Mine, too.

If you're like me, you spent a lot of your childhood summers barefoot. Not because you didn't have shoes, but, well, because that's what kids do. Or used to do.

You walked, ran, rode your bike, climbed trees and even played kickball with nary a shoe on either foot.

And then something horrible happened -- you grew up, and you've been trapped inside a pair of shoes ever since. And if you exercise a lot, your feet are now trapped inside padded, hyper-supportive athletic shoes, too.

In many ways, though, we've all been wrong.

Studies increasingly show that letting our feet run free can be the best thing for them -- for the toes, heels, ankles, soles, knees and, possibly, our entire body. Even our brain.

In one study, researchers from Chicago's Rush Medical College finally gave up on having patients with osteoarthritic knees use padded shoes and orthotics and braces when they failed to provide relief.

Surprise! After going around barefoot for a while, the patients' knee pain was significantly diminished. Their joints seemed to love that shoeless treatment.

As it turned out, and contrary to what we have come to believe, the impact on their knees was much less when their feet were barefoot than when gussied up with artificial help.

In another example, researchers in South Africa compared the feet of the Zulu and Sotho -- who spend most of their lives barefoot -- with Europeans, who only go barefoot in the shower, if then. The takeaway? Those African feet are far healthier than the European.

Maybe that's one reason Kenyans and other Africans excel in so many marathons. The Ethiopian Adebe Bikili won the Olympic marathon in Rome in 1960 while running barefoot.s

And what about children? I recently heard a story about well-meaning parents who insisted their infant son wear supportive shoes all day long, including at his day care center, with the belief that he needed shoes to learn how to walk.

Those shoes had the opposite effect -- their son was held back from advancing to the next group because he was only one who couldn't walk. He stayed back, still crawling, the story goes, because his feet had no strength and could not feel the ground, a critical aspect to mastering the walk.

Our soles have an astounding number of nerve endings -- about 200,000 -- which help us keep our balance and know what we're walking on. These nerve endings, according to an article in New York Magazine (see below), send messages to the rest of the body, activating a series of "neuromechanical-feedback mechanisms" that help protect our joints.

We lose this sensory input when we're tucked into a pair of shoes. Our feet get stupid and our joints suffer.

A 1961 book called "Take Off Your Shoes and Walk" by Simon Wikler, found that children who went barefoot often had less deformed and more flexible toes than those who always wore shoes. They also had flexor strength, denser muscles on the bottom of their feet, greater agility and range of hip movement and more flexible glute and hamstring muscles, which helped them better touch their toes.

Our bare feet use a natural motion from the heel to the toe, which researchers believe helps our entire body absorb shock. With their intentional lack of flexibility, on the other hand, shoes change how we walk. They distort our gait -- the built-in heels, even in running shoes, also increase pressure, and the potential for damage, on the knee.

The shoe essentially takes over and decides how we will walk, not the foot. We've adapted -- and often badly -- to our shoes.

For years, I wore the latest high-tech walking/running shoes, having been convinced that this is how I should take care of my feet, legs and joints. I've also used orthopedist-made orthotics to compensate for overpronation.

Oops.

Researchers at McGill University in Montreal found that, paradoxically, the more padded a running shoe, the harder the runner hits the ground with it. It's instinctual -- we land harder to try and overcome the unnatural shock absorption provided by the padding. We naturally want and need to find our balance through direct contact with the ground.

Going barefoot allows us to feel what we land on. And it allows our body to naturally absorb the impact of our steps. While shoes distort our perception, bare feet can read the ground perfectly.

The conclusion is...drum roll, please...people who wear expensive running shoes -- those stuffed with padding -- experience far more injuries than those in cheaper shoes (with less padding) or bare feet.

So what do we, in our day and age, do about it? We probably can't go to the office or most stores and restaurants sans footwear.

We can, however, if motivated, find ways to go barefoot as often as possible.

I recently started weaning my feet from their dependence on shoes and going barefoot around the house and backyard -- I've been delighted at how much more connected I feel with the ground now literally under my feet.

My tender soles protested at first but are quickly adapting to their liberated state. They tingle and, when keeping still, seem to pick up the very vibrations of the Earth beneath them.

Gradually toughening up, they're now looking forward to new adventures, like a walk around the neighborhood and maybe a hike into the woods. And then, eventually, a nice, good run.

In the coming months, my feet will be testing the limits and, I expect, getting stronger, healthier and smarter. And I hope to throw out the orthotics.

What about your tootsies? Ready to regain some of that long-lost freedom?

Healthy feet can hear the very heart of Mother Earth. -- Sitting Bull

________

A few good sources:

Fabulous article in New York Magazine. Highly informative -- and even amusing -- as the author tries to convince New Yorkers to go barefoot.

Society for Barefoot Living. Provides lots of inspiration and links for a barefootin' lifestyle. These folks must have soles of leather.

Running Barefoot. Some enthusiasts run marathons shoeless.

Sandy Watsey's Blog. Her take on the topic. She mentions that going barefoot might also help prevent varicose veins among other common leg problems.

*Post title comes from a friend of a friend of a friend.