If you’re looking to improve your balance and stability, you’ve probably heard that yoga is a great place to start. As well as being great for your mental health, adding a short yoga routine to your day can strengthen your core, enhance your proprioception (your awareness of your body and its movement), and improve the vestibular system (which helps regulate your balance).
Despite not being too much of a yogi, I decided to add one simple yoga pose to my day, as I stood working behind my standing desk. The result seriously surprised me, and has convinced me that I need to keep this daily yoga practice as part of my routine. Read on to find out more.
As a reminder, what works for me might not be right for you and your body. If you’re pregnant, postpartum, or returning to fitness following an injury, it’s always best to seek advice from a qualified professional before trying something new.
How can yoga improve your balance?
The answer to this question is about a lot more than just strengthening your core, but let’s start there. Many yoga poses require you to engage your deep core muscles, including your abdominals, your lower back and your hips, to maintain your posture and balance. Whether you’re practicing Vinyasa yoga, or a slower flow, you’re bound to practice a plank, a boat pose, or a warrior pose, all of which work your core.
As you move through your yoga practice, you’ll also be working on your body’s proprioception — this is the unconscious awareness of where your body is, and it’s the reason why you can touch your nose with your eyes shut. The mindful movements during yoga force you to pay attention to your body’s position and alignment, strengthening the nerve networks in your muscles and joints that send signals to your brain. It’s also the reason why your yoga instructor will probably encourage you to close your eyes during class.
Yoga also works on the vestibular system, which is located in your inner ear and is responsible for your sense of balance and spatial orientation. During yoga practice, you’re often changing the orientation of your head, for example, moving from a sun salutation to a forward bend and a rag doll move. This stimulates the vestibular system and helps it to become more effective at maintaining balance.
Check out the best yoga mats on the market for your practice here.
I did this yoga pose for a week, and improved my balance and stability
Like many Americans, I spend a lot of time sitting behind my desk working. To make this a little less damaging for my body, I’ve invested in one of the best standing desks, and for a week, I held the tree pose while working and in meetings to help challenge my balance and stability.
To do a tree pose, or Vrksasana to use its proper name, you need to stand tall with your core engaged, and press the sole of one foot into the inner side of your standing leg, with your hands in prayer in front of your chest. To increase the intensity further, bring both arms above your head, creating the shape of a tree.
Here’s what surprised me.
After a week, I felt more balanced
As I mentioned in the intro, I’m not someone who regularly practices yoga, but in my twenties, I attended yoga classes a few times a week. So while I’m a little rusty, I’m not a total beginner. In my first few days of holding this tree pose for a couple of minutes every hour of my working day, I found myself wobbling. I found myself remembering my old yoga instructor’s instructions to focus on a spot on the wall in front of me, and let myself wobble, and reset when needed.
I had to really think about my core and leg muscles during this pose, sucking my core muscles into my spine, and thinking about pushing my standing foot down into the ground. I could feel I was working the small stabilizing muscles in my ankles, knees, and hips, which are clearly neglected during my running workouts.
A week later, I was much more stable in this pose. I was shocked at how these little yoga sessions throughout the week had helped improve my balance in such a short amount of time.
It was a nice hip-opening stretch
I’m a runner who spends a lot of time sitting down for work, so if I didn’t have tight hips, I’d be superhuman. Like most runners, I need to be better at trying to add stretches like the 90/90 stretch or the pigeon pose into my cooldown routine, as I often get a stiff lower back, which radiates from my hips.
As I got more stable in the tree pose, I was able to think about rotating my knee outward gently to increase the stretch into the hip area. Over time, I imagine this would reduce stiffness and increase hip mobility.
It helped me take a breath and refocus
As a busy working mom, I often feel like I’m on a hamster wheel, especially when I’m sitting behind my desk trying to get through my to-do list. While it has nothing to do with stability or flexibility, using these little yoga breaks to take a deep breath and calm my nervous system really helped reduce my stress levels. Holding a couple of yoga poses, even for a couple of minutes, can help force you to be present and tune into your body — something that I’d recommend we all do more of.
What are you waiting for? Stand up and practice your tree pose during your next Zoom call, just make sure your camera is off first.
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