Yin Yang is loosely defined as the balance of the opposites. I of course thought it always meant just the opposites–like sweet and sour or good and bad or love and hate.

Yin Yang will play an important role here today.

I love to be in shape. I hate getting there with cardio. I’d rather not do it. I wasn’t born with the gene for it. My mother always says “You have to die from something” so I thought not doing cardio would be it for me.

Oh I had excuses: Morton neuroma in the ball of a foot, a bunion, random non-provoked foot aching, bruised heels, heel spurs, foot fatigue, temperamental tendons, sporadic bad back and of course bad knees. Also there was cardio boredom (how long can those people run on treadmills? An hour?). And my lungs always seemed to be a tiny bit on fire after one block. Yes, 1 (one).

I went on a quest. I could walk or do the elliptical but I wanted more bang for my buck. If I was having a good foot day, I tended to overdo the walking/elliptical causing foot pain leading to zero cardio for a week. Was it just my body’s way of getting out of cardio?

All I knew now was I wanted every step not just to count but to, well, count for double here in middle age. Busy is a daily understatement for me so doing an hour of cardio isn’t in the game plan.

Then, by divine intervention that did not include a lightening bolt to my head, I discovered the most amazing and ugly (remember, yin yang) shoe to not only solve the foot aches, but to super charge every step with perpetual muscle workouts in my abs, butt, and legs. Oh and the cardio is … delightful!

I found all that I could wish for and more in MBT shoes. My background research about MBTs revealed that the shoes were engineered in Switzerland based upon watching the walking of the Eastern African Maasai people. The Maasai, children and elders, all have long lean and healthy bodies with amazing posture (see picture) and in large part this is attributed to walking in the sand often barefoot. Thus, MBT or Masai Barefoot Technology was born.