Improve Your Balance by Improving Your Posture

Want to improve your balance? If so, improve your posture!

The older we get the more likely we are to lose our balance and hurt ourselves, but older folks aren't always the ones with balancing issues. I have clients in their 20's and 30's that have never practiced improving their balance and have trouble with simple exercises.

The better your posture is the better your balance will be, so take charge of your posture with these five simple steps:

1. Always act like there is a string pulling from the top of your head elongating your spine.
2. While standing erect, test yourself. Can you take your hands behind your tailbone and interweave your fingers without moving your shoulders? If you can great, if you can't you are rolling your shoulders forward.
3. Pull your stomach towards your spine, breath into your chest. Make sure your stomach isn't hanging out. Every time you look at the time remind yourself to pull your stomach in.
4. Look down at your feet. Are they doing the same thing? Whatever they are doing make sure they both match. Otherwise you could be throwing yourself out of balance.
5. Keep your shoulders away from your ears and relaxed down.

Now for the test:

With your feet together and your toes in-line, come up onto your toes. Bring your hands into prayer in front of your chest. Close your eyes and see if you can balance on your toes for 1 minute. If you can, great! If you can't, practice every morning until it becomes easy.