Children know the sheer joy of going barefoot out in the world. Should adults relearn that childhood habit for the sake of their own health? Natural health care practitioners who believe in the principles of earthing or grounding promote the idea of going barefoot and being as close to the earth as possible in order to balance the body's ionic potential and the body as a whole.

Going barefoot can be good for bones and joints as well, from the foot through the leg joints and right up to the hips and back. Shoes can cushion impact, but they also tend to change our body mechanics and encourage a harder heel strike. Recent trends in barefoot (or near-barefoot) running point toward this fact, and to the fact that shoes can encourage heel spurs, bone spurs, flat feet, and other misalignments.

As for earthing, the idea in going barefoot is to soak up the positive ions to be found in the earth in order to counteract all the negative ionization found in our bodies and surrounding environments.