Balance exercises

Contrary to popular belief, balance is something that you can practice and improve. There are a couple of balance exercises below the help you get started but it may be worthwhile joining a yoga or tai chi class to help you improve further.

While practising the balance exercises below you should have one hand on or ready to place on the back of a chair to help steady yourself.

• Hold on to the back of a chair or table for support.
  
  
• Lift one foot off the ground and try to hold it up without losing balance.
  
  
• When you feel confident that you can balance without using your support, let go and try to balance without the support. If you lose your balance then use the support to steady yourself.
  
  
• Build up on the amount of time you can balance for until you are happy to balance without the help of the support.

Once you are confident with your new found balancing skills you can start to take it a step further and add in your own balancing moves. Here is an example of another balance exercise to give you an idea of what you can do to improvise.

• Again it is a good idea to use some support then trying out the new balancing move.
  
  
• Lift one foot slowly off the ground until it is about 6 inches off the floor.
  
  
• Slowly and carefully lean forward a little, and at the same time move the foot that is off the ground out backwards until the leg is straight. Keep the support handy just in case you start to lose your balance.
  
  
• Continue to lean forward and extend your leg straight out behind, keeping within your comfort zone.
  
  
• Return to the upright position with both feet back on the floor.

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