Going for walks

[Markie]

Hi!

Markie here. I’m a newbie. I was wondering if anyone has any tips for a more feminine style of walking in sneakers when I go out for a walk. I’m 61 and very active. I have a larger body, weightlifting in the past, that I’m trying to lose and make more feminine. I notice that many of the women that I pass always are friendly and smiling. I’m not sure if I’m too swishy or maybe out of sync. Heels are for another time. Just sneakers and flats today. Be safe and girl happy!

[ValerieRun]

Hello Markie and welcome ?

While I am no expert, the simplest way to more feminine walk I found is this - keep your back straight, make sure your shoulders don’t move, keep your arms closer to your body and keep their movement very limited, and walk with just your hips by pretending you follow a tightrope. It will feel very strange and downright silly at first, but if you observe yourself in the mirror you will notice the nuances of the walk. Keep walking and with practice you will no longer need to put your feet one if front of another, but you will keep the swaying motion. And keep the upper body from moving - maybe have something in your hands.

 

XOXO

Valerie

[Guest Lynnie]

Welcome, Markie!

 

Here are some ideas on a feminine walk:

 

1. Check the position of your shoes. A more masculine walk tends to place the toes at a much wider angle from one another than a woman's. In fact, the ideal is for your feet to be parallel or nearly so, much like how you would place them in figure skating.
2. The palms of your hands in a masculine walk may tend to face backwards as in the old "Keep On Trucking" meme in the 1970's. But a feminine walk would include palms facing toward your body with a slight amount of tension forward ahead of you as you walk. Palms would only face completely forward with thumbs outward when employing an "anatomical position" such as you'd see taught in a college course on Human Anatomy.
3. Elbows will remain close to your side and slightly bent outward.
4. Fingers tend to be clenched in a masculine walk but tend to be more loose in a feminine one. This is achieved more often when your wrist is bent slightly.
5. The arms should swing naturally.
6. Women tend to walk with more motion in the hips than with the upper torso as men do. This includes a bit of a rocking motion which some even exaggerate. I heard one woman say to another (not trans) in Los Angeles, "You've got to put more pep in your step and more dip in your hip."
7. Keep your back straight, head level. This may take practice, especially if you wear high heels.
8. Your head should not bounce when you walk. Save that for dance steps when you want to let your long curls bounce like a flag to say, "Here I am! Come and say hello!" Often girls practice posture by keeping a book balanced on their heads while walking. A bouncy stride will knock that book off your head in no time.

[Dinaki]

...adding to all of your clever tips is to put a book on top go your head and walk in the house without making the book drop (I am sorry about my English)

 

Try "the book on top of the head" many times a day in the house, practice a lot.

[Dinaki]

You are very kind to me Suzanne, thank you!

[Tori M]

I find that a few small changes can change other things, so focusing on the right things can free your mind from the others.  Trying to focus on too many things at once can make matters worse.  Taking smaller steps and keeping your feet more in line (as already suggested) will cause a natural swivel to your hips.  No need to exaggerate.  Step softly.  You should feel your thighs slightly brush together.  You'll notice your whole lower body then pivots around your groin.  Relaxing your shoulders will cause the hands to open more freely.  Male tenseness is instinctive; don't fret just relax.  Turning the palms ever-so-slightly forward (excellently already suggested) will cause the elbows to remain closer at your sides.  Flying elbows is another male instinct. 

 

Honestly, practicing (a lot) in heels in the house helped me more than anything.  Being graceful in heels creates a naturally feminine lower body movement and that change will carry over to wearing sneakers/flats.  Men clomp; women glide.  It's very very subtle but women "reach" first with their extended fingers and toes.  In heels, extending your toe almost as if you're testing cold water will give you a softer step.  Hard to explain that one.  Spend lots of time around an office environment/business district watching the minute details of a woman's step.

[Markie]

Thanks so much ladies. I will be out the door on another walk  in a few minutes. I’ll let you know how I progress. I’m feeling so girly this morning. Everyone’s going to get a big smile and maybe a wink!

[KathyLauren]

Walking is something I have to get back into soon.  I have been avoiding it, post-surgery, because it makes me swell up, but my wife is getting tired of walking the dog by herself.

 

I found that it helps to imagine that you are balancing on a 2x4.  Or, if you are walking along the shoulder of the road, walk so that each foot lands on the white line.  That helps establish the proper hip-swinging. 

 

And suck your gut in.  Not only does it look more ladylike, but it improves your total posture, and that, in turn helps give you the proper motion.

[Heather Shay]

Walking is good. I haven't undergone surgery but walking lets my mind go where it will go. I am a songwriter and it helps to just get fresh air. When it is safe to do so I think it will help with healing and mentally make you smile (with probably a few reminders that you are still human..ouch). 

[Markie]

Hi!

My walk this morning was fantastic. I listened to some feminine hypnosis. It put me exactly where I needed to be to work on my girly walk. One lady that I see pretty regularly stopped me and asked why the big smile. I just giggled and shrugged and headed on my way. I know tomorrow she will be more inquisitive. I’d enjoy having someone to chat with while we walk. I wonder if sees me as feminine or not. We’ll see.

[Markie]

Hi,

I had pizza last night so I owe the pavement dearly today. It was very hot so I wore a tight t shirt under a very light over shirt both white. Duh, I didn’t realize until one lady we met kept staring at my boobs. It was a wet t shirt contest. My wife wasn’t happy when she noticed my appearance. I just shrugged and bounced home. ???

[Heather Shay]

Awesome - I hope someday to have that problem. My mom was and A cup so I don't think I have a chance without augmentation...alas.

[Tori M]

48 minutes ago, Markie said:

Duh, I didn’t realize until one lady we met kept staring at my boobs.

 

Hehe... when a woman stares, it's not like a man stealing glances... she is trying to tell you something!  lol

 

50 minutes ago, Markie said:

. It was a wet t shirt contest. My wife wasn’t happy when she noticed my appearance. I just shrugged and bounced home.

 

It feels so good, doesn't it?!  Affirmation.  It's a wonderful thing.

[Heather Shay]

one of these days....

 

[Markie]

While I was on my daily walk today with an umbrella, an older gentleman pulled up next to me and asked if I used the umbrella for self defense.???

I lifted my sunglasses and gave him a wink and a big smile. I told him not for the cute ones and giggled. He laughed and told me he’d watch out for me. He got a big wiggle from me as I swished away. He made my day!

[Sally Stone]

On 6/18/2020 at 2:54 PM, Tori M said:

Men clomp; women glide.

 

Tori is so right about women gliding, but just how do they (we) do it?  That's the issue.  Fundamentally, it's all about body geometry.  The human gait involves rotating around the body's center of gravity (CG), and a woman's CG is much lower than a man's.  Men tend to rotate around their belly button, but women rotate down between the hips.  This creates the difference in body sway between men and women.  When men walk, this sway occurs in the upper torso, and is why men tend to lumber (or clomp, as Tori describes). The typical male gait creates a lot of side-to-side movement of the shoulders and head.  Women, on the other hand, don't move much of their upper torso when they walk.  Their shoulders and head hardly have any side-to-side movement.   Instead, most of a woman's walking movement occurs down low in the pelvic area, which gives the impression of a glide. 

 

So, you kind of have to overcome geometry if you want an authentic, feminine gait.  For me, learning to walk like a woman was the hardest part of my transition, but pulling it off effectively really helped me pass.  Personally, I don't believe wearing high heels automatically make us walk like women. In fact, I think trying to use heels to learn how to walk like a woman is much more difficult.  I taught myself to walk wearing flats or going bare footed first, concentrating on keeping all of my walking movements in my hips and thighs and concentrating on keeping movement out of my upper torso and head.  When I had the feminine walk mastered, then I added high heels, and for me, that was the quicker and easier method.   One other recommendation is: you don't need to have a lot of hip sway or sashaying motions to walk like a woman.  A lot of hip sway is for runway models.  For most of us girls, just a little hip sway is all that is needed to be convincing.  

[Tori M]

2 hours ago, Sally Stone said:

The human gait involves rotating around the body's center of gravity (CG), and a woman's CG is much lower than a man's.  Men tend to rotate around their belly button, but women rotate down between the hips. 

 

Exactly!  You explained it much better, Sally.  That's why I mentioned that when you're doing it right, you'll feel that rotation happening "down low".  IRT the heels, I seldom ever wear them, don't think they're healthy and they just make us taller, but I mentioned it here because learning to place the foot down flat with the heel in my way, forced me to learn to move with the bottom half of the body, extending the toe while keeping the upper body erect and still.  Extending toes and fingers is a subtle but important feminine thing.  Like the way we grasp a doorknob, with extended fingertips. Doing tasks around the house in even low heels (1-2") taught me graceful or smooth movement, a.k.a. gliding, because I had to maintain balance and learn not to trip. I can't explain it well but I feel like it helped me.  Like anything, learning is different for all of us.