Balance is bravery. It is just not pure strength or pure stillness. It’s about having the tools to react and hold your ground when something internal or external involves throw you off track.
This attitude is important to each the literal and the figurative idea of finding balance in life. But today we’re specializing in physical balance, which is basically “many alternative variables which might be orchestrated within the brain” Lara Heimann, P.T, previously said Well + Good. That is, balance is your brain’s ability to synthesize information reminiscent of environmental and sensory signals that provide help to locate your body in space (an idea called proprioception) after which translate that into your muscles so you’ll be able to stay upright.
One strategy to improve your balance is to work on the muscle groups that play a giant role in keeping you grounded, including your feet and ankles, calves and glutes. Pilates instructor Brian Spencer with East River Pilates is here to guide you thru a 12-minute balance constructing routine that focuses on these often ignored areas. This involves specializing in where you place your weight in your foot so you’ll be able to call within the small muscles in your feet and ankles while recruiting the larger muscles that support them.
“If you ever wonder how can I actually help my balance?, it’s often strengthening all of the muscle groups that help support the burden at the back of the foot, like squats, and the front of the foot, like your calves,” says Spencer.
The bread and butter moves he relies on on this series are squats, calf raises, and single leg stand poses. It may sound easy, but Spencer combines them in a way that’s designed to challenge each your strength and balance.
“Balance is about correction,” says Spencer. “It’s probably not about never wobbling. It’s all the time about how do I improve when I’ve gone somewhat off track?” Wise words to recollect while practicing and for all times. We hope that taking the time to do that routine will provide help to find somewhat more balance in each.
