7 Steps to Balance

by Katherine Vivan

There are seven steps to achieving a grasp on your center of balance. (This is taken from ballet, as I learned it.)

Start at your feet. Rock gently back and forth from the ball of your foot to your heel, until you are able to distribute your weight evenly.
Move your concentration up to your knees and practice bending them until your knees are almost completely straight. Do Not Lock Your Knees.
Now we consider what our hips are doing. In ballet you want to use your butt muscles to make your legs and feet turn out to make a line. Since this is a balance exercise, give it a try; however, once you are aware of your hip placement, when you get into your stance feel free to see if there are any ways of turning your legs in or out that cause your joints to be less stressed.
At this point you want to tighten your lower abdominal muscles, squeeze your bottom and allow your pelvis to come slightly forward.
When you do this you probably want to let your chest come forward, which is what you should do next. This should create a lengthening feeling along your back.
As your chest is coming forward, being somewhat stuck out or presented, allow your shoulders to comfortably roll back and down. All this time you should be maintaining that lengthening feeling, which should be much like a string going through your body.
Lastly, let your neck lengthen and your head tip slightly upward. (Don’t worry — if you’re doing this right you look like a snob.) When you do this last step it should feel as if that string I just told you about is sticking out of the top of your head and still heading upward.

Note: Miguel Flores is responsible for the transcription and any mistakes therein.