Bruce Willis and his pinkies

The best advice from a businessman could arguably be that given to John McClane, the character played by Bruce Willis in the first of the Die Hard movies.

It was not on the subject of Bond Trading, Sound Investment, Salesmanship or Employment Policy but how to cope with jet lag.

In the scene from the film, Willis, looking agitated in flight, is provided with the following tip,

"After you get where you're going, take off your shoes and your socks then walk around on the rug bare foot and make fists with your toes".

This well quoted phrase serves to illustrate the therapeutic and healthy pursuit of going about barefoot, indeed as nature intended.

I am not alone in throwing off my business lace-ups and thermal socks upon returning home from work on an evening as statistically 40% of adults do the same and at each and every opportunity apparently.

In fact the wearing of shoes could be regarded as restrictive, stifling and in the case of some brands positively unhealthy.

We all remember that horrible sensation at the end of a day barefoot on the beach, when it is time to re-shod or after a week long vacation in the sun flitting in and out of flip-flops and sandals.

I have recently been given a pair of Crocs, those rather ugly and cumbersome single moulded leisure and practical lifestyle wear. I do like them but even more the ability to shed them quickly and be barefoot again.

Re-uniting the soles of your feet with the earth is pure connectivity. Hippy and New Earth types hold that the earth in return loves the tread of a foot because the soul is in the sole.

Walking about barefoot provokes many different reactions.

It can be seen both as Bohemian in style and yet in many societies it is associated with the poorest of the poor. The dangers of being barefoot could be obvious to some and yet our hunter gatherer ancestors ranged about far and wide over rough uphill and valley terrain, A dry sole can actually give a good and reliable grip on climbing rocks and obstacles.

Authoritative sources who have studied running barefoot have demonstrated a lower risk of injury and even a 4% saving on expended energy compared with the loss of kinetic energy through the impact of a cushioned sole.

The Barefoot League was founded in 1914 to champion and promote the healing and holistic benefits of this type of pursuit and even more importantly to explain it to others. A particular theme in their manifesto was the need for regular absorption of radiant energy which can only come from direct contact with Mother Earth.

This is understandable in that the main organs of the body have their sensory ends at the bottom of the foot. Reflexology is a well practiced and respected branch of medicine.

What about the legal and practical aspects of a barefoot life?

Three myth busting bits of information are that it is not against the law to go barefoot into an establishment such as a restaurant, that there are no health regulations relating to it and that it is not illegal to drive a car barefoot.

The foregoing is not news to me as I am an advocate of barefooting.

I do however draw a line at say, doing the weekly shop in Tesco's or travelling by train. My next door neighbour seemed shocked at my putting out of the wheeley bins in bare feet on the evening before collection. He grimaced as I strode out across the brick pavers and coarse tarmac.

I grinned back as a sharp stone embedded itself in the sole of my foot exactly in the pressure point to give me relief from an earlier and painful back pain.