Balance Poses: Wobble Less in Tree and Half Moon

I’ll start with a confession. I lose my balance on camera all the time. There’s more than one class out there where you can hear me say “whoo, I just lost my balance” right in the middle of a cue. So I’m not going to promise you a way to stop wobbling forever. Nobody has that.

What I can give you is the handful of things that make a real difference, the ones I come back to in every balance class. Most of them have nothing to do with being “good at balance.” They’re about where you look and what your standing leg is doing. And, as usual with me, your breath.

Go with the flow, Costa Rica yoga series, woman in a standing pose

Your gaze does most of the work

In yoga we call it a drishti. It’s a place you gaze at, usually on the floor out in front of you, and it helps you with your balance more than almost anything else.

Pick one fixed point and keep your eyes on it. If you’re in a class and you’re looking around at other people, and they’re wobbling, it’s probably going to make you wobble too.

I’ll be honest about my own practice here. In tree pose I’ll sometimes say “if your balance is better than mine, maybe close your eyes.” I always have to use my drishti and keep my gaze steady on the floor to hold my balance in tree. So if you need it every single time, you’re in good company.

Build from your standing foot

Every balance pose starts in your foundation. Before you lift anything, find your mountain pose. Spread your toes evenly and put your weight evenly between your toes and your heels. Then engage through your legs.

When you shift onto one foot, engage your standing leg without locking it out.

Let your breath steady you

I say this one in my longer hold classes and I mean it literally. Let the steadiness of your breath steady your mind, and let your mind steady your balance. Try to make your inhales the same length as your exhales. When your breath gets choppy, your balance usually follows.

Tree pose

Stand on one foot and bring the sole of your other foot to your standing leg. It can rest at your ankle or your calf, or up on your inner thigh. Please avoid your kneecap, so you’re not pressing into your knee. Any of those heights counts as tree pose.

For your arms, you’ve got options:

Hands at your heart.
Arms up to the sky.
Hands behind your back.

There are probably about ten more variations. Those are the ones I usually give.

Once you’re steady, I like to find a little movement in tree. Stay rooted down through your standing foot, and let your upper body be flexible and open. Trees sway. You’re allowed to, too. Wobbly tree is honestly my all-time favorite pose to hold, and in some classes I’ll have you hold it for ten breaths.

Half moon

From Warrior 2, come onto your front foot and lift your back leg so it’s parallel to your mat, toes pointing out to the side. Your body opens to the side.

Your bottom hand can go to the floor or your shin. Or use a block, which is a really good idea here. There’s no prize for reaching the floor if it costs you your stack.

Then work on stacking. Stack your top hip over your bottom hip, then your top shoulder over your bottom shoulder, and reach your top arm straight up. Get really active through your lifted leg and foot, and stay strong through your standing leg.

If half moon isn’t in your practice today, take extended side angle instead and leave your back foot on the floor. Same shape, much less balance.

Warrior 3

Warrior 3 is a really challenging one to hold, so I won’t hold you there for very long in class. It takes strength in your upper back and shoulders as well as your legs, plus a lot of balance.

From Warrior 1, shorten your stance a little. Find a nice place to gaze at on the ground. Then slowly straighten through your front leg as your back leg lifts off the floor.

The common thing that happens is your lifted hip starts to hike up toward the ceiling. Rotate that hip down so your two hips are square and level. Point the toes of your lifted foot down toward the floor, and keep your gaze steady and long, reaching through the crown of your head.

If you want an easier way in, try airplane. It’s the same balance with your arms reaching back alongside you. Keep your hips level and all five toes of your back foot pointing toward the floor.

When you fall out (and you will)

If you wobble or fall out, no big deal. Come right back to it. If you need to set your lifted foot down for a second, that’s totally fine. Use it as a kickstand, then try lifting it again.

And expect one side to be different from the other. It almost always is, and it can change day to day. That’s not a failure. That’s just you that day.

Practice it with me

Finding Your Balance Yoga Class (59m 7s). Balancing on your feet and on your hands.
Balance Postures: 10 Minute Yoga Class (13m 21s). Short enough to tack onto anything.
How to Do Chair & Eagle Poses (10m 37s). Where I explain the drishti and the wobbling neighbor problem.
Flow & Hold (52m 11s). Wobbly tree for ten breaths.
Hands Free & Wrist Free Balance Class (26m 34s). All standing, nothing on your wrists.
Fall Equinox: Embracing Balance (1h 18m 41s). My newest class, for the change of season.

Tree pose shows up in my Sacral Chakra class too, which is part of my free 7-week chakra experience. And if you ever want to wobble with a group (it really is more fun), join us at our spring and November retreats in Nosara.