The teachers at ASMY get asked many questions, some about the spiritual aspects of yoga and others more on the physical side. Maybe the following question is one you have also wondered about or maybe you’d like to email us with your own question, and we’ll try and answer it for you.
How can I improve my balance?
This is a question that is relevant to people of all ages especially if they are trying to achieve a steady standing balance like Tree Pose or Dancer. As we age, however, balance becomes more crucial in everyday life.
Our balance may be affected by lack of strength, by poor alignment and by lack of concentration, and these are areas that yoga asanas can help with. Sometimes, though, lack of balance is beyond the help of yoga if they stem from some medical problem like issues with our ears, sight or nerves.
In the yoga room many people find their ability to successfully balance varies not only from side to side but also from day to day. All sorts of factors can influence these daily fluctuations e.g. our emotions, our energy and our health.
But whatever factors are having a hold over us we will be a lot steadier if we connect to our base, to our deep stabilising muscles, to our breath and focus.
The base of a standing balance is usually one foot. We need to spread the toes wide and make a very broad base with the weight spread evenly through both sides of the ball of the foot and back into the heel, forming a tripod effect where the weight is grounding down through three points.
Our deeply stabilising muscles are found nestling around our joints. Crucial to standing poses are these muscles which support the ankles, the knees, the pelvis and lower spine. To activate these muscles is a simple 3 step process:
- Activate the base (broaden the foot and press down into the tripod)
- Activate the three arches of the base: one arch spreads across the broadness of the foot, one down the outside and the one which we are all familiar with down the inside.
- Activate the bandhas: we actively draw the front and back of the pelvis in towards each other, broaden the chest and lengthen our spine
Focus is an extremely important part of balancing. This is brought about by gazing steadily at one non-moving object. Keeping the gaze steady helps to keep the mind steady because when the mind is diverted we inevitably lose balance.
Focus can also be directed to our breathing. Focusing on slow steady breathing harnesses a restless mind and helps to prevent wobbly in the pose.
To further enhance our balance we can be a little creative in our practice. Try exploring variations in the pose like practicing with eyes closed, raising the heels or standing on a softer surface. While in our balance pose we can challenge ourselves and grow our stability with dynamic arm movements or even moving from one balance to another like going from Tree Pose to Warrior 3 while still on one leg and maintaining safe alignments.
Indeed, balance is a skill that can be developed and improved over time. It requires patience and consistency and then with practice we can cultivate better balance both on and off the yoga mat, leading to increased stability in our lives.
By Vrndavan Dasi
Founder and Principal of Veda Yoga Teacher Training