Nike Bets Big on Mood-Enhancing Shoes

Connecting one’s footwear to one’s state of mind isn’t exactly rocket science. If you’re in uncomfortable shoes, you’re almost certainly going to be more distracted than someone in a better-fitting pair. Different kinds of shoes affect comfort, mobility and posture — something that author Summer Brennan explored in her book High Heel, which has implications for pretty anyone who wears any type of shoe.

It might also leave you wondering what footwear specifically designed with mental health in mind would look like. And to that end, Nike has an answer — or, to be more accurate, two answers. As part of the same initiative that saw the announcement of Project Amplify, Nike also revealed two new pieces of footwear, the Mind 001 mule and the Mind 002 sneaker, along with images of athletes like A’ja Wilson and Erling Haaland wearing these shoes.

Nike is billing these two products’ ability to “activate key sensory areas of the brain via underfoot stimulation.” To that end, Mind 001 and Mind 002 were made with numerous nodules on the soles that were designed to give athletes a better sense of the terrain underfoot. In a statement, Haaland explained what this technology means to an elite athlete like him.

“Every step I take, I think of the shoe and what I feel in my feet — which is a good thing,” Haaland said. “It helps me to bring balance to my game.”

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“[W]e’re expanding into the mind. By studying perception, attention and sensory feedback, we’re tapping into the brain-body connection in new ways,” explained Nike’s chief science officer, Dr. Matthew Nurse. “It’s not just about running faster — it’s about feeling more present, focused and resilient.”

The Mind 001 and Mind 002 are both the products of a decade’s worth of research and development. According to Nike’s webite, both the Mind 001 and the Mind 002 will be available for purchase in January 2026.

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Tobias Carroll

Tobias Carroll lives and writes in New York City, and has been covering a wide variety of subjects — including (but not limited to) books, soccer and drinks — for many years. His writing has been published by the likes of the Los Angeles Times, Pitchfork, Literary Hub, Vulture, Punch, the New York Times and Men’s Journal. At InsideHook, he has…