Sheer Balance

Being that I will never be graced with long legs or height, I have been forever obsessed with heels. TALL heels. The more treacherous the better! Since this has been my foot mantra, my legs look great but stability and ego are up in the air. It doesn’t matter how gorgeous you look coming out of a chic restaurant in your new platforms and little black dress if you wipe out on the way to the valet (we’re talking from experience, people…). This should plant some serious fear into your first-dating hearts, but shrink not! Follow these simple steps to strengthen and elongate the calves, ankles and toes while adding confidence and some much needed balance to take on your 4+inch high friend.

Take off your heels. They deserve a rest.

• Place the feet together and lift both arms parallel to the ground, palms facing down
• Find one point to gaze at and lift up onto the balls of the feet
• Continue to reach the heels away from the ground, creating lift in the arches. Think platforms, not kitten heels….keep lifting up!
• Keep the gaze on one point, heels lifted, and begin to bend the knees, drop the tailbone
• Keep the belly gently pulling to the spine as the body descends until the bottom lands lightly on the heels
• Take five breaths without placing the heels on the ground and make a slow return back to standing
• Place heels back down and be fierce

Kathryn is a popular Los Angeles vinyasa flow yoga instructor. She has been featured in Yoga Journal, Yogi Times, LA Metro, E! Entertainment, The Elephant, LA2DAY and the documentary 'Y Yoga'. She is also honored to serve as a teacher/writer for Gaiam's Yogamates.com and is a Southern California Ambassador for Nike's 2008/2009 yoga line. Kathryn is the co-founder of 'Poses for Paws', an organization dedicated to raising money for animal shelters through yoga. You can experience Kathryn's class at Yogaworks Santa Monica, online at , from Yoga Journal's DVD "Yoga for Well-Being" and soon from yogavibes.com. Check www.kathrynbudig.com for her national traveling schedule.