Phase 3 · Balance in Motion

Part of the 6 Week Yoga Program for Ankle Stability and Balance

30 Minute Yoga Sequence for Dynamic Balance

The last two weeks. Standing still on one leg is not the problem. Staying stable while something moves is.

An ankle rarely gives way while you are standing still. It gives way while you are turning, stepping down or reaching for something, which is why the balance tests used in this research measure how far you can reach in different directions while standing on one leg rather than how long you can hold still. These thirty minutes are built for that. Every single leg position here asks for something else to happen at the same time.

30 min · Level 2

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When it helps

For weeks five and six, once single leg standing with a hand on the wall has stopped feeling like an event. Thirty minutes. A wall within reach for the harder positions, and enough clear floor to move around a bit. Bare feet.

Physical effect

Single leg loading in several directions, with the hip and the trunk working at the same time as the ankle.

Control

The progression the research uses runs from a stable base, to weight shifting, to standing on one leg, to moving while balancing. This session lives in the last two.

Confidence

The thing that changes at this stage is that you stop watching the ground. That is not a soft outcome, it is what the instability questionnaires are asking about.

Short warm up

Four minutes only. By week five the foot wakes up faster.

Sukhasana

1 min

Easy Pose

Cross legged, toes spreading, ten times.

Still the first thing, still worth the minute.

Learn more about Sukhasana

Dandasana

1 min

Staff Pose

Point and flex twenty times, then circles.

Range before load, every time.

Learn more about Dandasana

Vajrasana

1 min

Thunderbolt Pose

Toes tucked, sitting back, blanket under the knees.

The underside of the foot, which is about to do a lot of reporting.

Learn more about Vajrasana

Balasana

1 min

Child's Pose

Knees wide, forehead down.

A pause before everything moves to standing.

Learn more about Balasana

Build the base

Six minutes of two footed work, so the single leg part starts from somewhere solid.

Tadasana

2 min

Mountain Pose

Three points down, weight shifting, then still. Then close your eyes for thirty seconds and keep shifting.

Taking your eyes away is the third level of the progression, and it is far easier standing on two feet than on one.

Learn more about Tadasana

Uttanasana

45 sec

Standing Forward Bend

Fold forward, heels down, knees soft.

The calf, briefly, before it has to hold you up on one side.

Learn more about Uttanasana

Virabhadrasana II

45 sec each side

Warrior II

Warrior II, back foot pressing through its outer edge.

The outer edge of the back foot again. It is the direction an ankle rolls, and it wants loading on purpose.

Learn more about Virabhadrasana II

Trikonasana

45 sec each side

Triangle Pose

Triangle, weight even, front leg straight.

A wide base with a straight leg, on the way to a narrow one.

Learn more about Trikonasana

One leg, and then one leg with something happening

From here on, everything is single leg. Keep the wall in reach and use it whenever you need it rather than falling.

Vrkasana

45 sec each side

Tree Pose

Tree without the wall. Then, if it is steady, close your eyes for ten seconds.

Eyes closed on one leg removes the sense you have been leaning on and forces the ankle to report for itself.

Learn more about Vrkasana

Utkatasana

45 sec, twice

Chair Pose

Chair, then up onto the balls of the feet and hold.

The calves get loaded before the harder balances rather than after. Tired is the condition an ankle actually fails in.

Learn more about Utkatasana

Garudasana

45 sec each side

Eagle Pose

Eagle. Legs crossed, arms crossed, sitting down a little.

A narrow single leg base with the body wound up. Very few things ask an ankle for this.

Learn more about Garudasana

Eka Pada Utkatasana

30 sec each side

One-Legged Chair Pose

One-legged Chair. Sit back onto one leg with the other crossed over, hands together.

Single leg loading in a bent knee position, which is the shape a step down actually takes.

Learn more about Eka Pada Utkatasana

Ardha Chandrasana

30 sec each side

Half Moon Pose

Half Moon, bottom hand on a block, back to a wall if you want one.

Standing on one leg while the body turns. This is the multi-directional control the balance tests measure.

Learn more about Ardha Chandrasana

Virabhadrasana 1

45 sec each side

Warrior I

Warrior I, back foot flat, outer edge pressing.

Two feet again, both ankles working differently, at the point where the legs are tired.

Learn more about Virabhadrasana 1

Virabhadrasana 3

30 sec each side

Warrior III

Warrior III. Fingertips on a wall, or free if it is there.

Single leg with the body horizontal, which puts the balance demand at its highest and the load at its most honest.

Learn more about Virabhadrasana 3

Vrkasana B

30 sec each side

Tree Pose B

Tree with the arms overhead, and if it is available, a slow turn of the head from side to side.

Moving while balancing. This is the last level of the progression and the whole reason for the six weeks.

Learn more about Vrkasana B

Tadasana

1 min

Mountain Pose

Two feet, three points, eyes open. Notice how solid it feels now.

After that much single leg work, standing on two feels like nothing. That contrast is the point.

Learn more about Tadasana

Savasana

2 min

Corpse Pose

On your back, feet falling open.

Balance work is more tiring than it looks, and not in the muscles.

Learn more about Savasana

Phase 3 · Weeks 5 to 6

This practice is part of a program

It belongs to Balance in Motion, the third phase of the 6 Week Yoga Program for Ankle Stability and Balance. The program says how often to practise it, what comes before and after, and when to move on.

See the whole program →

Integration

Three times a week through weeks five and six. Afterwards, keep the fifteen minute standing sequence once or twice a week. Instability of this kind comes back over years, and it is much easier to hold an ankle than to get it back.

The teacher behind this sequence

Gründer & Autor

Manish Rana

Gründer von Asanaverse.de. Manish schreibt über Yoga, Ayurveda und Meditation und verdankt seine tiefe Verbindung zum Yoga seinen indischen Wurzeln. Mit über 1000 Stunden Yoga Alliance Teacher Training gibt er sein Wissen an die Community weiter.

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