Prologue: The Barefoot School of the Republic of Korea: Sharing Your Value with the World

PART 1: Why We Walk Barefoot

Humans cannot live without soil.
Feel the benefits of walking barefoot with your whole body
Walking barefoot isn't a panacea, but
Stimulation of the soles of the feet activates sensory brain functions.
Exposure to various bacteria in the soil improves immunity.
Grounding eliminates active oxygen and static electricity.
Reduces chronic fatigue, headaches, and back pain
Flat feet improve and you can breathe easier
Wake up the doctor sleeping inside me
There is power in 'Man'
| Kwon Taek-hwan's Barefoot Humanities | Is Soil, Which Boosts Immunity, Dirty?

PART 2: How to Walk Barefoot

The best way to walk barefoot is to just walk barefoot.
How often and with what mindset should I walk?
What kind of land is best to walk on?
How far and at what speed should I walk?
Enjoy an oxygen tank and a barefoot walk in the forest.
You can walk barefoot even in winter
Walking barefoot is meditation done barefoot.
Get close to the sun and hang on the horizontal bar.
The first time you walk, you may experience a strange reaction.
| Kwon Taek-hwan's Barefoot Humanities | Into the Embrace of the Earth, the Source of Life

PART 3: Starting the Barefoot School in Korea

After walking for 10 years, I found hope.
The 10,000-Hour Rule: Promoting Barefoot Walking Through Consistency
It's not a barefoot walking club, it's a barefoot school.
5-No School: Truth is simple, and skill comes from consistency.
Go to school on your own and study voluntarily
After 3 days, 21 days, and 100 days, you will be wearing it for life.
The pride of Barefoot School, the 100-day award I give myself
Barefoot School picnic day
Become a Barefoot Poet
Barefoot School: It Must Now Become a School for Children
| Kwon Taek-hwan's Barefoot Humanities | Awaken the Sense of Coexistence on Our One and Only Earth

PART 4: Barefoot Walking: Blossoming in Education

Let children run wild in nature.
Let's change the school space and create a classroom on the first floor.
The classroom looks different after the barefoot walking program begins.
There is no classroom as great as nature.
Advice for Teachers Who Want to Start Barefoot Walking Education
Let's awaken children's brains and boost their creativity.
Education is a process where the results are proportional to the effort put in.
You have to be careful to avoid being reckless.
Natural intelligence is important for our future children.
I quietly find my way back to the edge of my life.
| Kwon Taek-hwan's Barefoot Humanities | Education is Waiting

Experience: Barefoot School: 10 Years of Relationship, 10 Years of Beautiful Stories
My life changed after I discovered barefoot walking.
With my wife, who feels more comfortable thanks to walking barefoot
There are already a lot of things that have improved
100 days, finally done
Walking barefoot to treat eczema
Walking barefoot is walking for life.
It's already been 200 days since I started working barefoot.
The day I received the 100-day barefoot walking award
The turning point of my life
I won't stop walking barefoot
The children are happy too
The five of us walked together
A touching story of walking barefoot with middle school students
I tasted various earthy delicacies
I became a different person after walking barefoot.
1,000 Days of Happiness Walking Barefoot
Looking back, I proudly remember my three years of bare feet.
| Kwon Taek-hwan's Barefoot Humanities | The 960th Successful Candidate and the 100-Year-Old Grandfather's Suit

The epilogue begins again

“I am the physician of my body and the physician of my mind.
“Walking barefoot is good for your body and mind!”

Why we must walk barefoot

In 1971, the United States declared war on cancer.
At the same time, the number of people suffering from various chronic diseases also increased rapidly, putting the nation's health on alert.
The current situation in our country is the same.
Although people are living longer, the number of sick people has increased significantly.
All of this is because humanity has become distant from the earth.
We have lived on the earth for a long time, becoming one with the soil.
Until about 100 years ago, people walked an average of 30,000 steps a day.
Hippocrates, the father of medicine, said, "The basis of medicine is to enhance the body's natural healing power or immunity." However, as industrialization and urbanization led to a distance from the soil, humans lost their natural healing power, the ability to heal themselves.

Walking barefoot is the best way to connect with the earth.
The moment you take off your shoes, place your feet on the ground, and feel the heartbeat of the Earth through the soles of your feet, your body reacts and resonates with the Earth's immense energy.
This is the best way to awaken the sleeping doctor within me.
The more you walk barefoot, the more the soles of your feet are stimulated, which activates your brain's senses, improving your creativity and eliminating the need to worry about dementia.
By coming into contact with various bacteria in the soil, our immune system is strengthened, allowing us to easily overcome any virus that invades our body.
Grounding with the earth removes unnecessary active oxygen and static electricity from our bodies, allowing us to live a youthful life with an energetic body.
It helps you sleep better, reduces chronic fatigue, headaches, and back pain, improves flat feet, and even deepens your breathing, allowing you to breathe through your belly.
Walking barefoot isn't a panacea, but it certainly awakens the doctor within you.
Walking barefoot is powerful.


Walking barefoot: when, where, and how to do it

Now, many people know that walking barefoot is good for them.
However, there are three main reasons why people are reluctant to start walking barefoot.


I'm worried I'll get stabbed.
I'm worried because the soil is dirty.

I'm worried about what other people think.


The author, who is the principal of the Barefoot School in Korea, says that if you are worried about getting pricked, you can just walk slowly during the day, and if you think the dirt is dirty, start on a well-maintained school playground.
If you feel burdened by the gaze of others, I suggest you walk with people from Barefoot Schools across the country.
For beginners of barefoot walking who have many questions, such as how often to walk, with what mindset, what pace to walk at, how many times a week to walk, whether just walking is enough, and what to do if you have a chronic illness, the Barefoot School's 10 years of know-how are kindly explained one by one.


When asked which type of soil is best, he said that sandy loam, yellow loam, and beach sand are all good, but beach sand is good for removing active oxygen from the body, yellow loam is good for preventing dementia by waking up the brain senses, and yellow loam is the best for interacting with the good bacteria in the soil.

In particular, it explains why you should walk barefoot more in winter, how to walk barefoot safely in winter, and provides know-how to make barefoot walking more fun, such as enjoying barefoot walking in the forest with an oxygen tank, and barefoot walking picnics and trips.
Above all, all of this information is presented in a comfortable writing style, as if the author is speaking directly to you, so you can read the book in one sitting.


A barefoot meditation that sets me straight and changes the world.

Walking barefoot starts out as a way to love myself, but the more I walk, the more I come to love others and nature.
Walking barefoot makes you feel moved, amazed, and grateful for even the smallest changes in nature.
I realize that all of this is possible not because I am good, but because nature has provided it.
Also, if you walk slowly with bare feet, you will naturally meditate, so you will be free from distracting thoughts and meet your small self in the universe with humility.
Barefoot walking meditation will leave your brain clean and organized, like completely deleting information from your computer's trash can.

Above all, because you can overcome menopausal depression or seasonal affective disorder and find your own value, you have more room to look after others, become harmonious with your family, and share laughter with your neighbors.
By establishing a healthy and valuable 'me', I also gain the courage to take the lead in creating positive changes in the world.


There is a power of naturalness in walking barefoot.
Humans are also part of nature and possess naturalness, but they have lost this naturalness due to excessive material civilization.
Walking barefoot is the best way to connect with nature and keep your body and mind healthy by leaving bare feet instead of carbon footprints.

Barefoot walking blossoms in education

As the years go by, news reports come out that the number of students addicted to drugs is increasing, that Korea has the highest student suicide rate, the highest student smoking rate, and that Korea ranks last in happiness index.
The number of school violence cases reviewed since COVID-19 also reached 8,300 in 2020, 15,600 in 2021, and nearly 20,000 in 2022.
The reason this reality has come about is because our children do not move their bodies and stay away from nature.
Exercising and sweating in nature are essential for a healthy body and mind, but at some point, we became the country where students showed the least environmentally friendly behavior among OECD member countries.


Erich Pinchas Fromm said, “If your children are sick, it is revenge for not having enough time to play.”
To keep our children from getting sick again and to make our future brighter, we must give them the gift of eco-friendly movement.
Nature-friendly play that prepares students for lifelong learning, both physically and mentally, is the educational method that can bring happiness to everyone.


Fortunately, many teachers are starting to teach barefoot walking in the field, knowing that it is good for them.
By changing the school space, creating classrooms on the first floor, and allowing the children to run around the playground barefoot, not only did the children's emotions stabilize, their immunity improved, but their relationships with their friends also became stronger.
My creativity also increased and I studied harder.
This is why walking barefoot is more important for children.