As a newcomer to the BF movement I continue to be incredibly surprised by many of the benefits of having my soles on the earth. Short history: I was diagnosed many years ago with a mood disorder (depression, anxiety). As a member of Generation SSRI I was prescribed a number of different antidepressants, all of which "worked" but left me physically and emotionally blunted. I decided to take my emotional health into my own hands, get off the drugs and see if I could address the problems with exercise, diet and supplements. I am in the process of tapering down from a nasty AD which is notorious for being almost impossible to discontinue. The symptoms of withdrawal are worse than the symptoms which lead to their being prescribed in the first place. I began BF running when the symptoms were so bad I at times could barely climb out of bed. But I managed to make myself get up and get out and do it, a little at a time but I did..and each time I managed to run...I felt better. I am still far from being out of this pit, but day by day there is improvement. This post is longer than I planned, my original intent was to see if anyone else out there has experienced what I have. Also to offer some hope to others who may be In the same position as I. (And if its only the placebo effect...I'll take it!) Best AL
If I may share, second divorce wrapped up 2 years ago, and starting running each time, literally saved my life. BFR, with its absence of typical running injuries, has been a huge component, in my experience, of being happier now, than I ever imagined I could be. "Every day is a gift." To your health! <3
I started running because of a depression, it helped a lot. then I heard about barefoot running and immediately I knew this was gonna help even more and it did feet stimulation and all the focus and "let go" you need makes you feel better body and mind
Thanks for sharing and I think that this is a rich vein of consideration. I am not a medical expert of any sort,but I have always had a gut feel that BFR grounds me and helps straighten out both my physical and mental knots.
exercise, sun, action. great antidepressants. sex is also great but don't know how lucky you'll get here.
Nice thing about running is that you can do it solo and still get max benefits. As to how well..., I think there are lots of fast women running around here...
Thanks to all for your thoughtful, encouraging replies...and JT..there are indeed lots of fast women running..you guys just have to catch up. Ha! I feel better already! AL
Been "around" for a while. Some months. Didn't register before. BFR is just one of many things. Diet, thinking, emotional health, physical exercise in general (of course BF), increasing overall awareness and perception, etc. Breaking the shackles of modern world. Making my life more. Wearing shoes is restrictive. It makes you a prisoner of "rules". In this case the mentality "you have to wear shoes". By ditching shoes and going BF you ditch these rules-mentalities that restrict you. You make yourself more free. It's the increased freedom compared to what was before. The more free you are, the happier you are. The happier you are, the better your body works. Mood corresponds to hormones and substances in your system, and how they in turn affect your body, which in turn affects your mind, and again emotions, then again the body. Problems get bad if you get stuck in those loops. Need to take conscious control. Happier mood has hormones and substances corresponding to it your body synthesizes and releases, unhappy mood has its own (though it's a bit more complex than this). Those are not disorders, those are symptoms of primarily long-term magnesium deficiency. Because all those treat only the symptoms, they do not address the causes. Cause is never synthetic-artificial drug-pill deficiency. Exactly the right thing to do, and the only path to actual health. Body needs nutrients-vitamins-minerals, without toxins. Conventional medicine doesn't even consider this simple reality. Magnesium deficiency indeed. But there are many ways to become deficient of magnesium. It's not just how much you get from what you eat, because there are other ways body can become deficient. And so there are many ways you can make you body less deficient. For example exercising is one way to become less deficient, in the sense that exercise removes something (many possible things) that contributes to increased deficiency. Having ditched the zombie mentality "have to wear zoes" is another. Subconsciously no one wants to wear zoes (I like this more than "shoes"... it is far more appropriate...). Going against your wants, needs and wishes causes stress, stress "lowers" magnesium levels. (There's more to it, obviously, but a simple explanation.) Etc. I've had the same symptoms, had them for years on and off. Till I found "the truth" about health and what causes almost all modern illnesses. Simply have to eat right, which translates into "you have to give your body the nutrients-vitamin-minerals it needs in the quantities it needs them, and without toxins". This simple... "You are what you eat." Of course exercise, and not being bound by zombie-sheep mentalities like "zoes", etc., is also important. We are not cage-animals. We need freedom. Not placebo. Saying it's placebo is for a doctor/scientist to make himself look smart when in actual truth he has no idea what he is talking about. Mind, emotion, physical body, etc. They are all connected in more ways than one. One affects the another in more ways than one.
Don't know about depression, but heck yes, barefoot has BIG positive mood effects. I mean, why on earth would we continue to do it otherwise when the rest of the world thinks we're crazy, and we risk all these scary injuries ;-) ... You can't run around barefoot and be in a really bad mood if you are not injured. Try it. It is nearly impossible.
Great to hear that BFR is working for you Avonleaf. Not the same I know, but BFR saved my life too, in helping me to beat heart failure. Happy Running! .
Barefoot running makes you feel good...not something that's easy to describe but once you do it you know what i mean.
