Let The Heeling Begin

Sept. 23, 2009 | Style | permalink

Imagine walking pain free in a pair of high heels without popping a Xanax? Determined to learn how, I recently dragged my tired and swollen dogs to the Backbones and Wingspan Pilates Studio for a High Heel Recovery Clinic. Trudging from the subway to the studio I imagined a scene from the documentary Paris Is Burning and a task master instructor barking "Girl, you better work!" Instead, I was greeted at the door by the zen countenance of Tim Driscoll the studio director and a respected teacher on the NYC pilates scene. Tim along with fellow teacher Cathy Ferrara have developed the clinic in response to clients with all kinds of lower back pain, calf strain and shin splints related to wearing vertiginous heels.

According to Tim "The heel is probably the most under-utilized part of the body. When someone can expand into their heels and into the back of their shoe rather than letting their heel shove forward onto the ball of the foot then they can get relief." The key, he explained, is to connect with the upper back of your legs rather than your lower back or the balls of your feet.

To put us in touch with this sensation it was time to walk around the room. We'd been asked to bring a 'challenging' pair of heels. I put on my red patent leather Fendi sandals that slice into my toes like a cheese knife. Walking with all the grace of a middle-aged cross dresser in size 13 pumps, I noticed the woman in front of me. Elisabeth, a slim 50-something was navigating swan-like in a pair of 6" St. Laurent platform sandals. How could she stand it?

Then it was shoes off for mat work designed to identify critical body/pressure points that are engaged when walking in high heels. First, the core since all things balance and posture rely on a strong trunk. Three sets of hamstrings ( 3? who knew?). Asked to imagine these as strings reaching right up into our butts, I tried to visualize my hammies rising up to tether two balloons (or rather, bum cheeks a bit larger than I'd like them to be). By tucking my tail -just slightly- I instantly felt a strong connection right there. Finally, the hip flexors-that 'pocket' of muscle at the very top of your thighs.

Next, we lay down on mats and for the next 30 minutes Cathy led the group in a series of exercises designed to help us open up the pelvis and to feel the hamstring/bum connection. With our knees bent and our calves and heels flush with the top of the ball, we were directed to place our arms at our sides, palms down, and to raise our bums until we created what Tim Driscoll calls a 'suspension bridge'. Visualize what a suspension bridge looks like and this make perfect sense. Ahh! An immediate release of tension in my flexors. Please try this at the gym or at home if you have an exercise ball at the end of the day to work out tension.

Finally, we lay on our stomachs and raised both our arms and feet - just slightly- off the matt in a kind of semi-superman in flight move. Again, ever so subtly I could feel a connection to my core, my 'tethered balloons and an engagement in my hip flexors. All the sensations came together and I was ready to try on those tortuous Fendi's and take a spin around the room.

So, try this little sequence the next time you slip on any heel over 3 inches. Breath -not a deep belly breath- but so you expand the width of your back. Lean ever so slightly into your back and feel how that subtle movement puts you into your hammies and bum connection which simultaneously opens up the hip flexors. In making these connections you will feel a subtle shift back onto your heels and away from the balls of your feet. This works. Check out Tim's blog for more about high heel recovery http://pilatesiconoclast.typepad.com/universalprinciples/high-heel-healing/

_{Backbone and Wingspan is a unique fitness studio dedicated to the}

_{functional principles of movement explored through a variety of methods
including Pilates, GYROTONIC®, The Feldenkrais Method®,
CranioSacral Therapy and Physical Therapy.

To learn more about Backbone and Wingspan and its instructors or to see
the schedule for other upcoming free clinics, go to}_{www.backboneandwingspan.com}_{or see the Backbone and Wingspan}_{Facebook Fan Page}_{.

For studio inquiries, press previews, and reservations:
Call: 212-647-8878 or direct email to}_{tim@backboneandwingspan.com}

Comments

coca bee says... I love this! Why don't you write a humor book. You are funny!