Standing balancing

Start by standing with your arms out to the sides as if you were walking a tightrope. 

Shift your weight to one leg and lift your other foot off the ground, just far enough that you are balancing.

If you need to, you can bring your toes back down to find your balance. 

The purpose here is to get a sense of the wobbling that occurs in your ankle joint when you try to balance that enables you to do so. 

Once you’ve got the feeling for how that shifting back and forth leads to balance, it’s easier to move into the next balancing pose, and the many other yoga poses that rely on balance. 

Stay in the pose long enough to balance but not so long that you are likely to lose your balance. 

If you do, come right back into the pose so that you can practice coming down in a more controlled fashion. 

Repeat on the other side.