窮屈: a tight fit and a confining way of life
Compare shoes that are a little tight with a life full of rules felt to be confining, distinguishing bodily fit from restrictions in daily life.
The shoes’ fit and difficulty walking
窮屈 (きゅうくつ) can describe a cramped fit around the body. The shoe sentence connects that tightness with difficulty walking.
“この靴は少し窮屈で歩きにくい。” says that the shoes are a little tight, making it difficult to walk. Preserve the degree 少し as well as the difficulty expressed by 歩きにくい.
Restrictions felt in a way of life
窮屈 can also describe feeling confined by a way of life or rules. Here, the focus is restricted freedom of action, rather than space for the body to fit.
“規則ばかりの生活を窮屈に感じた。” says that the speaker found a life governed entirely by rules confining. 感じた presents that feeling in the past.
Distinguish the object from the feeling expressed
The shoe sentence concerns bodily fit, while the life sentence concerns restrictions felt under rules. Neither example is a measurement of the same physical dimension.
The shoes’ slight tightness gives no exact measurement, and the confining life describes someone’s response to it. Do not generalize either example into everyone feeling the same discomfort with the same shoes or way of life.
Does 窮屈に感じた in the sentence about rules describe the size of a space for the body?
Show the answer and why
No. It says that the speaker found that way of life confining. The tight physical fit appears in the shoe sentence, where the degree a little and the difficulty walking are both stated.