4Q Magazine

Killer Shoes

by Claire Williams on 30.08.10


Calling all ladies! We’ve all drooled over a pair of high heels, sparkling with the promise of longer legs and providing that extra kick to that perfect outfit. But alas, the spellbinding enhancement that wondrous shoe may have brought (and no chaps I’m not being melodramatic) plunges into disarray as soon as you walked out the shop. Crippling back and shoulder pains, cuts and bruises and seriously damaging your street cred when you’re reduced to waddling like a constipated penguin, those skyscraper stilettos know no mercy. Step in Chyna Whyne, master and expert of the art to wearing high heels comfortably and confidently.

Chyna understands to well about the strains of being heel bound. As a singer and songwriter who has performed alongside major names like Eric Clapton and The Who heels were a necessity of star status. However the glam factor came at a risk. Chyna says: ‘I always wore heels when I performed but it caused me tremendous lower back problems, as you could imagine being on stage isn’t about performing in slacks for I have to look as glamorous as possible .I tried osteopath and other therapies but it only offered me a temporary relief.’ There was one remaining option Chyna hadn’t tried, the Alexander technique. If this raises a big question mark with you then let Chyna explain, she says: ‘The Alexander technique is not considered a treatment or a therapy; it is considered an education and it is educating you to use yourself efficiently by getting you into balance and your body aligned.’

She adds: ‘After my lessons I was feeling so much better, I was comfortable in my heels and my lower back pain was gone, I thought to myself this is something women need to know about.’

When her own teacher encouraged Chyna to become one herself she decided it was worth the gamble and took a few years out of music to study the Alexander technique. She became a qualified teacher in 2002 and from the response to her classes it was all worthwhile.

Chyna teaches the technique by focusing on specific muscle groups and releasing pressure from your joints allowing you to become lighter on your feet. The scientific interpretation of this is it’s a re-education of your Nero-muscular system. This not only gets you to improve your posture but also helps you breathe more easy, relieving you of any back, neck and shoulder pain. Chyna has guided many women through this process and has seen the incredible impact it has after just one session.

‘I took a group of women and took them through the paces of learning to walk in high heels and after the lesson everyone just glided out of the studio so I knew it really worked,’ she says.

So for all the ladies out there that find they limp like the hunchback of Notre Dame rather than strutting like an independent diva these are Chyna’s top tips.
Don’t overkill the killer heel: It’s good to vary the size of the high heel that you’re wearing; you don’t have to wear a four or five inch every single day, give your feet a break.
Apple bottoms are on top: I have a pair of apple bottoms, they are about six inches high and they are the most comfortable shoes. I can wear them from eight o’clock in the morning to eleven o’clock at night with such ease and comfort because they are such a well made shoe. Invest in a pair!

Perfect shoes take time: There’s always a tendency to rush and buy a pair of shoes that you’ve fallen in love with, really take your time, try the shoes on and walk up and down the shop several times. Take a good ten to fifteen minutes and in that time make sure it is comfortable from the toes to the ball of your foot. Make sure it’s a shoe of good quality and is stable especially on the heel.

Use your balls: Lead with the ball of your foot, never lead with your heel because then you have a tendency to break your heel of your shoe.

The Alexander technique: I recommend to women who want to walk confidently in high heels to begin having Alexander lessons because that teaches the key principles on how to walk correctly.

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