4.26.2012 "Walking on Sunshine" by Anabel Garver - Walking barefoot or wearing minimal footwear has so many benefits. It feels good and it’s good for you. Beginning with my study of anatomy and its relationship to the energetic body, I became aware of the many ways that our feet play a significant part in personal well being. There are so many benefits of foregoing hard soled shoes including:

A heightened sense of awareness of your environment; attention has to be paid to the ground you’re walking on. Mindfulness encourages responsibility for one’s life.

Walking barefoot connects you to the earth’s magnetic field so it’s energetically grounding. Grounding brings a sense of stability and balance.

Walking with restrictive shoes and hard soles interferes with the biomechanics of the body, most notably the foot and ankle. Barefoot or minimal foot covering assists in stretching and strengthening the muscles, tendons and ligaments of the feet. Subsequently gait and posture is improved.

The reflexology points of the foot are stimulated when walking barefoot or wearing minimal footwear. Stimulation of the foot triggers the self healing mechanisms of the body, including detoxification and emotional release.

There is a heightened peace of mind when in contact with the environment. Whether on the sand, on grass, or indoors on wood floor or wool carpeting, the sensation of contact with the ground is soothing and promotes relaxation.

2.13.2012 "What size do you wear?" by Rebecca Leone (www.PilatesNun.com) - That’s always a leading question but in this case, where it led me was to a seashell pink pair of the most amazing shoes, although that isn’t quite the right word to describe them.

TheShu isn’t really a shoe but rather something that’s one step up from being barefoot but several steps below the bind and heft of a slipper. When you first see them, when you first hold them in your hands, it’s really hard to imagine just what you’re in for.

I got my first pair of TheShu just as I was heading out for a 5 week road trip to teach workshops throughout northern Italy. I threw them in my bag and off I went, not realizing how, over the coming weeks, I would grow to love them and how I would grow to need them.

With Europe locked in the most frigid winter weather in recent memory and with most of my accommodations having ice cold stone floors, TheShu quickly became my new best friend since the sole is just thick enough to break the conduction of cold from passing from the floor up into my feet so I wore them the entire time I was in my various hotel rooms and they were especially invaluable every single day in my Venice apartment where I spent the last 16 nights of my trip.

Early in the trip, I realized how dependent I’d become on them when I found myself sleeping in them! They are so comfortable, somehow able to form to your foot so perfectly, that I forgot I had them on and went to bed with them on and – bonus – when I would get up in the night to make a bathroom run, I didn’t need to fuss about trying to get my socks on in order to trek to the loo.

As you can imagine, they eventually got dirty and the first time I washed them, it was in the sink and they came out perfectly, just like new.

The second time I washed them it was in a washing machine which, in case you’re unfamiliar with this aspect of Italian life, is more like a cross between a pressure cooker and a cremation oven.

Again, and in spite of the washing machine heating the wash water to just below the point of boiling and tumbling them there for ninety minutes, they came out perfectly, just like new.

All in all, my Princess Pink pair of TheShu survived repeated torturous washings, unscathed. I cannot, however, say the same about various other treasured garments that were also subjected to the same torture of the laundry kind.

On the long flight home, I was sporting TheShu over a pair of cashmere knee highs and when I made friends with a woman sitting across the aisle from me who just so happens to rep alligator hides to all the luxury brands, I showed her my pair of TheShu and told her there’s a new market of footwear that she should consider breaking into. After all, why should Hermes have all the fun?

Here’s the thing, TheShu holds up so well that I can’t possibly wait until this first pair wears out to get more . . . I won’t be able to wait that long!

Thank you, TheShu, you’ve come up with the most high quality and stylish way to keep my feet clean without compromising comfort or dexterity. Perfect for the studio and beyond, I want a pair in every color!