Fall for yoga all over again with this sequence scientifically proven to boost balance and agility from YJ LIVE! Florida presenter Kiersten Mooney. Reduce your risk of fall and injury and share the pose that makes you #fallforyoga all over again on social media.
When you fall, whether it's falling out of a pose on your mat or in daily life, quick reaction time is your key to preventing injury. You want your body to have the capacity for speed, allowing you to respond rapidly enough to catch yourself mid-fall or grab a child out of harm’s way, for example. While falling can certainly have more severe consequences later in life, at any age and activity level, the motor fitness components of balance, agility, speed, coordination, and power are vital for functional daily living and optimal for athletic performance.
The Scientifically Proven Way To Build Balance
When we think about balance, we often envision holding a picturesque Half Moon or Tree Pose, but falls don’t usually happen when you are standing still or in a steady state or pose, but rather when you are moving, transitioning, or adjusting. The key to building balance, coordination, and preventing injury from falling as we age is in mastering transitionsand developing power.
In partnership with the University of Miami, we have studied the muscle utilization patterns of different yoga poses. We learned which muscles are actually being used and how active they are during each pose. For example, in electromyography (EMG) study, which records electrical activity produced by skeletal muscles, the more activated the toes in standing poses, the greater the lower leg muscle activity, therefore targeting the primary balance muscles. As a result of this kind of data and innovation, we created a sequence scientifically proven to increase balance and prevent falls.
The following sequence is comprised of three mini flows, adapted from our research and designed to enhance balance, motor skills, and functional living by rewiring the usual patterns of your brain. The poses in this sequence require focus and are sequenced in a unique neuromuscular pattern to challenge your musculoskeletal system.
15 Poses Proven to Build Better Balance
To begin, move with awareness through the transitions. Once you’ve mastered the sequence, you can add speed into your practice, building your capacity to react quickly.
Mountain-Chair-Tree Flow
Repeat this flow 6 times total, 3 times per side for Tree Pose. For the first 2 rounds, hold each pose for 5 breaths, then move through rounds 3–6 at 1 breath per pose.
Begin with your feet parallel. Lift and spread your toes to activate the muscles in your lower legs. Create a slight bend in your knees and engage your quadriceps. Contract your lower abdominal muscle to level your pelvis and your upper abdominal muscle to draw your ribs in. Lengthen your side waist and draw your upper arm bones back.
Note: All of the alignment principles and muscle activation cues in Mountain Pose can be integrated into every pose in this sequence.
From Mountain Pose, bend your knees to 90 degrees over your ankles, and keep weight equally distributed on your feet. Engage your lower abdominal muscles, as you reach your arms up and pull your arm bones back.
From Utthita Hasta Padangustasana, step back on an angle into a variation of Crescent Lunge. Reach your opposite arm across your body over the front leg into a twist.
Move from Angled Crescent Lunge into Eagle Pose by shifting your weight into your front leg and launching your back leg up, around, and over the front leg. Wrapping your arms together and reach up.
From Warrior II, pivot back through a Lunge, bringing your arms across your front knee into a twist. Your back knee can be up or down. As you inhale, lengthen your spine, as you exhale twist.
From the Twisting Lunge, bring your back knee down and move into Half Camel. Reach back and either grab your back heel or place your hand on your lower back for extra support.
This is a incredible way to generate power and increase upper-body strength and reaction time.
From Camel, come forward into Plank Pose and bend your elbows into Chaturanga. Then push your whole body up and off the floor, hands and feet pushing off at the same time or only hands lifting with knees down. Catch yourself in Chaturanga. Repeat 5 times in a row.
Lying on your back with knees bent, cross your right ankle over the left knee. Flex feet. Reach through your legs to grab either your left shin or the back of your left thigh, using your right arm as leverage to push your right leg forward. Hold for 5 breaths and switch sides.
Kiersten Mooney, E-RYT 500, is the cofounder of greenmonkey®, a health and wellness company offering research-driven, innovative yoga programs, accredited 200- and 300-hour teacher trainings, and global retreats. Since 2012, Kiersten has completed extensive published research about yoga in partnership with the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. She has over 20 years' experience in the wellness industry. Kiersten was awarded degrees from the University of Miami in Sociology, Exercise Sports Science and Sports Medicine with graduate studies in Exercise Physiology & Nutrition. She is a renowned international speaker, presenting at events such as Yoga Journal LIVE!, ECA, and OMEGA. Kiersten also teaches around the globe and is passionate about inspiring students and teachers to awaken to their personal power and to live their practice fully and courageously in every aspect of life.
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