Balance

Balance is related to posture and grace.  It is something that you might not always notice, but on that first icy day of winter when the sidewalk has "surprise spots" or when you try and walk up the stairs with your arms full of stuff and you find that someone left a stack of newspapers....

One cool thing is that when you train balance you also train your abdominal (core) strength, general body strength and to some extent your agility.


How can you train balance?  You can go to a beach with smooth round rocks and walk barefoot.  You can stand on one foot on a mini-trampoline and play catch.  You can use a wobble board. All of that is good, but what looks really fun is slack-lining.  It really challenges your balance, and pushes your abdominal and pelvic stabilizers to the max.  As long as you have 2 solid things to tie your rope to and a soft surface like grass or sand you can do this activity anywhere.  (Safety tip: keep the rope low, learn how to step off safely before trying anyting else, and leave things like handstands to the circus.)

Boulder-hopping on the beach.

 Playing catch, one footed on a mini-trampoline.

The wobble board.