This entry was posted on Dec 17, 2025 by Charlotte Bell.
Some time again I wrote a put up on 4 Methods to Hone Your Balancing Abilities. Within the put up, I describe other ways our our bodies and minds assist us to remain balanced. Yoga is uniquely suited to 1 facet of balancing particularly: stimulating the vestibular system.
What Is the Vestibular System?
The vestibular system is integral to retaining us upright, not solely in yoga follow, but in addition in merely standing and strolling in our on a regular basis lives. In keeping with the Cleveland Clinic, right here’s what our vestibular methods do for us:
“Your vestibular system is a key a part of a fancy sensory system that retains you in stability. Strolling, operating and even remaining upright with out falling are all actions you are able to do because of your vestibular system.
“Vestibular organs inside your inside ear sense your head actions and ship this data to your mind. The actions present details about your place and orientation inside your environment. Your mind integrates this information with sensory data out of your eyes, muscle mass and joints. Your eyes assist you to orient primarily based on what you see, whereas your muscle mass and joints present sensory data as they make contact together with your environment.
“Primarily based on these three inputs (vestibular system + eyes + muscle mass and joints), your mind sends indicators that inform your physique the way to stay in stability.”
How Can Yoga Assist?
Yoga is exclusive amongst bodily practices in its skill to stimulate the vestibular system. Every time we modify our head place, we create vestibular enter. In most types of bodily follow—operating, strolling, bicycling, Zumba lessons—our head stays upright. In a typical yoga follow, we modify our head place many instances, in a wide range of methods.
Primary poses akin to Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Dealing with Canine Pose), wide-legged standing poses akin to Trikonasana (Triangle Pose), standing and seated ahead bends, backbends akin to Urdhva Dhanurasana (Upward Bow Pose) and naturally, all of the inversions require that our heads be in positions aside from upright.
- Enhance vestibular enter. Apply yoga poses that place your head in numerous positions. Listed below are just a few examples:
- Head down: Downward Dealing with Canine Pose, Uttanasana (Standing Ahead Bend), Prasarita Padottanasana (Large-Legged Standing Ahead Bend)
- Head sideways: Trikonasana (Triangle Pose), Parsvakonasana (Facet-Angle Pose), Ardha Chandrasana (Half Moon Pose)
- Dealing with the bottom: Parsvottanasana (Pyramid Pose), Virabhadrasana III (Warrior III) and all seated ahead bends
- Head again: Ustrasana (Camel Pose), Urdhva Hastasana (Upward Arms Pose)
- The other way up: Sirsasana (Headstand), Sarvangasana (Shoulderstand), Pinca Mayurasana (Elbow Stability), Adho Mukha Vrksasana (Handstand), Upward Bow Pose
About Charlotte Bell
Charlotte Bell found yoga in 1982 and commenced instructing in 1986. Charlotte is the creator of Conscious Yoga, Conscious Life: A Information for On a regular basis Apply and Yoga for Meditators, each printed by Rodmell Press. Her third e-book is titled Hip-Wholesome Asana: The Yoga Practitioner’s Information to Defending the Hips and Avoiding SI Joint Ache (Shambhala Publications). She writes a month-to-month column for CATALYST Journal and serves as editor for Yoga U On-line. Charlotte is a founding board member for GreenTREE Yoga, a non-profit that brings yoga to underserved populations. A lifelong musician, Charlotte performs oboe and English horn within the Salt Lake Symphony and folks sextet Purple Rock Rondo, whose DVD gained two Emmy awards.
