News — balance board

So, you just received your brand new balance board.  Congratulations! Here are some stretches and balance moves to get you started.  It's important to do them in a sequence, as some of the stretches go hand and hand.  For example, the cat/cow poses go together because the cat pose is the counter stretch to the cow pose for your back.  Snake and Mouse poses also go together.  Have fun!

Let's start with something easy.  Sit in the middle of your board, facing the "MILKSHAKE boards" logo.  

 Airplane Easy Pose: (criss-cross apple sauce) or put your arms out to your sides as if you are in an airplane.

Now pretend to fly like an airplane.  Hold each stretch for a few deep breaths.  

 Cow Pose: let your belly drop down with your back bent like the letter U.

Cat Pose:  arch your back up like a mountain and look down under your belly at your legs behind you.

Do cat/cow together as they are counter stretches to each other.  Inhale for cow, exhale for cat.  Repeat 10 times.

 Mouse Pose: curl up like a ball on top of the board.  Feel your belly breath against your legs as you remain in this pose for 3-5 deep breaths.  

 Snake or Cobra Pose:  From mouse pose, slide your feet out from under you and make sure that your feet are together, legs, and seat are firmly placed on the board behind you. Then, lift your chest up from the board and feel the stretch.  

After Snake Pose, do Mouse Pose again for the counter stretch (snake and mouse can go hand-in-hand).

Downward Dog: In downward dog, you will want to make a triangle with your body.  

Upward Dog:  From downward dog, drop your belly and keep your legs and belly off the ground, arms shoulder width apart.

Elephant Pose: Standing up, keep your legs straight and let your torso, head, and arms hang down.  Clasp your hands together like the trunk of an elephant and sway or pretend to drink water.

Now, slowly come up and pretend to splash water on your body and back.  You can also spray water all around you.

Mountain Pose: Stand tall on your balance board.  Take some deep slow breaths.  Then, try standing on your tippy toes.  For an extra challenge, stand on your tippy toes and look up at the sky.

Tree Pose: An all time favorite....while standing tall, take one heel and rest it against the opposite leg.  Then, let your "branches" or arms grow.  Remember to repeat with the opposite leg.

Have fun with these poses to get you started on your board.  Remember to always be careful and share your MILKSHAKE board with your friends.  

A balance board is a board that is a lever and either rocks from one side to the other (think North and South), East and West, or in a circular motion.  It's used for recreational purposes, training, therapy, help in balance and coordination, core strength, brain development, or a wide variety of other purposes. 

In sports, balance boards can help with core strength, focus, and stability.  Skiers, snowboarders, dancers, ice-skaters, martial arts performers, skateboarders, and baseball players are just a few of the people who use balance boards to help them.  Balance boards are great with yoga, too.

Besides sports-related activities, balance boards can help children, too.  Balance boards are used in sensory integration, gross and fine motor development, brain development, core strength, balance, balance, and expand neural network connections. 

Balance boards have been around for decades and come in a variety of shapes and sizes.  Now depending on the balance board type, a person (or other animal) would stand on the balance board.  However, there are types that can be used for sitting and lying down as well. There are also aquatic balance boards.  Some balance boards are extremely dangerous and should not be attempted by your great grandma, whereas others can be used by toddlers and the elderly. 

When choosing a balance board, test them out and find one that fits your needs.  If you can't test one out, I recommend a balance board on rockers, as it can be used almost anywhere and practically anyone can use it.  In other words, you can share it with your family and friends.

If you choose a balance board with rockers, try it out on different surfaces for a variation of instability.  For example, if you use it on the sand, the board will not rock as much, which will be easier for you and your friends.  If you want a little more challenge, use the board on a hard surface such as hardwood floors or cement.  This creates much more instability. 

 Here's a little guy testing out a rocker board.  The board was on a hard cement surface, thus making the balance board very unstable.  It was a teensy bit challenging for puppy.

Here are five great poses to do at 5 o'clock.  Nope, it doesn't matter if it's 5 o'clock in the morning or evening.  It's 5 o'clock somewhere, right? We like to call this sequence of poses the Dogsled races.  They're fun, a bit challenging, and get our heart and body ready for the day.  Do them alone and pretend you are practicing for the races, or do them with your pals, or imaginary pack of dogs.  Ready, set, go.

Downward Dog: Strengthens and stretches shoulders, back, and legs.  This pose also strengthens the wrists and arms.  If you lift each leg up for a count of 4 to 5 breaths, you will get an extra core workout.

Upward Dog:  This pose strengthens the abs, back, legs, arms, and wrists.  This pose also gives you energy.  Try doing a few Downward Dog and Upward Dog poses (going back and forth) and then move into Runner's pose after downward dog.

Runner's Pose: From Downward Dog, lift a leg and bring it under your belly and place it between your hands so that your hands and foot are aligned with the foot sandwiched between the hands.  In the photo below, the right leg is not completely in position, as you will notice. Remember to do both sides.

Half Moon:  This pose is great for indigestion, anxiety, and releasing stress.  Make sure that you do it on both sides and spend some time in the pose breathing...deep breaths.  Though the photo isn't exact, it's a good photo to show the expectations when doing these poses with young children.  The idea is to get children to love yoga, not to spend so much time on the correct posture and position. Try lifting the hand closest to the big toe up to the sky (twist). 

Mountain Pose: Whether you stand with your hands by your side or your hands in the air, the idea is to spend a few moments in mountain pose breathing.  Try standing on your tippy toes for a challenge.  Or even more challenging-look up into the sky while standing still on your tippy toes.  Mountain pose is great for posture, core strength, and confidence.  You are ready to take on the day!

Here are five poses to help you with flexibility and balance.  Improving your balance strengthens your core and other muscles, improves stability, posture, muscular control, and body awareness. It also improves mental focus and clarity.  Try these on a balance board for an extra challenge, in the sand, on pebbles, or on your yoga mat.

Crow Pose: Whenever we teach yoga to kids, they love to try the crow pose, because it's such a challenge and they feel so proud of themselves after they have mastered them (or even while trying).While in frog pose (squatting on feet with hands touching the ground between two legs), take hands and place them in front of legs.  Kneel forward, bending elbows to make a shelf for your knees.  Then, lean forward and place your knees onto your elbows like a shelf.  Keep leaning onto your tippy toes and then lift both feet off the ground so that your elbows are supporting your knees.

Half Moon Pose:Begin in Triangle pose, then slowly start to shift your weight forward onto your front foot. Lift your back foot off the floor, and center your hips over your standing leg. Open your hips as you extend your arm upwards (lift the same arm as your leg), keeping the other hand on the ground.

Dancer Pose:Begin in Mountain pose, then lift one foot so that the heel makes contact with your behind. Grasp the top of the foot with the hand on the same side, then lift your foot up and away from your torso and the floor. This pose requires arm and leg strength, as well as balance, but with enough practice it is a majestic balancing pose.

Tree Pose:Begin in mountain pose, then slowly slide your foot up the length of your standing leg and let it rest against your upper thigh. Bring your hands to your chest or above your head, and balance, breathing deeply.

Warrior III:Begin in a high lunge, with both arms above your head and your torso leaned slightly forward. Exhale and attempt to straighten your front leg and lift your back leg at the same time. Let your torso and arms come parallel to the floor as you balance on your standing leg.

These poses will strengthen your arms, wrists, belly, back, legs, and hips.