Balancing

Balancing life? Balancing our bodies? Keeping our balance?...it's kind of all the same in a way. Searching for and finding that sweet spot where we're challenged but we don't fall over. This is one of the many ways what we learn on the mat, we can take off the mat into life.

As we age, we find balance becomes more important both in our lives and in our bodies. But since this is a yoga site, let's explore our physical balance first. We definitely begin to lose our balance as we get older, it's just part of aging. However, like many parts of aging, we don't have to just go along for the ride. We can fight back and add practices into our lives to help keep our balance.

Why is this important? Most adults don't think about balance until they fall. We just take it for granted. The fact is, balance begins to decline somewhere between 40 and 50 years of age. The National Institute of Health reports that 1 in 3 people over the age of 65 will experience a fall each year. Whoa.

According to the CDC (which we have become very familiar with as of late) over 800,000 people each year are hospitalized because of falls usually relating to a head or hip injury. According the the World Health Organization, falls are the second leading cause of unintentional injury deaths worldwide.

So let's explore some ways to work to keep our balance and live long healthy lives. Let's start with some simple but effective yoga poses!

How about if we took a basic Mountain Pose...then we shifted the weight to one foot and explored the many ways we can move the opposite leg to challenge our balance.

If we then explored our balance with the above movements using a bent knee, there are even more options. Go ahead and give yourself a little test. try the above movements with your weight on one leg, then switch and do the other leg. Pay attention to where you're challenged.

We will be looking at our balance in our yoga classes & courses a lot more in the coming months so you will have lots of time to practice and improve. It all begins with our feet and strength in our ankles and work our way up to the core. All of this is important to maintain good balance and do our best to keep falling at bay. After working on posture and strength in these areas we will practice balancing and (hopefully) losing our balance! What's that you say??

Losing our balance or perturbation is one of the best exercises we can do. According to this article in The Washington Post, "Perturbation-based balance training might be one of the most versatile fitness techniques you’ve never heard of. Touted as a way to prevent falls among older adults and those with neurological conditions, it can also help recreational and elite athletes avoid injury and speed up rehabilitation. Whether your goal is to age in place or enhance your performance, perturbation training can help."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/perturbation-reactive-balance-athletes-stroke-fall/2021/07/05/a907dcb8-d925-11eb-8fb8-aea56b785b00_story.html?fbclid=IwAR27Zdg5P6qsipNVcm-G2FY24G6zM_fJo3JfoUrdy9Xa6k7Bnyio1V-BZiQ

"The goal of perturbation-based balance training (PBT) is to use drills and exercises to fine-tune your body’s reaction to anything that might disturb your balance — whether it’s the result of sports, aging or conditions such as a stroke.

How those disturbances are generated during training varies widely, depending on your age, fitness and health status; the actions could involve standing on an unstable surface, for example, or even being pushed. But if you start to fall, you’re doing it right. In fact, you should start to fall about 30 percent of the time per PBT session, says physical therapist Kevin Wilk, associate clinical director at Champion Sports Medicine in Birmingham, Ala., and adjunct assistant professor of physical therapy at Marquette University. “That’s what’s going to produce better motor control changes.”' 

So if you're going in a yoga class and you are struggling with maintaining your balance---You're doing it exactly right! Don't get frustrated about that wiggle and wobble, feel proud of your struggle and know it's bringing you to better health.

Karen