Find Your Balance for Good Health

Spiritual, emotional, and physical health are areas we should be diligent about maintaining and improving. One thing that often gets overlooked is the importance of balance. Loss of balance can start gradually as we age, or it can happen suddenly after an accident or an illness. Things like needing to slow down to walk up or down stairs, feeling unsteady when getting in or out of the bathtub are both signs that our balance may be suffering.  Balance is our body and brain’s equilibrium or stability and it’s very important for preventing falls as we age. Building and maintaining balance is very important for your overall health.

Test your balance:

Stand on one foot with your eyes closed. Now switch feet and repeat. You should be able to do this for 10 seconds without becoming wobbly. If not, start practicing these simple balance exercises:

1-Balance on one leg, for 30-60 seconds, while holding your arms out to the side. Switch legs and repeat. Once you’ve mastered this with eyes open, do it with your eyes closed. Do the same again but this time hug your arms around your chest. Switch legs, repeat. Then try it with your eyes closed.

2-Stand on one leg, hop forward and back 10 times. Then try it with your eyes closed (be careful not to run into anything) Try the same thing but hop side to side 10X. Switch legs.

You’ll probably notice that one side is better than the other. This is normal. And don’t worry if you can’t do it right away. If you practice these exercises once a day, you’ll improve your balance as you also gain stability in many other areas of your life.