Home exercises to improve balance

Improve balance as you age, and change your brain for the better

Just about everyone over the age of 40 could use help maintaining and improving balance. As we get older, practicing balance can help us keep active (and avoid falling). Improving balance is also great for brain health – helping our brains build and exercise new pathways, and keeping our proprioception, or sense of the body in space, strong.

People dealing with different forms of chronic pain may avoid challenging themselves with balance exercises, as unsteadiness can be painful for arthritic or otherwise compromised joints. But if you have arthritis or chronic pain, balance exercises are that much more important, as falling can be so hard on the body.

Here are some easy, home balance exercises almost anyone can do without causing more discomfort in the knees, hips, or lower back, as long as you’re OK to stand up for a few minutes. Even practicing these exercises for a minute or two every day can make a big difference in your proprioception and balance. I use these exercises (and a zillion more) in my Pilates practice every day. I hope they can be of use to you as well!

Standing with eyes closed

This sounds super easy, but it turns out we really rely on our vision for balance! As you get started, have your fingertips on a wall or table to make sure you’re OK.

The closer your feet are to each other, the harder this exercise. Start with your feet hip-distance apart, and move them closer to challenge yourself. Then, see if you can stand still with your eyes closed for 30 seconds or so (this actually feels like a long time).

You’ll notice your weight will shift all over the place with your eyes closed. See if you can keep the top of your head positioned between the soles of your feet, so that you maintain a strong vertical current through the center line of your body. Let your feet sense and feel the floor. Most of the little shifts in position you’ll need to stay balanced can occur within the 30 joints of the feet. As you get better at balance, you won’t need to shift in your knees, hips, or spine very much anymore. Using your feet for balance takes the pressure off these other joints.

The brain contains a literal map within it, corresponding to each body part. As you build more sensitivity in a certain body part, that brain map will grow larger. For balance, you need a good map of the soles of the feet. As you practice these exercises, you’re increasing the size of your brain’s map of your soles.

Stand on one foot, eyes closed

This exercise takes balance up a notch. Again, keep your fingertips on a wall or other surface at first to be safe.

Find your balance on two feet with your eyes closed first, and then try taking one foot a little ways off the floor. You may be surprised what a challenge this is!

Again, keeping a sense of your vertical axis is key, as is sensitivity to the sole of the standing foot. Keep the crown of your head over your kidney one point (between the two balls of your foot). Let your sole feel the floor, and allow all the 26 bones of your foot to move and shift to accommodate your slight changes in position.

Try each foot – everyone has an easier side.

Raise and lower heels, eyes closed

You can try this exercise standing on two feet, or just one. Again, use your hands for support until you feel safe.

You’ll only be able to lift your heels off the floor (with any stability) if you keep your big toes grounded. Most people will tend to roll toward their little toes and lose balance. Practice pressing your big toe into the floor, and balancing your vertical axis over your big toe and second toe as you lift your heels. Again, sensitivity to the soles of your feet is key.

The takeaway

Practicing these balance exercises with eyes closed should improve your sensitivity to your feet, to your vertical axis, and to your sense of your body in space generally. As you get better at these exercises, you can do them anywhere – spending a few moments in line at the grocery store eyes closed, for example. Over time, your balance should improve markedly.

More resources for improving balance

Here’s a YouTube video of me demonstrating a few balance exercises, including some described above. The video was published in coordination with an article on fibromyalgia and balance I wrote for Practical Pain Management Magazine.

Norman Doidge’s books, The Brain That Changes Itself, and The Brain’s Way of Healing are incredible dives into brain plasticity and healing. Doidge writes about healing from all sorts of conditions, among them loss of balance.

Thanks for reading. Your healing body is a light for all,

Shona