Improving balance

If you struggle with postures like Ardha Chandrasana, Natarajasana & co, you probably know the feeling of frustration.

Instead of giving up, here’s your turning point:
That frustration is energy you can use to work on your balance. (Not for the sake of balancing, but you know, we’re learning stuff in Yoga that is completely unrelated to postures and one of those is to turn discomfort into awareness -or frustration into action-).

1) use probs.
The wall, the floor, blocks, a water bottle- anything that you can use for more points of contact and therefore more balance. Then slowly, over time, reach a few fingers and eventually your hands away from those probs and keep them close by to catch yourself if you notice you’re failing out.

2) strengthen and stretch (!!!) your feet, ankles, legs and hips.
To find stability in balancing postures, we need a strong foundation and your lower body is doing a LOT of work to support us. Start with toes pose, fingers between toes, ankle alphabets, chair pose and pigeon pose (I know you like this one, but don’t forget to actively lift your hips in this one too).
Your core (which consists of muscles in your front and back, sides, hip flexors, and even internally) needs just as much attention. Salabhasana, Navasana, active Trikonasana, playing with the bandhas, etc.

3) Groundwork.
Start to practice in solid ground, preferably off your mat or with a thin mat (3mmish) to minimize outside factors making this already challenging task even harder. And then slowly work your way on a thicker mat, grass, rocks, etc. This will increase your awareness and strengthen the muscles DEEP inside your ankle to adjust to more than one surface.

4) For the exact same reason, start to move barefoot to get a better feeling for stability and grounding, and then every once in a while, put on those sneakers for a challenge and extra weight.

5) keep trying. It’s called practice for a reason. 🙌