The higher the heels, the closer to God, or so the saying goes, but for most of us, strapping on a pair of six-inch stilettos feels closest to Old Testament–style vengeance than anything. “Foot problems know no boundaries, age, gender, anything,” says Yamuna Zake, the soigné, silver-haired, and internationally famous healer best known for her body rolling techniques and foot yoga, “but high heels don’t help.” And during this, the most party-centric time of the year, avoiding your heels can feel like a punishment all its own. (God knows we love a flat, but sometimes a girl just needs a lift.)
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| Party Heels |
And when it comes to making strides? According to Zake, American women are especially inept. “When I go to Moscow, the girls all wear insanely high heels, but you know what? They look great: no problems walking at all. American girls need help. I’ll sit at dinner and see these girls all hobbling by and all I can think is ‘Do you know how unsexy you look?” Thankfully, it all comes down to training. “Training your feet to have function!” Zake exclaims, as she cavorts on a pair of semi-circular contraptions covered with raised bumps called Foot Wakers in the uptown yoga studio where she teaches when in New York City. (This is not often: she hosts a trio of retreats in Tulum, India, and Tuscany as well as a bevy of residences in locales as varied as Ibiza, Moscow, and Tokyo.)
Happily, taking care of your feet does not mean resigning yourself to a life of chunky plastic and sensible molded footbeds. “The thing about feet is that unless you have a foot fetish, they’re not that sexy or interesting unless they’re in a really beautiful shoe. I wear whatever shoes I want to wear whenever I want to wear them,” says the newly 60-year-old Zake, all lean, taut figure and perfect posture. “It’s not the shoes that are bad for you—it’s how you’re walking in the shoes that is bad for you.” According to Zake, the more you build up the outer part of your foot, the more your arch will lift, the stronger your foot will be, and the longer you can stay out dancing. And after you’ve slipped out of your stilettos at the end of the night, a series of rolling exercises (with one of her products, available at both Pure Yoga East and West in New York City, as well as on her website, or a tennis ball) for five minutes before bed will cure what ails you. “It’s about creating balance with your foot and leg, so it doesn’t get stuck. Shoes cut off your circulation, your feet are locked up, the muscles never stretch, the bones start to calcify,” Zake says. “Don’t tie off your feet from the rest of your musculature: Work everything out together.”
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| Party Heels |
Her signature workout relies on balancing your weight on different parts of the foot—the outside edge, the base of the toes, the heel and ball—and slowly shifting the pressure along the muscles and tendons while you balance. Add those Foot Wakers, and it feels like reflexology. Swollen ankles? Stretch your foot on a tennis ball and the circulation will ease all that pressure. (Reader: You can even do this at your desk.) Other pro tips? Always stand with your feet parallel and your weight equally distributed. If you have to stand for a long time, shift your weight to the outside edge of your feet. Ensure that your shoes have ample toe room. When wearing heels, shift your weight to the outside edge rather than your big toe. And your mother was right: Posture improves everything, Zake emphasizes, “it just starts to float the body up. And that’s the way that women should look: graceful and beautiful—up! Instead they’re down here, fumbling.”
You heard her: Fumble no more. Here, ten pairs to work out for—and up to!—this holiday party season.
