Whether you are new or an experienced yogi, balance can be something that can really throw your practice off. Even if you are standing on two feet, all of a sudden you find yourself falling over in a pose. Some days you may feel like a balance champion and other days you may ask yourself how do I even walk and talk at the same time.
First, let me break down the anatomy and physiology behind balance. There are three systems within your body that help you maintain your balance: vestibular system, somatosensory system, and visual system. If that sounds like a foreign language to you, let me break it down!
- Vestibular system – This is a highly complex system of fluid, crystals, nerves, etc and let me keep it simple – it’s your inner ear. Essentially, this system senses your head position – tells you if you are right side up or upside down.
- Somatosensory system – Well, that is a mouthful! This system senses your joints and their position to each other and the space around you. If you have heard the fancy word proprioception – it falls into this category.
- Visual system – Your eyes are a huge component of this system and the other portion is the information your eyes relay to the rest of your brain.
These three systems communicate with each other to make sure you don’t just fall over – ha! Your body can also function without a system and your body will learn to adapt if there was a failure. For example, with the disease of diabetes, eventually, your proprioceptive system breaks down, generally starting with your feet. This makes it difficult to sense your position even just standing on two feet. Also, during the aging process, the three systems begin to not communicate as well with other and therefore decrease in ability to balance.
However, the great news is balance is something at no matter what your age is can improve. If it is something that you work on and yoga is a great opportunity to work on your balance. Here are some tips to improve your balance in class!
- Stare at one spot! The visual system processes what you see and if your gaze is moving all over the place the communication can get jumbled and mess up your balance. If you are having a particularly difficulty day, find a spot to stare at on the floor.
- Bring a slight bend to your knees! By not locking your knees you allow for improved communication throughout your body of where you are on your mat.
- Squeeze your butt! Yup, I said it! If you are contracting your gluteus muscles, you are able to have improved balance because your joints will naturally stack on top of each other.
- Breathe! In classes I teach, this is when the breath gets most quiet in the room. Yogis are focusing so hard on maintaining their balance. Breath is so important to maintaining your balance. If you hold your breath you are tensing other muscles in your body that don’t need to be tensed.
With dedicated practice, your balance will improve!
Shine on,
Jackie