Yoga instructor Emily Hyland calls these $295 trail runners her “shoes for life”

After struggling to find trail runners that felt just right, yoga instructor Emily Hyland landed on the Norda 001A shoes. The lightweight pair gives her the cushioning and support she wants without losing the connection she wants to feel with the ground.

“These are like my shoes for life,” says yoga instructor Emily Hyland about the Norda 001A trail runners. “I have like four pairs on backstock so that I don’t run out of this exact model.”

Hyland pays close attention to how her body connects with the ground, and what she wears on her feet matters. “Too much cushion takes me away from feeling my feet on the ground,” says Hyland, co-founder of YogaSource. That sensitivity to ground feel carries into her trail runs, where the Norda shoes have become her go-to.  

“I really love these shoes and I can’t recommend them highly enough to get out into nature and move your booty,” Hyland says. 

While she says some cushioned sneakers “are way too cloudy” for her, the Norda 001A won her over “after many attempts of finding shoes that felt good on my feet,” she says. 

Hyland acknowledges that she is “very particular about safety, durability, [and] functionality,” and those priorities are part of what made the Norda an instant favorite for her. 

“They have one of those Vibram bottoms, and they have really good rubber Vibram soles,” she says. Specifically, it uses an exclusive Vibram Litebase Megagrip soleplate with 5-millimeter lugs as part of its optimally cushioned design.

“They’re not super thick,” Hyland says. “These give enough cushion and spring and support without being too cloudy.”

That balance doesn’t make the shoes feel heavy, either.

“They’re really lightweight too,” she says. “They’re not heavy shoes. And they’re also very breathable for a sweaty body.”

For Hyland, that combination makes the higher price easier to justify. “They are expensive, but an investment,” she says. “If I’m investing money, I’m investing it in something that’s going to really care for that vital part of our physical selves.”

When asked if she would change anything about the shoe, Hyland simply says, “knock on wood, they’re perfect.” 

And the brand may have her loyalty locked in for a while as she says, “I’m like a real Norda fangirl. I just discovered them. I have their socks and their hat and all that stuff.”