Find Your Balance

Hi everyone! Welcome to day 10 of this series. Today we are going to work on finding your balance. So we are going to try to balance on one leg. It will improve so much concentration in the body. It will start to really strengthen the standing leg and it will open the hips. So many health benefits are just there from standing on one leg alone. So this involves a little bit more concentration, a little bit more awareness. So let's do it together and proceed very slowly.

We'll start by, as always, coming quietly by closing the eyes. Absolutely no rush. Coming to Samasthiti, big toes touching, legs are very firm and active. Open the shoulder blades, pull the stomach inside, take a moment. Join the palms, inhale, slowly open your eyes.

So let's start off in Samasthiti only. Even though we are just standing, so much is going on here. I'm going to stand towards the side. Close your eyes — unknowingly we tend to balance on one side. So try to equally distribute the weight on both sides of the body. Press the toes down, press the heels down, opening out the shoulders, take a moment. See that the weight is equally distributed throughout the body. Have a really strong foundation in both your legs. Even though you're just standing, it's a very active posture. It's an equal standing pose. Samasthiti means equal stand. So in equal stance throughout the entire body, finding a beautiful balance from the tips of your toes all the way out to the crown of the head. Think of one line going all the way up. Just close your eyes for a moment and observe, take another breath, inhaling, exhale. Slowly open your eyes.

We're going to start off with Surya Namaskar. If you need to warm up a little bit more, you can use any of the videos before this and just warm up. We're just going to do two rounds right now. Feet together, beginning of the mat. Inhale, hands up. Exhale, hands down. Slowly, don't hurry. All the way down. Head down. Inhale, head up only. Lift the chest. Look up. You can even hold the hands here, no problem. Let's just walk back. Be comfortable. Inhale, plank. Exhale, knees down, chest down. Urdhva Mukha Svanasana, upward facing dog. Inhale. Adho Mukha Svanasana, downward facing dog. Exhale. Five breaths here. One, two — if it's a little uncomfortable, just move the legs around. Three, four, five. Look forward. Let's just walk forward. Inhale, head up. Exhale, head down. Inhale, hands up. Samasthiti.

We'll just do that one more time. Get ready. Inhale, hands up. Exhale, bend. If you need to bend the knees, no problem. Inhale, head up. Exhale, jump or walk. Inhale, exhale, Chaturanga. Go down. Inhale, Urdhva Mukha Svanasana. Exhale to Adho Mukha Svanasana. Again, five breaths here. Deep breathing. One, open the feet apart nicely. Two, three, four, five. Good. Inhale, look forward, bend the knees, jump. Head up. Exhale, head down. Inhale, come up and stand. Samasthiti. That's enough. Come back to the beginning of the mat. I'm going to face you so it's a little easier to understand.

Now starting off, let's keep the feet together. We're going to start by lifting the right leg up. So hands on the waist. The most important thing when you're balancing is to look at one point. Try not to let the eyes move around. Only then can we have our attention exactly on what we are doing right now. So fix your gaze preferably somewhere in front of you, even on the floor it's okay, but try to just look somewhere ahead in front of you. Left hand is on the waist, starting off with the right leg. Lift the right leg up. Bend the knee. Hold the knee with the right hand. Try not to move around. Hold it with both hands and balance here. Let it go.

Let's just do that on the other side. Right hand on the waist. Look at one point, steady. Left leg up. Hold the knee. Hold it with both hands. Pull the knee towards the body as much as you can. Do not bend your standing leg. Your standing leg is extended — it's stretched, and the knee is straight. Let it go.

We're going to do it again. This time we're going to hold it for longer. So do it slowly, as comfortable as you can. If you're at home and if you're doing this, go next to a wall if you need the support. If I'm going to lift the right leg up, I can keep the left hand on a wall just for better balance. So lift the right leg. Hold the knee with both hands. Five breaths here. Breathe. One. Point the toes if you can. Two. Three. Four. Five. Let it go.

Good. Let's try it on the other side. Left leg bent. Hold the knee with the hands. Inhale, take it up. Point the toes. The standing leg is very straight. One. Two. Try to keep the facial muscles calm. Unknowingly we tense all these things — easier said than done, but try. Three. Four. Five. Let it go. That's enough.

Shake out the legs for a moment. Relax. If you are able to balance, take that as a thumbs up that you can move forward to the next thing. If it was a little difficult for you, let's just repeat that again.

So now, left hand is on the waist. Look exactly at one point. Lift the right leg up. First two fingers, interlock the big toe. Try to keep the knee straight and the chest straight. Meaning the knee is still bent, but it's facing upward, not to the side like this — it's facing upward. Left leg is straight. Five breaths here. One. Spine is straight. Two. Good. Three. Four. Five. Don't release. Take it to the side and five breaths here. One. Two. Come face front. Three. Four. Five. Take it back to the center. Don't release. Hands on the waist. Last five breaths here. Hold it. One. If your leg is not coming up so much, no problem. Just keep it here and hold it. Two. Spine straight. Three. Four. And five. Let it go. Shake out the legs. It's a little harder to balance for me because there's so much wind around. Must be easier for you if you're doing it at home.

Right hand on the waist. Left leg bent. First two fingers go for the big toe. Lift the knee up. Hold it there. One. Two. Look at one point. Three. Come face front. Come breathing. Four. Five. Exhale. Take it to the side. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Back to the center. Hands on the waist. Straighten your leg. Wherever you are is good enough. Spine should be straight. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Let it go. Shake out the legs. That is very challenging. If you were not able to do that on day one, don't worry about it. Keep practicing, and I guarantee it will come one day.

If that was comfortable, we're going to take it one step further. Left hand on the waist. Right leg bent. First two fingers, interlock the big toe. Take the knee up. And this time, if it's possible, try to straighten the knee. Look at one point. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. See if you can take it to the side. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Take it back to the center. Try to balance. Release the leg. Hold it there. One. Two. Three. Almost there. Four. Five. Let it go. That is very challenging. I recommend you use the support of a wall. Don't compromise on the spine — spine shouldn't round forward. Keep the spine nice and open. And let's try it on the other side.

Go slowly, go at your own pace. Right hand on the waist. Left leg bent. First two fingers, go for the big toe. Spine straight. Inhale. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Take it to the side. One. Two, standing leg straight. Three. Four. Five. Inhale. Take it back to the center. Let it go. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Awesome. Release. Shake out the legs. Give yourself a break. Take a nice deep breath in. Nice exhale out. One more time. Inhale. Exhale.

We're just going to try one more posture. This is known as Vrikshasana, tree pose. We're going to try to be strong like a tree. We'll start on the left leg because we did that before. So starting off on the left leg, you're going to take the right leg, externally rotate the hip. Meaning the hip is going to move to the side. You can keep the foot here and balance, but if it's accessible, catch hold of the foot and take it a little higher up. Notice that I'm just looking at one point. I'm not looking right and left. Hands are at the chest, and five breaths here. One. Two. Steady. Three. Four. Five. With control, exit the posture. Hands on the waist. Bend the knee. Leg down.

Let's do it on the other side. Left leg bend. Wherever it's accessible for you — so if you're here, no problem, keep the foot there and try to balance. Use a wall support if you need it. And if it's possible for you, take it a little higher up and let's hold it here. Externally rotate the hip to the side. Hands in Pranam. Look at one point. One. Concentrate. Two. Put the weight on the big toe, little toe, heel of the foot. Three. Try to smile. Four. And five. Release the hands. Release the leg. Shake out the legs.

We're just going to try one more variation for today and then we're done. You're going to bend the right leg again. If the previous thing was difficult, just repeat it, no problem. See if you can go to a half lotus position. Take the foot as high as you can. If you have any knee pain right now, back off completely — no knee pain should be there. If you don't have knee pain, that means it's safe for you to do this. See if you can let the foot go. First the right hand, if it's comfortable the left hand. Five breaths here. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. With control, exit the posture.

Left side. Shift the weight on the right leg. Lift the left leg up. Hold the knee with the hands. Externally rotate the foot, the hip. Take the foot as high as you can. Push back with your leg and slowly try to balance. First you release the left hand — you don't have to release the right hand, but only if you can, you take the right hand, join it at the center of the chest. Find strength. One. Two. Try not to bend the standing leg. Three. Four. Five. With control, exit the posture.

So good. These postures will take time to come. It's not going to happen overnight, so you have to practice it regularly to see the improvements in your body. That's enough for today. Go ahead and sit down on the mat. Cross the legs. Close your eyes right away and settle down.

Balance is first and foremost a state of mind. So start to really clear your mind of any stress before you attempt these postures. If there's too many thoughts in your head, it will be difficult to balance. Take a nice long breath in. A long breath out. Join the palms. Breathe in. Open your eyes.

Thank you so much. See you next class.