Balance: A Few Essentials for Success
Balance: A Few Essentials for Success
Balance is a key aspect of life – here we investigate a few essentials…
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No one comes into this world walking. Balance is a learned endeavor. Through trial and error, we gradually gain the skills to stand, walk, and run, and eventually balance becomes a tool that we employ in all aspects of life. Such as standing on the tip-toes to reach something on the high shelf, or when engaging in athletics, walking on ice, or taking that rugged hike. Yet it takes continued practice to advance our skills – and maintain them. That is why in our yoga classes, we always devote some time to practicing and challenging ourselves in balance postures.
In this post, we examine the importance of balance and how to achieve it, no matter what stage of life, and what pose we are in. The very process of balancing builds strength, confidence, body dynamics, and wards off injury – amongst a whole host of other benefits.
Balance for Young & Old: Practice
We just got mom – yes that mom who just returned from Patagonia & is fast approaching 90 – a balance board. The first time she got on it I had placed it in the middle of the room – completely isolated. She got on and immediately I bear-hugged her from behind as it was like standing on a towering mountain of melting butter in a windstorm. I was laughing so hard that she could not understand my dire appeals to “Get off!” Finally, she dismounted and we thought, “This is the craziest invention -downright dangerous and should be returned immediately!!” Then we looked at the box and noticed that it was to be used with a standing desk, whereby the hands are resting on stable surface. Aha – so we tried that, and lo and behold it worked!!
On the other end of the spectrum, we have Evan (8), formerly of Shady Side and now a full-time resident of Florida. Here he is surfing for his very first time!! See how he intuitively employs an entire range of techniques to maintain balance during this trial run in this brand-new sport.
Balance Tips
Here are a few practical tips for balancing on one foot, such as in tree pose, or its many variations, and other upright balance poses:
1. Relax the foot that is touching the ground. Let the muscles release so the entire foot may spread into the Earth. Having the toes clenched and white-knuckled is a sign of gripping, not balancing.
2. Lengthen through the entire leg without locking the knee.
3. Square the hips so they are facing forward.
4. Pull the naval in, lift up through the abs, keep the spine erect, and set the shoulders over the hips.
5. Fix your gaze straight ahead to one far away point on the horizon.
6. Keep your chin level, facial features relaxed, and breathe evenly.
7. Ensure your body is like an arrow from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head.
8. Be firm but not tense; Be courageous but not over-confident; Be aware but not self-conscious.
9. Enjoy your stance and feel how you are in perfect balance with everything!!
“Perfecting” Your Pose
Here we examine some of our practitioners who have achieved a high degree of success in balance poses. This section is called “Perfecting” Your Pose, with an emphasis not on the “perfect” aspect, but rather on the “-ing” ending. This signifies that this is an active work in process / progress.
Remember, balance takes practice, practice, and still more practice. And then finally, we will achieve a state of composure in our pose, as evidenced by the below practitioners of balance from our own yoga community.
First we have Jaya doing dancer pose in the great outdoors. Notice how her bottom leg is a strongly engaged straight into the earth, serving as the ideal pillar from which to build her pose.
In this next frame, we bear witness to how in lateral balance poses we seek to have the spine parallel to the earth. At the beginning it may not be so, but over time with consistent practice we can get there, as Michelle demonstrates.
Here below Kristen is in perfect sync, near the Golden Gate bridge. One key element in balance is building the requisite confidence to hold your pose. Sometimes we get into a pose and then think, “Oh wait, I can’t be here or hold this.” When in fact we can hold the pose. It takes trust. We got there – and that is sufficient evidence that we can hold the pose for a duration.
Sometimes in balance poses we may be seemingly off-center, such as in half moon pose. When in actuality, there is a center – you just have to feel it and find it, as Sharon exemplifies in the following shot.
In this next series we look at partner poses – i.e. balancing in tandem. That can be a good way to advance as you have a partner to help stay upright. Even then it is not a given and there is an added dynamic of balancing with another entity that may not be entirely stable. Here we show two mother / offspring balance tandem poses. First is Teresa with her son, from a few years ago….
Next is our mother-daughter tandem of Annie and Frannie teeing up on the sand with big boulders behind them.
As shown, above and below, once you have practiced your pose then it can be done essentially anywhere. What was once seeming like an impossible challenge will become a position you can calmly hold, with great composure, just about anywhere…
~ Tina in Tree Pose ~
So wherever you are in life or yoga practice, always remember that balance is something learned and that with practice we can always progress….
Very nice article. Now I want that balance board myself.
(Via Facebook)