This entry was posted on Sep 3, 2025 by Charlotte Bell.
A few years in the past, my mom fell and broke her hip. Or possibly her hip broke and she or he fell in consequence. Generally it’s not possible to know which is the hen and which is the egg. At any price, the autumn was nearly the top of her.
Lengthy story quick, after a stint within the hospital, she was progressing properly in rehab. A day earlier than she was to return residence, she went into kidney failure. Apparently, the mixture of a number of drugs was an excessive amount of. Her caregivers stopped her treatment fully and she or he slowly recovered. However the incident made me perceive why it’s typically stated that falls will be the start of the top for older individuals.
Greater than 800,000 persons are hospitalized annually for accidents stemming from falls. One out of 5 falls causes a critical damage similar to damaged bones or traumatic head damage. The truth is, falls are the commonest explanation for traumatic mind damage. Listed here are some extra stats on falls and their sometimes-catastrophic results.
What’s Steadiness and Why is it Necessary?
Put merely, stability is our means to acknowledge our place relative to the objects round us, together with the floor on which we’re standing or strolling. A great sense of stability permits us to carry out our day by day duties with a way of stability and ease. For instance, one thing as frequent as strolling down the road and turning your head to speak to a good friend requires a wholesome sense of stability. With out stability, easy actions change into not solely difficult, however may even be harmful.
As we age, among the components that contribute to good stability can start to lower. Eyesight can dim. Interior ear issues can disrupt the vestibular system. Neuropathy can lower proprioception.
Exterior causes similar to slippery or uneven surfaces, intoxication or sickness may cause falls. However they will additionally occur due to an absence of consideration or underdeveloped proprioception. The excellent news is, yoga can assist. Many asanas are particularly designed to enhance stability. And the centering of our minds on our our bodies sharpens mindfulness, in order that we’re extra apt to acknowledge subtler indicators of imbalance in our our bodies earlier than we fall.
There are numerous yoga poses that assist stability. All of the standing poses—assume Trikonasana (Triangle Pose), Virabhadrasana I and II (Warrior I and II), and many others.—can assist strengthen our legs and domesticate stability. And naturally, the one-legged standing poses similar to Vrksasana (Tree Pose) are balancing poses.
It’s essential to problem our stability in numerous methods. Whereas we frequently consider standing stability poses once we’re hoping to domesticate proprioception, balancing in numerous orientations can also be essential. That’s why I’ve a number of forms of balancing poses within the examples under.
Most essential is to keep in mind that balancing, like all asana, is a apply, not a efficiency. Meet your physique the place it’s. For instance, if you must stand near a wall in a standing stability pose, please achieve this. Even with that little bit of additional assist, you’re nonetheless growing the ability of balancing.
5 Balancing Poses
- Foot Therapeutic massage: Giving consideration to our toes, massaging them, exercising our toes, and many others., retains them wholesome and conscious of no matter floor we’re negotiating. Begin your apply with these easy workouts. However you needn’t restrict it to your on-the-mat apply. You may as well apply these when you’re sitting round watching TV or anytime you could have a spare second. One longtime scholar of mine who had by no means been capable of stability on one leg practiced these day by day for about 9 months and was capable of stability for the primary time in her life! On the time she was in her 70s.
- Vrksasana (Tree Pose): There are, after all, a number of standing poses you’ll be able to apply to hone your stability. Observe the directions in this put up. It’s useful to keep in mind that even once you’re feeling shaky in your stability poses, you’re nonetheless studying the ability of balancing. While you’re flailing round making an attempt to not fall in Tree Pose, you’re truly growing proprioception. So don’t really feel discouraged. Bear in mind, this can be a apply, not a efficiency!
- Parsva Balasana (Chicken Canine Pose): As I defined above, it’s essential to problem our stability in numerous methods. Chicken Canine Pose is a core strengthener and a stability pose. As a result of it strengthens the core—entrance, again and inside—it stabilizes us to extend stability. However the act of “standing” on one knee and one arm additionally develops proprioception. As well as, balancing along with your head able apart from upright helps stimulate your vestibular system. Learn these directions that will help you refine your apply.
- Ubhaya Padangusthasana (Each Fingers and Massive Toes Pose): This pose provides a chance to stability in yet one more manner—in your rear. Working towards this asana in its most typical kind, with the legs and arms straight, will be difficult in case your hamstrings and calves are on the tighter aspect. Be at liberty to bend your knees and maintain onto the backs of your thighs as a substitute of holding your toes. This put up can provide you some tips on practising safely.
- Savasana (Corpse Pose): Years in the past I attended an early morning class that was solely an hour lengthy. The lecturers reasoned that with such a brief class, they didn’t want to incorporate Savasana. Whereas I loved their educating within the different asanas, the Savasana-free class all the time made me really feel scattered and ungrounded. Looking back, I can see that this can be a recipe for transferring by the remainder of the day and not using a sense of stability. Savasana is, in actual fact one in all yoga’s greatest balancing poses. It balances your body-mind at a deeper stage than merely balancing on one leg. Give your self 10 minutes in case your apply is an hour or much less, and quarter-hour or extra if it’s longer.
In fact there are numerous extra balancing poses than the 5 examples I’ve given. Inversions are nice, and as I wrote above, all of the wide-stance standing poses are useful. A very powerful issue is the eye you carry to your physique as you apply. Maintain your focus inside your physique, on the sensations you’re feeling. Keep in mind that frantic, shallow respiration creates agitation—not an awesome recipe for balancing. Make sure that your respiration is steady, deep and calm.
About Charlotte Bell
Charlotte Bell found yoga in 1982 and started educating in 1986. Charlotte is the creator of Conscious Yoga, Conscious Life: A Information for On a regular basis Apply and Yoga for Meditators, each revealed by Rodmell Press. Her third ebook is titled Hip-Wholesome Asana: The Yoga Practitioner’s Information to Defending the Hips and Avoiding SI Joint Ache (Shambhala Publications). She writes a month-to-month column for CATALYST Journal and serves as editor for Yoga U On-line. Charlotte is a founding board member for GreenTREE Yoga, a non-profit that brings yoga to underserved populations. A lifelong musician, Charlotte performs oboe and English horn within the Salt Lake Symphony and folks sextet Crimson Rock Rondo, whose DVD gained two Emmy awards.
