Walking Barefoot: What the Body Knows Before the Mind

Walking barefoot helps us ground ourselves, feel our undeniable connection to the earth, and recognize our own presence. Even when it’s cold, even when temperatures are low.

On one hand, it’s true that we need to protect our bodies by covering them. But when we start to confine the soul, we risk drifting away from our essence—an essence that longs to feel free, even through the soles of our shoes, allowing information to travel directly to the brain.

The feet are incredibly powerful sensory organs, yet they are often forgotten. We tend to remember our bodies only when something hurts—when they send signals through discomfort, pain, allergies, or full-blown illness. In everyday life, we reduce the body to a functional machine, losing the subtle dialogue it is constantly trying to establish with us.

And yet, from a biological perspective, the feet are among the most sensitive parts of the human body.

What Science Says About Walking Barefoot

The sole of the foot contains thousands of nerve endings that continuously send information to the brain about temperature, pressure, surface type, and balance. Walking barefoot stimulates these receptors in a far more comprehensive way than modern footwear, especially shoes with rigid, insulating soles.

Studies in biomechanics and neurophysiology show that walking barefoot can:

• improve proprioception, the perception of the body in space

• strengthen the intrinsic muscles of the foot, often weakened by prolonged shoe use

• promote a more natural gait and a more harmonious distribution of load

• improve balance and stability

  
  

In physiotherapy, direct contact between the foot and different surfaces is used to reactivate the nervous system and enhance body awareness. When the body begins to feel again, it reorganizes itself.

Grounding: Contact With the Earth

In recent years, there has been increasing discussion around grounding (or earthing), which refers to direct contact between the body and the natural earth—grass, sand, soil. Some preliminary studies suggest effects on the autonomic nervous system, including a possible reduction in perceived stress, improved sleep, and modulation of inflammatory processes.

Scientific research remains cautious, but one point is clear: the human nervous system responds in measurable ways to direct sensory contact with the natural environment. We are not separate from the earth, even though we live as if we were.

Leaves, Grass, and Concrete: Different Experiences, the Same Call

Have you ever walked barefoot on damp leaves in well-drained soil, or on wet grass? It’s a deeply soothing experience. Natural, irregular, living surfaces stimulate the nervous system in a complex yet gentle way, inducing a state of calm alertness.

Even concrete has an effect. It is cold, hard, and artificial, yet it reminds us of the existence of our feet—too often neglected—bringing us back to the reality of the body, to its tangible presence, and to the fact that we are still here, embodied.

The Body as a Bridge: A Spiritual Reading

When the soul is allowed to be free, it can become a bridge between God and our temporary body—not to escape it, but to move through it with awareness. From this perspective, walking barefoot becomes an act of presence, a way of allowing energy to flow where it was previously blocked.

The body is not an obstacle to spirituality, but the place where it manifests.

The Islamic Perspective: Created From the Earth

In the Qur’an, the bond between human beings and the earth is deep and primordial. Humanity is described repeatedly as being created from earth, clay, and dust—not merely as symbolism, but as a constant reminder of our origin and our fragility.

The earth, in the Qur’an, is a sign (āyah): not something to dominate carelessly, but something to recognize. Walking upon the earth with awareness is part of the humility required of human beings. The “servants of the Most Merciful” are described as those who walk upon the earth humbly and without arrogance.

The way one walks becomes a reflection of one’s inner state.

Feet and Purification

One particularly meaningful aspect of Islam is the attention given to the feet in purification rituals. Before prayer, believers wash their hands, face, and feet. This act is not only hygienic, but symbolic: it acknowledges that even the lowest and most often ignored part of the body holds spiritual dignity.

Washing the feet means preparing the body for an encounter with God. It is a powerful reminder of the unity between body and soul, between the sacred and the everyday.

Stewards of the Earth, Not Its Owners

In the Qur’an, human beings are stewards of the earth, not its absolute owners. Forgetting contact with the ground means forgetting our origin. Returning to feel it beneath our feet—even for just a few minutes—can become an act of remembrance and responsibility.

Walking barefoot is not an obligation, nor a religious practice, but an invitation. An invitation to listen, to feel, and to remember that we are made of the same matter as the earth we walk upon.

And that without it, we cannot truly feel whole.