The barefoot movement is not just about shoes. It’s something much bigger. So, let us take a look at the books that will inspire and educate you in fully understanding the barefoot shoes and movement in depth, so you can wiggle your toes with joy.
Some books are suitable for beginners who would love to understand why barefoot shoes are important and how they are connected to body movement. Others are suitable for more advanced readers who would like to dig deeper into human anatomy and foot and body movement mechanics.
If you’re interested in learning more about barefoot shoes and human movement, check out our list of the best books on the subject below.
Beginner Book List
Katy Bowman: Whole Body Barefoot: Transitioning Well to Minimal Footwear
Many work hard on good posture and better walking and running alignment, but it’s critical to understand how what you put on your feet each day can play a bigger role in the function of your feet, ankles, knees, hips, and spine than you might realize.
Katy Bowman: Move Your DNA: Restore Your Health Through Natural Movement
Bestselling Move Your DNA has shaken up the health and fitness world with this message: there is more to movement than exercise.
The human body evolved to a tremendous amount of certain movements like walking, squatting, hanging, and carrying loads our bodies still require to work well, even though they’re mostly gone from our “convenience-centric” culture.
Bernie Landels: Finding Their Feet: Every parent’s guide to milestones and movement
Finding Their Feet is an accessible and practical guide for parents and carers, designed to equip them for the most important role they will ever have – guiding their child’s development for life-long success, from the feet up.
Katy Bowman: Simple Steps to Foot Pain Relief: The New Science of Healthy Feet
Don’t just treat your foot pain–strengthen your feet to prevent it. Back with an expanded edition of her popular book Every Woman’s Guide to Foot Pain Relief, biomechanist Katy Bowman has created a new version for both men and women in all walks of life. With updated material and new visuals that illustrate exactly how to strengthen and mobilize your feet, Simple Steps to Foot Pain Relief will show you how to change the way you move your body to prevent pain, heal your feet, and halt damage to the rest of your body.
Katy Bowman: Grow Wild: The Whole-Child, Whole-Family, Nature-Rich Guide to Moving More
From biomechanist and bestselling author Katy Bowman comes her eagerly anticipated guide to getting kids-from babies to preteens-and their families moving more, together, outside.
L Daniel Howell: The Barefoot Book: 50 Great Reasons to Kick Off Your Shoes
Our addiction to wearing shoes has been linked to conditions ranging from foot fungus and bacteria to bunions and fallen arches. Ill-fitting and high-heeled shoes cause damage to the knees and spine, and continuous wearing of any kind of shoes builds up these problems. Daniel Howell describes the benefits of a simple alternative: going barefoot. The barefoot lifestyle corrects misalignments and increases foot strength and flexibility, and it is practiced in many other countries.
Angela J. Hanscom: Balanced and Barefoot: How Unrestricted Outdoor Play Makes for Strong, Confident, and Capable Children
Today’s kids have adopted sedentary lifestyles filled with television, video games, and computer screens. But more and more, studies show that children need “rough and tumble” outdoor play in order to develop their sensory, motor, and executive functions. Disturbingly, a lack of movement has been shown to lead to a number of health and cognitive difficulties, such as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), emotion regulation and sensory processing issues, and aggressiveness at school recess break. So, how can you ensure that your child is fully engaging their body, mind, and all of their senses?
Intermediate Book List
Daniel Lieberman: Exercised: The Science of Physical Activity, Rest and Health
The myth-busting science behind our modern attitudes to exercise: what our bodies really need, why it matters, and its effects on health and wellbeing.
C. Ober, S. T. Sinatra, M. Zucker: Earthing: The Most Important Health Discovery Ever!
‘Earthing’ introduces readers to the landmark discovery that living in contact with the Earth’s natural surface charge – being grounded – naturally discharges and prevents chronic inflammation in the body. This effect has massive health implications because of the well-established link between chronic inflammation and all chronic diseases, including the diseases of aging and the aging process itself.
Sharon Whiteley & Ann Marie Chiasson: Barefoot Wisdom: Better Health Through Grounding
Discover how to reconnect with nature’s energy and step into better health by grounding. Grounding means tapping into the Earth’s freely available, always accessible, and ever-powerful natural energy to rebalance your body and restore your health. Among its many health benefits, grounding reduces inflammation, improves sleep, and restores energy. This indispensable primer gives you all the tips and tools you need to start grounding now.
Advanced Book List
James Earls: Understanding the Human Foot: An Illustrated Guide to Form and Function for Practitioners
An essential resource for bodyworkers, physical therapists, and sports medicine practitioners-a vital guide to understanding the anatomy, form, and mechanics of the human foot.
James Earls: Born to Walk, Second Edition: Myofascial Efficiency and the Body in Movement
The ability to walk upright on two legs is one of the major traits distinguishing us as humans, and yet the reasons for its development remain a mystery among scientists. In Born to Walk, author James Earls explores the mystery of walking’s evolution by describing the complex mechanisms enabling us to be efficient in bipedal gait. Viewing the whole body as an interconnected unit, he explains how we can regain a flowing efficiency within our gait–an efficiency which is part of our natural design.
Christopher McDougall: Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen
NATIONAL BESTSELLER – The astonishing and hugely entertaining story that completely changed the way we run. An epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt?
Christopher McDougall: Born to Run 2: The Ultimate Training Guide
The Ultimate Training Guide teaches every runner, new or experienced, how to master humankind’s first true superpower and tap into hidden reserves of strength and stamina. With chapters dedicated to the Free Seven – Food, Fitness, Form, Focus, Footwear, Fun and Family – we learn exactly how to change our biomechanics, clean up our diets, heal our injuries, adapt to healthier footwear, and prepare for our dream challenge.
Thomas W. Myers: Anatomy Trains : Myofascial Meridians for Manual Therapists and Movement Professionals
Get a multi-dimensional understanding of musculoskeletal anatomy with Anatomy Trains: Myofascial Meridians for Manual Therapists and Movement Professionals, 4th Edition. This hugely successful, one-of-a-kind title continues to center on the application of anatomy trains across a variety of clinical assessment and treatment approaches – demonstrating how painful problems in one area of the body can be linked to a “silent area” away from the problem, and ultimately giving rise to new treatment strategies.
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