Episode Details
Back to Episodes85. How to Teach Balance for Every Body
Description
Have you ever had a student freeze in tree pose and apologize for wobbling? In this episode, I'm rethinking how we teach balance so every body in the room—regardless of age, injury history, or experience—can work the skill without feeling like they're failing.
I walk through the four systems that keep us upright (vestibular, proprioception, vision, and musculoskeletal), why the brain's plasticity means balance can improve at any age, and why fear has a mechanical effect on your students' ability to stabilize.
Then I share five concrete shifts you can make in your very next class: weaving balance through every quarter of class, using the 6–4–2 to teach across all three planes, offering a sweeter-to-spicier spectrum instead of one "right" pose, cueing the system (not just the shape), and changing the language that surrounds wobbling so students stay with the practice.
If you want to go deeper, I'm hosting a free Comfort Zone Conversation on Thursday, May 21, called Balance for Every Body. And the full self-paced course, Fundamentals of Teaching Balance, is open for enrollment now.
Listen now!
September’s lesson plan in the Prep Station is Balance Play Trio. The recording is already waiting in the Movement Library, and I teach the plan live on Mondays, September 14, 21, and 28, at 6:00 p.m. Eastern, with 15 minutes afterward for your questions. Every class posts as a recording. It’s all part of the Yoga Class Prep Station, $39 a month.
Join us:
The next cohort of Mastering the Art of Yoga Sequencing Mentorship Membership—MMM, my six-month group mentorship for yoga teachers—starts in January 2027, and the wait list is open now. Doors open to the wait list first, in December, before anyone else hears about it. MMM is also the required half of the Comfort Zone Yoga 300-hour yoga teacher training.
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