Standing Tall

In Ki-Aikido training, a simple test of balance, done with a firm push by the instructor on a student’s shoulder or back, serves as “no-tech” biofeedback concerning a person’s internal state of calm and mental focus.  Stable posture correlates with a calm clear mind that supports best performance.  When balance is secure in the test, subsequent performance is optimal.

The same holds true off the mat; a calm focused mind on the job not only results in clearer thinking and better communication, it also correlates with stable posture.

That may seem an odd connection – what does postural stability have to do with our mental and emotional equilibrium, and subsequently with how well we perform in non-physical tasks?

Part of the answer comes from research on the opposite phenomenon – the long observed connections between both anxiety and poor performance and anxiety and unstable balance.  While most of us are familiar with the anxiety/poor performance connection, researcher Dr. Carey Balaban from the University of Pittsburg points out that a link between anxiety and balance problems has been noted for centuries.

The brain research of Dr. Balaban and colleagues brings to light the involvement of vestibular sensory input – our inner ear sense-of-motion critical to balance – in the neural processing underlying emotion, mental alertness, as well as autonomic activity.

By uncovering the neural connections among movement, mind, and emotion, the anxiety/unstable balance research helps make sense of the connection between stable balance and being at one’s best.  The science confirms what culture has long noted in language – that our internal state shows up in our posture, whether grounded or up tight, in a slump or standing tall.