To boost your foot strength and improve your balance and posture, adopt a routine of barefoot walking in minimalist walking shoes.

Softstar is proud to feature this guest essay by Jennifer Gwirtz, Mind/Body Professional, Facilitator and Teacher (Pilates, GYROKINESIS®, performance and therapeutic movement). Over her 15+ years of experience, Jennifer has delighted in exploring the relationship between mental and physical balance, particularly at the origin of stability: the foot.  Understanding Resilience: Follow the Bouncing Ball... Resilience has been on my mind a...

Switching to minimal shoes can be very liberating... if you do it safely. Although people may still debate over the benefits of minimal shoes and barefoot running, we remain strong advocates for both. So many customers have told us their foot pain disappeared and their cushy orthotics became unnecessary after switching to our barefoot-like shoes, and it's hard to ignore that kind of response. We...

I know, the title of this post may sound condescending. After all, you probably have a lot of experience walking—several decades, even. But bear with me, because even though I’ve been walking since the late 1970s I recently learned I wasn’t pulling it off as well as I thought. I had the honor a couple years ago to take a series of...

Instead of recommending more supportive trail shoes for the rougher, unpredictable surfaces, some doctors suggest the opposite.

Walking Lesson We're big fans of Michael Sandler at Soft Star. We met the barefoot guru and his wife, Jessica Lee, shortly after they released their first book, Barefoot Running, in 2011. Several members of our staff befriended the happy couple after attending one of their touring workshops, and they visited our Soft Star workshop the next day. Michael's interest...