Barefoot School with Robin Greenfield

Hello Dear Friends,

I am elated to share with you the opportunity to attend Barefoot School in Asheville, North Carolina region on July 28th-30th at Sacred Mountain Waters. Barefoot School is centered around connecting with Earth, foraging, sustainable living, mindfulness in action, simple living and, of course, barefoot living! Through this school you will return home with the skills, knowledge, motivation and confidence to go barefoot in your life as you desire and to live in deeper harmony with Earth.

In the school you will:

Learn the why and how to be barefoot
Observe, connect to and learn to love your feet
Practice walking on a variety of terrain
Learn through experience
Have the opportunity to ask questions
Meet like-minded people and build your community
Learn how to find food and medicine growing freely and abundantly all around you
Spend quality time connected to Earth
Practice mindful and simple living
Eat meals made from locally grown and foraged foods

I strive for my work to be accessible and open to all. The Barefoot School is no exception.

The school is designed to be accommodating for those who have never taken a single step barefoot to those who are well on their barefoot journey already.

The school is also donation-based, with a sliding scale suggested donation of $100-$200 per adult and $25-50 per child. We provide scholarships as well.

Registration for Barefoot School is Closed

Dates: July 28th-30th. Arrival Friday evening, class on Saturday until Sunday afternoon, departure Sunday afternoon/ evening.

Location: Sacred Mountain Waters in Marshall, North Carolina (45 minutes from Asheville)

2932 Big Laurel Rd, Marshall, North Carolina 28753

Sacred Mountain Waters is nestled in a mountain valley bounded by two miles of pristine mountain rivers and surrounded by over 200 acres of forest and trails. There are waterfalls on site to deepen your connection to Earth and a refreshing natural swimming pond for all of us to enjoy. Our event will be primarily outdoors, however, the communal lodge will be open for indoor needs and there is a riverside deck.

Accommodations: Accommodations will be quite simple by design. Our intention is to spend the weekend outside connected to Earth. On site camping is provided. Bring your own tent, sleeping mat and sleeping gear. Bring anything else you need for comfortable sleeping. There is a communal lodge with a bathroom. However, we will have compost toilets to use. If you have never used a compost toilet, this is an opportunity to learn about this form of living in harmony with Earth. The compost toilets will be kept clean and desirable. There are no showers available, but the swimming pond and rivers can provide for your cleanliness needs. Bring a bucket if you’d like to try out a bucket shower! There will be hand-washing stations with biodegradable soap. Communal meals will be cooked outdoors with gas stoves. For those who desire indoor accommodations, you could book something nearby and come for the days.

Food: Group meals will be provided and individuals can be self-sufficient with their food as well. See the tentative meal plan below.

After we have the final number of attendees decided, we will share the cost of food per person for the group meals. We will source primarily locally grown and foraged food and put this money into the local community. The foods will be simple foods such as pots of soup, cooked veggies/greens, fresh fruits and herbal teas. There will be meat and plant-based options if there is a desire for both by the community. We will prep food as a community, however, we expect that there will be enough of a community where anyone who does not want to do food prep will not be needed. We may bring in a teammate to manage the food, depending on how many donations we receive. (66% of people said they would enjoy taking part in food prep.)

Schedule and Classes: See the tentative schedule below.

Communal Chores: As a community, we will take care of basic chores to be stewards to the land that we are on. Chores will be very basic and minimal.

Suggested Donation: Sliding scale of $100-$200+ per adult and $25-$50 per child. (donation information on the registration form.) Please note that we do have expenses of renting the lands and some materials and paying for labor to organize the event and Robin is putting in many hours of service.

Work trade: For those where a donation is not in the flow, work trade is an option. Work trade could include food prep during the school, setting up in the days leading up to the school, sourcing and picking up food, handling admin and logistics, marketing the school. We are open to suggestions as well.

Scholarship: If you’d like to apply for a scholarship, please let us know in the registration form.

Time with Robin: As important to me as Barefoot School is to connect with each of you who come to spend time together, depending on the turnout, there will be more or less opportunity for one-on-one connections. It is my top priority to spend quality time with you.

Children are welcome

Pets: No dogs or cats

Number of attendees: 60-100 people estimated

Rideshare: Looking for a ride or wanting to share space in your vehicle? Add yourself to our rideshare doc.

Welcome Letter & Guidelines: Please review the welcome letter & guidelines here!

Tentative Schedule

Friday

3-7 PM Arrival, Get to know place and Connect with Earth and Community time
- 5-6 Barefoot Walk with Robin Sessions (5 minute one-on-one walks)
7-8 Opening circle
8-9 Robin Shares on Simple and Sustainable Living
9-10 Community Time
10 Quiet Hours until 7 AM Saturday

Saturday

7 – 8:45 AM Morning Mindfulness Offering – Nature’s Canvas: An Eco-Therapeutic Arts Mindfulness Journey with Ella Dufrene, or Connect with Earth Time
9 – 9:45 AM Community Breakfast
10-12:45 PM Barefoot Class
1-1:45 PM Community Lunch
2 – 3:45 PM Foraging Walk and Talk
4 – 6 PM Afternoon Mindfulness Offering – Herbs! Herbs! Herbs!: Nourishing Herbal Infusions with Lucretia Jones
or Connect with Earth Time
- 5-6 Barefoot Walk with Robin Sessions (5 minute one-on-one walks)
6 – 6:45 PM Community Dinner
7-9 Robin Shares on Living Mindfully and Intentionally followed by Ask Robin Anything Session (Q&A)
9-10 Community Time
10 Quiet Hours until 7 AM Sunday

Sunday

7 – 8:45 AM Morning Mindfulness Offering – Soulful Yoga with Liz Virgo
or Connect with Earth Time
9 – 9:45 AM Community Breakfast
10 – 11:30 AM Barefoot Class
11:40-1 PM White Folks Listening to the Voices of People of Color with Phi Ranglin
1 – 1:45 PM Community Lunch
2-3 Classes
3:00-3:45 Community Regional Breakout Session
4-5 Closing Circle
5-6 Clean up and departure
6 PM Site is returned cleaner than we entered the space

Tentative Meal Plan

Meals will be created with care and love with 100% local/regional organically/sustainably grown or foraged foods. All food listed below follows these guidelines unless noted with an *. Additional herbs, spices and add-ons will be served on the side. This will allow for anyone who would like to immerse in a 100% regional and foraged diet to have this experience, while also having additional items available for those who would desire them.

All meals will be plant-based with meat options for one meal each day and eggs available at all other meals.

Friday evening:

Tea and snacks only

Foraged Mushroom, Nettle and Appalachian Spice Tea: reishi, chaga, maitake, turkey tail, sassafras, spicebush (roots and leaves) and wood nettle. Honey available as sweetener
Hard boiled eggs
Local sourdough bread
Locally made sauerkraut or kimchi

Saturday Breakfast:

Local oatmeal with local berries and apples, seeds*/nuts* + local honey
Sautéed locally grown and foraged greens
Hard boiled eggs – locally raised
Morning tea: mint, bee balm/ wild bergamot, lemon balm, brambleberry. All locally grown or foraged

Saturday Lunch:

Sweet potato and squash mash – locally grown
Sautéed locally grown and foraged greens
Hard boiled eggs – locally raised
Locally made sauerkraut or kimchi
Lunch tea: wood nettle/ stinging nettle

Saturday Dinner:

Wild rice stew with local veggies, foraged mushrooms and meat (deer, cow or chicken)
- (Both veggie and meat options available)
Locally made sauerkraut or kimchi
Evening tea: mint, chamomile, catnip, mugwort, elderflower, echinacea

Sunday Breakfast:

Local corn grits with local berries and apples, seeds*/nuts* + local honey
Sautéed locally grown and foraged greens
Hard boiled eggs – locally raised
Morning tea: mint, bee balm/ wild bergamot, lemon balm, brambleberry

Sunday Lunch:

Wild rice stew with local veggies, foraged mushrooms and meat (deer, cow or chicken)
- (Both veggie and meat options available)
Locally made sauerkraut or kimchi
Lunch tea: wood nettle/ stinging nettle

Robin’s Barefoot Story:

There was a time when I wore shoes. I had all kinds, too: hiking shoes, winter boots, business shoes, running shoes, flip flops, slip-ons, slippers, skateboard shoes, water shoes, athletic sandals… and on and on.

About a decade ago, I had an idea that my feet could function just fine without shoes. I had an idea that our bodies had evolved over hundreds of thousands of years WITHOUT shoes on our feet and that today, my feet could probably still do just as well without them. In fact, I had an inkling that my feet might even be better off without shoes!

So I went for it and I’ve been barefoot since. You can read about my barefoot journey here. At the time of sharing this (April 2nd, 2023), I don’t even own shoes, not even a pair of sandals or socks!

Wherever I go, people ask me about my bare feet with great curiosity. I believe this curiosity often comes from their own desire to connect with Earth and break free from the burdens of societal stigmas.

I have seen quite clearly that many people wish to leave their shoes at home and go about their lives barefoot. To be of service to those on this journey, I’ve shared my knowledge and experience in writing, videos and in-person talks for the last decade. Now, I’m putting this information together into The Barefoot School!

This summer 2023, I am hosting a multi-day Barefoot School near my current home land of Asheville, North Carolina, July 28th-30th at Sacred Mountain Waters.

I am also open to taking the Barefoot School on the road and teaching in a handful of cities. These will be one-day classes or two-day immersions.

Registration for Barefoot School is Closed

Here is some inspiration until Barefoot School: