The surprising benefits of a wobbly balance

You’re in a yoga class. It comes to the balancing posture. You sigh. You take a deep breath. Gathering up all your focus and determination, you slowly and carefully lift one foot off the floor. But instead of a confident balance, rock solid on stable feet, you’re wobbling all over the place.

That’s excellent news!

Whatever it feels like and whatever the voice in your head says – all practice is good practice.

Not convinced? Let’s dig in.

Now you know

Millions of people never test their balance. They remember how they hopped along confidently as a child and never check in again to update that experience. They don’t find out if they still have the balancing knack until they’re challenged by a slip or a trip or a giddy moment.

So, you’re ahead. You know that balance might be something that you need to work on.

You’re already practising and improving

Whatever it feels like and whatever the voice in your head says – all practice is good practice.

Every time you have a go at balancing, you improve. Your muscles work and start to strengthen. You sharpen your proprioception – the sense of where you are in relation to gravity. Your nervous system is learning how to respond – fine tuning the millions of tiny adjustments in your joints to help you to be more stable. Balancing on one leg loads your bones and stimulates them to grow stronger.

You didn’t forget how to balance overnight and it just takes a little patience and persistence to rebuild that skill.

Your confidence is growing

In class you gently challenge your balance. Being off balance triggers a subtle stress response to give you the oomph to recover your position. You’re learning you can calmly meet adversity as you wobble, re-centre and recover. You’re building resilience to get over life’s challenges (balancing and otherwise).

If you stumble off the mat, you can draw on your experience on the mat to recover. No drama. You manage it every week.

Landing on the floor isn’t a disaster

I’m not suggesting that we practice falling on the floor in class. But, knowing you can get on to the floor and get back up off the floor (gracefully or otherwise!) using your own strength, takes away some fear of landing on the ground.

It all helps to give you the confidence to get out and live life. You won’t avoid situations that might make you unstable. You don’t let fear suck out joy or let your world shrink. That’s powerful stuff.

You’re adaptable

People talk about flexibility in yoga and mean being able to stretch. Yoga practice is about more than just your physical self. You also develop flexibility in your thinking and your approach, based on the situation. Yoga nudges you to meet challenges and ‘go with the flow’. You can let things unfold and adapt your approach on the fly. It’s a skill that can fuel lifelong growth and learning.

You’re better connected to your feet

Feet are so under-loved and underestimated. They’re a key to long term confident movement and independent living in later life. By learning how to connect to your feet you’re creating the strength, awareness and mobility for them to support you for years to come.

Wobbling and moving is real-world balancing

Functional yoga prepares you to flow more easily through everyday life. We are not storks or flamingos. We’re likely to need to balance as we’re moving – for example when walking or picking something up off the floor. Dynamic (moving) balances are more like natural movements we make day-to-day. Wobbling is dynamic.

You’ll developing better peripheral vision

A wider gaze helps you to spot potential hazards around in you in a relaxed way. This broader awareness will nudge you to avoid a tree root growing up through the path. You’ll spot and step over the collapsed kerbstone.

Good peripheral vision helps your nervous system to feel safe and calms anxiety. You can step out with confidence.

You deal better with uncertainty

Sometimes your balance is spot on and feels fabulous. Another time, it’s like chasing soap in the bath. The harder you try, the worse it goes. You’re not just practising how to balance. You’re also experiencing mindfulness and acceptance of ‘what is’ right now, rather than how you’d like it to be. Don’t take it too seriously.

Here’s to going with the flow and let’s embrace the wobble!