If you want tobuild better balance, yoga is one exercise modality that can help big time.
Standing yoga posessuch as mountain, chair, and treeall involve anchoring one or both feet into the ground.
For example, standing poses make up the majority of sun salutations in Vinyasa yoga, Chen says.
Katie Thompson
Wondering how to incorporate standing yoga poses into your own yoga practice?
What are the benefits of standing poses in yoga?
They also improve your core stability and balance, as well as your mobility and flexibility, Mosley says.
Some, like mountain pose, are also good for improving posture.
Chen breaks down standing poses into three categories: strengthening, balancing, and lengthening (improvingflexibility).
By squaring your hips toward the front of the room, youre opening up through your hip flexors.
Your core also fires to help your torso stay upright and keeps your body stable.
And building core strength is important because it can help prevent and evenrelieve low back pain.
The warrior poses are also excellent for building lower-body strength.
This forces you to recruit your core and the muscles in your ankles so you dont fall.
What is the difference between standing poses and seated poses?
Thats because your core helps keep your torso upright and prevents you from completely folding over and falling.
Think about the time you could hold a [standing] prayer twist versus a seated twist.
Standing poses like those in the warrior series often feel more activeboth harnessing and building strength.
What should beginners know about standing yoga?
As you progress and get stronger, Chen also recommends tree pose for a beginner balancing yoga pose.
Dont be afraid to modify the poses for your fitness level, Chen says.
Once you feel comfortable, you could gradually add on more elements to the poses.
Its not just standing; its actually quite engaging on your body, she says.
It can help improve posture, as well as strengthen your core, glutes, knees, and ankles.
Twists can also aid with digestion and movement in your G.I.
I like to think of the energy flowing from fingertip to fingertip.
It also works your coreif you keep your arms outstretched and parallel to the groundand strengthens your quads.
