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Can Yoga poses help in improving our balance? The answer is YES! The practice of certain yoga poses as well as a general yoga practice will help better balance, both physically as well as mentally. During our Ask Me Anything challenge, we got a few questions about balance and the lack of it. We explore, why balance is wobbly on some days more than others, why certain times of the day we can balance better. And what poses will help improve our physical balance in yoga poses?
Watch this video to understand why balance is wobbly on certain days more than others.
The main reasons for a lack of balance could be any one of the following…
- Fatigue
- Too much caffeine
- Close to menstrual cycle
- Incorrect weight placement on both feet
- Bad posture
- Lack of body awareness
- Weak muscles
- No focal point
- Racing thoughts
- Age and health of joints
3 ways to improve balance in yoga poses
Correct feet placement in yoga poses
Stand in Tadasasana. Become aware of your feet. Press the big toe and little toe mounds into the mat. Simultaneously, press the outer and inner corners of the heel. These four points act as anchors for the whole body. (refer the picture below) Our feet are the foundation of all yoga poses and must be learned well. They directly impact our practice of inversions as well. Proper feet placement will correct bodily imbalances.
Avoid excessive caffeine or stimulants
Sometimes the cause for lack of balance is an external factor. For example, caffeine. Too much caffeine or other stimulants like alcohol or very spicy food could upset the delicate internal balance within our body systems. And this could create a sense of nervousness or restlessness in the body as well as our mind
Practice Standing poses more…
Learn to practice standing poses more in your yoga practice. This means being aware of your body alignment in yoga poses like trikonasana, parsvakonasana, virabhadrasanas and more…Learn to engage the feet actively in these poses and build from the groud up. This will create a solid and strong foundation that we can build upon. Press the outer and inner edges of your feet as needed in yoga poses and use feet to create a sense of groundedness.
