Reconnecting With Your Feet for Healthier Movement

Note: This article was originally shared with our local Bois-Franc & Nouveau Saint-Laurent Healthy Living Community on Facebook. [Click here to join our local discussions!]

Why Your Feet Need to "Feel" Again

As we continue with our neighbourhood walks in Bois-Franc and Nouveau Saint-Laurent, we have the perfect environment to explore minimalist shoes and reconnect with natural movement.

One thing I’ve consistently observed over 25 years in practice is how essential foot mechanics are. Imagine if, from childhood, you wore thick gloves on your hands all the time. You’d certainly lose some fine motor control. The same happens to our feet when we rely on shoes that squeeze them in and prevent our toes and foot muscles from functioning naturally. 

Traditional running shoes are often narrow, heavily padded, and rigid. Minimalist footwear takes a different approach by allowing the feet to move and function more naturally.

By walking barefoot, or in minimalist shoes like my Vibram FiveFingers, which isolate each toe, we feel each pebble, each shift in the ground, and reconnect with natural foot movement. It’s certainly not about fashion, though I joke that I wear them for the style. It’s about awakening muscles that have often been underused for years. This is also why I’ve trained clients barefoot for more than 25 years.

One simple way to begin exploring this is by choosing footwear with a wide toe box and zero heel-to-toe drop. A wider toe box allows the toes to splay naturally, creating a broader and more stable base for balance while supporting more natural foot function. It may also help reduce the risk of developing bunions, which are often associated with years of tight, restrictive footwear that compresses the toes together. Keeping the heel and toe at the same height also gives us a better opportunity to maintain a more natural posture, and may reduce unnecessary strain on the lower back.

Local Trails: The Perfect Training Ground

One reason our area is ideal for this is that we have so many parks, walking trails, tracks, grassy areas, and pebble-style paths that are gentle enough to safely explore barefoot movement. Whether it’s a quiet patch of grass during a walk, the running track at the park, or one of the many small paths scattered throughout Bois-Franc and Ville Saint-Laurent, we have many opportunities to occasionally take off our shoes and reconnect with the ground beneath us.

(Bois-Franc residents, please mind the goose excrement- another way to work your agility!).

The "Ground-Up" Approach to Pain

This connection between foot function and movement quality is also important when it comes to injury prevention and rehabilitation. Whenever we look at rehabbing a joint injury, we always consider the joints above and below. For example, when someone has knee pain, we often focus on improving ankle and foot mechanics so that impact forces are distributed more efficiently during walking and jogging, reducing excessive stress and peak force on the knee. Proper foot mechanics during jogging help the body absorb and transfer force more naturally through the ankle, foot, calf, and hips instead of overloading the knee joint with repeated impact. It’s always about working from the ground up.

If you don’t walk barefoot yet, start simple. Walk around your house barefoot when safe to do so. If you have wood floors, just be careful with slippery socks.

Another exercise I give many clients is standing on one leg with the opposite knee elevated to about hip height. Try holding this position for 30 seconds while focusing on preventing your arch from collapsing. Keep your weight evenly distributed under the big toe, little toe, and heel. Stay tall through the chest, keep the shoulders relaxed, and feel balanced over the foot.

This type of balance work also trains the brain to better coordinate muscle activity and vestibular (inner ear) responses, which play a major role in balance and body awareness. Once you can comfortably do this for 30 seconds on each side, try it with your eyes closed.

This style of awareness training is fantastic not only for athletes looking for more power and injury prevention, but also for children developing healthy arches and coordination, and for older adults wanting to improve balance and reduce fall risk.

How to Start (Safely)

If you do decide to transition toward more minimalist footwear, remember that progression matters. Natural movement still needs to be learned and gradually redeveloped. Many people have spent years adapting to restrictive footwear, altered gait patterns, reduced ankle mobility, weakened foot musculature, and poor balance strategies.

Simply removing your shoes does not instantly restore proper mechanics. Don’t switch overnight and immediately resume full activity. These movements awaken muscles, tendons, and ligaments that may not have been functioning fully for a long time. Gradual exposure is key.

The goal isn’t simply to wear different shoes. It’s to rebuild a stronger, more connected foundation from the ground up.

Please Note: As with any change in footwear or movement approach, individual needs can vary. In some cases, particularly during injury or rehabilitation, temporary support or offloading strategies may be appropriate. If you are dealing with pain or a specific injury, it is always best to consult a qualified healthcare professional before making changes.

See you out there in the parks and, once more, be careful of the geese!

Marc Jaoudé
Naturopath, Health Educator
Nutrition & Exercise Specialist

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