but meeting all other requirements of barefoot footwear and thus providing your feet with almost as much comfort and freedom as being barefoot does, your impressions might be completely different. Have you ever? How would you otherwise know if your feet are reacting to the flatness of the sole or to other, limiting and unnatural features of the shoe? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to the unbelievable adaptivity of our bodies (and minds) every single part of us learns to live by the standards we grow up with. Our calf muscles, for instance, shorten by up to a few cm-s from the constant \u2019slope\u2019 mode heeled shoes keep our legs in. The pelvis drops forward, the back stoops, and we avoid falling by developing an \u2019S\u2019 form in our spine. I, the person may not notice all that on the surface, because my body, this superintelligent machine, automatically takes care of my survival, ensuring at all cost that I don\u2019t fall on my face and that I can still walk, run and jump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The longer time you spend in an unnatural state, the more your body gets used to it. Realigning may take time, too! Don\u2019t be surprised if you need to do more than simply press the reset button. Some people can only venture back to their natural ways slowly and gradually, others may be beyond the stage where a full return is still possible. Just like all bodies are different, all transitions are different, too. What you need to do is listen closely to your body, it will always indicate what it needs and how much it can take. Be wise, don\u2019t force anything, because if you do, you may end up with an injury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n