Dear First name / friend,
We returned late yesterday from vacation. I love time off and away from routine,
AND I love coming home. I've written a bit about our trip (a cruise on the Rhone River in France, plus 3 days in Nice), in my
blog, which you can read at your leisure.
I thought, after 8 days on a boat, that speaking about balance is a good idea. On a river cruise, the boat doesn't rock much, but as I stretched tired quadriceps muscles and tight hamstrings (standing on one leg), I found that my balance skills were necessary. So here are some thoughts:
Balance is defined as the ability to maintain a stable position. When we refine our balance skills, we:
- find our normal lives more easeful and enjoyable, and,
- very importantly, falls may be prevented.
What is essential to balance? Strength, flexibility and agility.
Our physical make-up affects and aids in maintaining balance; including:
- The canals of our inner ears communicate to the brain changes in the position of our head.
- Our senses (vision, touch, hearing, taste and smell) provide information to the brain about the position of our body.
- Our eyes (vision) provide the brain with information about our body relative to the objects around us.
- Sensors in the skin (touch) allow us to feel the outside environment.
- Proprioception tells us where our body is in space (from the inside out).
Most of us know that balance skills are cultivated in our yoga practice. Repetition of this work at home will continue to improve the needed proprioception, reflex and reaction times to maintain a healthy balance skillset.
If you have questions about any of this, please feel free to
contact me.
