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CENTRESPREAD: The shoes that cure back pain and rid you of cellulite
by Sarah Warden and Conrad Astley5/ 5/2005
A NOVEL way of losing weight, getting rid of cellulite and
curing back pain involves nothing more than wearing a pair of
shoes.
And a Stockport-based entrepreneur who is bringing the discovery to
the UK also believes they can help improve muscle tone, breathing,
foot problems, and even provide relief to sufferers of multiple
sclerosis.
Glenys Berd has set up internet business Love Those Shoes as a
means of distributing them in the UK, and says celebrities and
members of the aristocracy have been among her many clients.
The shoes, designed by a US company but previously unavailable over
here, revolve around a very simple idea - the heel is lower than
the rest of the foot.
This causes the wearer to adjust their posture, which makes them to
tighten the stomach and abdominal muscles and straighten the spine,
and also allows deeper breathing.
Glenys said health effects had been noted by professionals such as
podiatrists, chiropractors, and physiotherapists.
She explained the idea, called negative heel technology: "When you
first put them on it makes you feel as if you're leaning backwards,
but you counteract this and it makes you stand upright.
"It cures a lot of ills, because a lot of problems people have
these days are caused by bad posture.
"People feel the benefits as soon as they put the shoes on, but
once they've worn them they don't want to go back to ordinary shoes
again."
But although this may sound like a modern innovation, the idea in
fact goes back almost half a century.
The shoes have a long history behind them, and almost had cult
status in the late 60s, only to disappear off the face of the earth
for the past three decades.
They were originally developed by Danish yoga instructor Anne Kalso
after a visit to Brazil in the 50s, during which she realised that
practitioners could mimic the effects of a certain posture simply
by lowering the heel.
She spent 10 years developing the shoes, with the help of a
Portuguese cobbler, but they were unheard of until a young American
couple visited Europe and struck a deal with her.
This resulted in the shoes being sold in Earth Day, a small shop in
Manhattan.
But although interest exploded, with the shoes becoming something
of a hippy phenomenon, demand outstripped supply and the original
company could not cope.
However, the shoes had such an iconic status that a pair was
permanently exhibited in New York's Metropolitan Museum Of
Art.
The second chapter in the shoe's history began a few years ago,
when French American Michel Meynard heard about them and bought the
rights, keeping the original design but updating them with modern
materials, and making them available once more in the US.
Glenys Berd stumbled across the idea while trying to find shoes
with health-boosting benefits.
She discovered web forums from the 90s, with dozens of people
asking where they could find the shoes, and eventually decided to
go into business distributing them herself.
And although she says business is good - with so many orders
flooding in she is having to take on extra staff and, plans to make
the shoes available in shops - Glenys has been surprised by some of
the interest.
While many of the shoes' original wearers were hippies, she was
astonished to get a huge response from a 92-year-old former
politician called Sir Peter Smithers.
The knight of the realm had also been a big fan of the flower power
favourites.
Glenys said: "I started writing to him asking how he heard about
them, and he said he liked them because they were really good
quality.
"He's very much part of the old school. He used to have shoes made
for him in the 30s and 40s which cost £1,000 a pair - at the
time.
"But then he discovered the health effects of these shoes. He must
have bought everything they made at the time, because he said he's
got a collection of about 50 pairs, which he said he'd like to
donate to us when he's gone."
Glenys added Sir Peter was not the only high profile customer, with
Gwyneth Paltrow, Pierce Brosnan, Linda Barker, and Will Young all
snapping up pairs.
The actress Rula Lenska was also a fan, along with Jamie Baird,
fitness coach to Madonna, although it was not known whether he had
persuaded Madge to give them a go.
However, Glenys said she was confident the shoes would be more than
a flash in the pan.
She said: "I don't think it's a nine-day wonder. I think it's a
whole new concept. We've got shoes for every walk of life -
slippers, boots, trainers, and work shoes.
"They can do you good from the moment you get up until the moment
you go to bed, and you don't have to do anything. We're finding the
same customers coming back again and again.
"Everyone has to wear shoes, you might as well wear ones that do
you some good."
Call 975 5380 or visit
www.lovethoseshoes.com
... but do they work?
TWO things about cellulite. First, I don't have any. Second, if
I did, I wouldn't be able to see it anyway.
So given that I can't do yoga and I'm not willing to make my
backside available for inspection, I can't give an honest report of
whether Earth trainers are truly cellulite-busting.
What I can say is that after 20 years or so of being told to stop
slouching and stand up straight, I've found a shoe that can do it
for me. Yes, that's a shoe.
When I first tried on my Earth trainers, which I have to say aren't
the trendiest looking of footwear, I wondered if I was going to
fall over backwards.
That was because the shape of the shoe positions your foot so the
heel is lower than the toes - apparently that's how we would all
walk in a barefoot paradise.
Once I got my balance I realised that my calf muscles were
definitely experiencing a slight stretch, so I decided the shoes
were doing me good and set off on a stroll. On the way I happened
to glance in a mirror and lo and behold I was standing up
straight.
Not just straight, like balance-a-book-on-your-head-and-pose, but
ballerina straight, Kate Moss straight. As straight as the person
you know with the most annoyingly perfect natural posture.
And I don't know how it happened, but as I strolled around in my
new shoes my shoulders stayed back, tummy in, chest out - all as it
should be.
I also felt that I was getting some kind of leg muscle workout. I
couldn't quite work out exactly how this was working, but the
manufacturers of the shoes claim you can use up to five times as
much energy walking in them as opposed to normal shoes and I
suppose that must account for the extra effort.
Inspired, I vowed to wear the trainers at all times forever and
retain this new and dignified posture.
It's not likely to happen, because they aren't the prettiest
looking of things. And despite any claims of cellulite-busting, you
can't beat a stiletto for creating a shapely leg.
But for standing up straight, it's trainers all the way.
Sarah Warden
A very peculiar practice
IF YOU'RE feeling low, have got an unexplained phobia or keep
getting pains in the same area, the problem may go back further
than you think.
Experts at a therapy centre in Sale believe many long-standing
problems have their origins in traumatic experiences suffered in
past lives.
They practise a technique called Soul Recall, which enables the
client to revisit these events, and help resolve the problem.
But John Astbury, manager of The Hope Centre, explained the process
was very different to the popular image of returning to a past
life.
He said: "People would like to think that you see some Technicolor
world and it's like watching the film of Ben Hur.
"The reality is a bit more mundane. For many people it's a bit
hazier. It's very different from person to person, but it's very
important for them to be relaxed and feel comfortable doing
it."
Mr Astbury, who has undergone the soul recall process several times
himself and also practises techniques like reflexology and crystal
healing, says the sessions usually last up to two hours.
He stressed the process was not to be confused with past life
regression, which was sometimes done merely as a form of
entertainment.
And although the clients were in a deep state of relaxation, they
were not hypnotised, and chose for themselves which memories to
visit.
The process wasn't for everyone, and was used as part of a package
of techniques, but it had helped people suffering from problems
such as phobias, bad backs, and persistent aches.
John said medical or psychological conditions often had a deeper
cause, and could sometimes be explained by a disturbance of the
energy flow around the body - resulting from a traumatic experience
in a past life.
He said: "Through the experience of revisiting, to a greater or
lesser extent there will be a release, and it will allow the energy
to flow with greater ease, allowing people to change."
However, he added this was not easy: "How many people can look into
the mirror and take in everything, warts and all?
"That's just looking at the things that have made us who we are in
this life. Imagine how much more complicated it gets going back
further than that."
Call the centre on 0161 973 9130.
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