Minding Your Balance™

Mind Body Techniques from the Martial Arts for Better Balance — on Your Feet and in Life

Balance only comes to mind when we begin to lose it – something that happens more often with age. One in three adults age 65 and older takes a fall every year, with one out of five falls resulting in moderate to severe injuries that undermine the ability to live independently and increase the likelihood of an early death.

While physical exercise is important for maintaining good balance, it isn’t enough. That’s because balance isn’t simply a physical skill; it critically begins with perception: where am I in relationship to gravity as I move? Answering that question requires multiple senses – vision, touch, muscle and joint sensation, and the inner ear sense-of-motion, which weave together in the brain to create a dynamic image of our continually changing alignment with gravity.  Good balance depends on the accuracy and clarity of that image.

The good news is that, because balance begins with perception, we can enhance it in the same way we improve perception and performance in anything we do – simply, we can pay attention to it. That’s what martial artists, gymnasts, and figure skaters do to stay on their feet; they pay attention to balance because taking it for granted means taking a fall. But what do they actually pay attention to? What exactly does it mean to mind one’s balance?

Minding Your Balance™ uncovers the answer through a groundbreaking look at balance and its fundamental relationship to mind and emotion. Through easily accessible exercises, scientific insights, and stories of applications in everyday life you will learn how to mind your balance for greater stability – on your feet and in life.

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