earth origins - the anne kalso story

While in pursuit of her life-long interest in Yoga, Anne Kalso's studies took her to the great Hindu school of Yesudian in Zurich and later to the Yoga monastery in Santos, Brazil. In the course of her studies and experiments, she observed that by flexing the foot, or by lowering the heel one could achieve a feeling similar to that attained in the Yoga Mountain pose. In 1957, this awareness inspired her to develop (with the aid of a Portuguese shoe maker) a primitive version of a sandal with the heel lower than the toes.

Subsequently, she began to observe the superb posture of the native Brazilians with their foot imprints in the sand, and it was confirmed to her that when man walks in soft earth the weight of his body is sunk low in to the heels! Returning to Denmark, she began experimenting further with this principle. For ten years she developed and refined her designs. She tested the new models herself on walking trips of five hundred miles and more. Every nuance of their design and structure grew out of her intense concern and care. "It took numerous years of hard work before I reached the final form of my shoe which takes into consideration all the natural demands of the foot and body. Now I know that I have created something. It is no longer an idea in my mind, but a thoroughly tested and proven fact."

There is little of our poisoned environment that we as individuals can control, but we do what we can to overcome the negative influences on our lives. We seek harmony of the body and spirit and use what is available...meditation, nutrition, exercise, comfortable clothing and restful surroundings. We strive for a healthy natural lifestyle. Man has built a world of concrete and steel that is incompatible with his anatomy. We need a shoe that recreates underfoot the natural terrain that now lies buried beneath the concrete of our cities. To meet this need, a Yoga teacher from Copenhagen by the name of Anne Kalso, invented a sole design called the "Minus Heel®". In the form of a healthy footprint in soft earth, it provides unprecedented comfort; one immediately experiences a new way of standing and walking.

This unique construction with its heel lower than its toe, mirrors the effects of walking barefoot in the sand. This alignment of your body helps to develop a natural, graceful stride.