Many of my Minding Your Balance students visiting family this holiday season are expressing concern about the balance challenges inherent in air travel. From navigating crowded concourses to pulling, carrying, and lifting luggage in and out of overhead bins to stepping on and off moving walkways and negotiating narrow airplane aisles, air travel provides ample need and opportunity to mind one’s balance.

Here are a few quick Minding Your Balance tips for staying steady and safe during holiday travel:

  1. Make the “locus of focus” your center of balance
    • When the focal point of attention is a piece of luggage you’re pulling, posture may unwittingly tilt sideways toward it – undermining stable balance. To stabilize posture and improve overall movement coordination, simply move the focal point of attention from the luggage to your center of balance.
    • Move Like a Martial Artist – Navigate through crowded concourses and narrow airplane aisles with greater awareness and agility by moving from center.
  2. Lift and hold luggage with relaxed, aligned posture
    • Lifting up or holding a heavy bag may automatically recruit the lifting and holding up of shoulders. This causes the neck and back to tense up and the spine to curl forward – destabilizing balance. Take a moment to release upper body tension and feel relaxed aligned posture over your feet. And remember – what’s good for your balance is good for your back!
  3. Respect the balance/emotion connection
    • Being mindful that stress can destabilize balance gives you the opportunity to be proactive. Practice the 3 R’s:
      • Recognize your distress
      • Respect why it’s happening
      • Restore equilibrium – both physical and emotional – by taking a moment to re-center, to relax and align posture, or to take a deep breath.

To learn more get your copy of Minding Your Balance: Mind Body Exercises to Improve Balance and Prevent Falls