Being wobbly is fun!
Balancing means staying stiff, rigid and upright. Right? Wrong!!! Being able to catch yourself from all sorts of positions and angles is balancing! Check out the yellow bendy man or think of a skier, both of those are balancing and are far from stiff:
The loss of balance is one thing which can greatly affect the way you are able to live your life. Future proof yourself by not becoming rigid. But, how does this stiffness creep up on you?
Through injuries to the body or illness we lose the ability to balance as the feedback mechanism to the brain may be a little disturbed or we substitute carefree flowing movements with new ‘rigid’ movement strategies to keep us upright.
So, if you find yourself leaning against the doorframe to put on your socks, avoid walking on uneven paths with the dogs or on the pebbles on the beach ask yourself why? Have you become a little stiff in your movements? Or, if you are running and catch yourself thinking ‘I used to run differently’ ask yourself ‘am I stiff and tense or am I comfortable and free flowing?’.
Practicing a little will get you a long way. Try standing on one leg while the kettle boils, don’t worry about being wobbly just remember to keep your joints feeling soft. In this case the ankle knees and hips. The feeling of keeping your joints soft, ready to respond to new challenges such as uneven ground is really the key!
Try walking across a bumpy field and enjoying the challenge or following the pattern on the carpet one foot in front of the other. Whilst out running try softening the shoulders, upper spine and let yourself become upright – your breathing and coordination will improve.
You’ll see balance can be fun and soon you’ll enjoy the feeling of being wobbly but very much in control!
Tobias Bremer