JJ Virgin4x NYTimes Best Selling Author, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Fitness Hall of Famer

Is Walking Barefoot Good For You?

23 Jun 2025 · 1 min

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In this brief monologue, health coach JJ Virgin argues that walking barefoot—or using barefoot‑style shoes—is a legitimate practice that supports overall health. She emphasizes the importance of getting morning sunlight, walking outdoors on grass, dirt, or sand, and the benefits of negative ions. Virgin recommends a one‑week barefoot challenge to improve mood, bodily function, and the gut microbiome, noting that the skin acts as a sieve that can absorb beneficial earth energy. If barefoot walking isn’t possible, she suggests using minimalist shoes that allow the foot to feel the ground.

Chapters

Walking barefoot and grounding and earthing sound like total ridiculous woo-woo stuff, and they're not. One of the things that I really try to do in the mornings, especially as part of getting that great sunlight, is to walk outside. Fortunately, I have dogs, so I kind of have to do it, and get out into the grass and out into the dirt. Bonus points if you can get out into the sand because of all those negative ions. Amazing. But you actually want to touch the earth And if you can't do it barefoot, then do the best— next best thing and get into barefoot style shoes where your body really has to articulate and feel the ground and move with it. I know it sounds crazy, but even just do like a 1-week barefoot challenge of getting out there and seeing what it does for your mood and for your body. And remember, your skin's a sieve, so going out and walking in nature and getting into the ground and into the dirt actually is going to help your whole body and your gut microbiome.