Phase 1 · Four Weeks With Both Feet Down

Part of the 12 Week Yoga Program for Balance Confidence

30 Minute Yoga Sequence for Balance and Steady Feet

Weeks one to four. Feet, ankles and weight shifting. Nothing here happens on one leg.

Balance starts below the ankle. The first four weeks are about the part of it you can feel: where your weight sits on each foot, how the toes and arches respond, and what happens when you move your weight deliberately rather than being moved by something. There is no single leg work in this phase at all, and that is on purpose rather than a slow start.

30 min · Level 1

← Back to the full program

When it helps

For the first four weeks, twice a week. A chair and a non-slip floor. Thirty minutes. Barefoot on a non-slip floor, never in socks, with a chair or wall within arm’s reach for anything on one leg. This program builds balance confidence and leg control. It is not fall prevention: in the only large trial that counted real falls, the yoga group had more of them, and the people most at risk were the ones who felt steadiest. Feeling steadier is not the same as being steadier.

Feet

Barefoot standing, toe and arch work. Balance runs on information from the soles of the feet, and that information degrades quietly.

Weight shifting

Moving your weight on purpose. It is a different skill from holding still and it is the one this program builds first.

Leg strength

Lower limb strength is one of the few outcomes where yoga stays ahead even against other structured exercise.

Standing, both feet down

Sixteen minutes upright with both feet on the floor the whole time. A chair within reach even though nothing here needs it.

Tadasana

4 min

Mountain Pose

Barefoot, feet hip width. Spread the toes. Press the big toe mound, the little toe mound and the heel down in turn, then all three. Shift your weight forward, back and side to side, slowly.

The three points of contact under each foot are what your nervous system reads to know where you are. Four minutes here is not a warm up.

Learn more about Tadasana

Parshva Tadasana

1 min each side

Mountain Pose with Side Bend

Reaching up and over to one side. Notice how the weight moves into the opposite foot as you go, and let it.

Reaching sideways moves your centre of gravity outside your middle. Feeling where it goes is the skill.

Learn more about Parshva Tadasana

Urdhva Hastasana

2 min

Upward Salute

Both arms overhead. Then rise onto the balls of your feet for two breaths and come down slowly. A hand on the chair for the heel lifts.

Heel raises load the calves and the ankle stabilisers, which is where a stumble is caught or not caught.

Learn more about Urdhva Hastasana

Virabhadrasana II

1 min each side

Warrior II

A wide stance, front knee bent, arms out. Both feet stay planted. Shift your weight towards the front foot and back again a few times.

Weight moving between two feet, held wide. This is what a step is, slowed down enough to feel.

Learn more about Virabhadrasana II

Utkatasana

1 min, five times

Chair Pose

Stand in front of the chair, sit down slowly to a count of three, stand back up to a count of three. Five times.

The sit to stand improved by around three and a half seconds over twelve weeks in the trial this program is dosed on. It is in every session for that reason.

Learn more about Utkatasana

Uttanasana

2 min

Standing Forward Bend

Knees soft, folding from the hip crease with the back long. Hands to the shins or a chair seat.

Hinging from the hips rather than rounding the spine. It matters for the lower back and considerably more if your bone density is low.

Learn more about Uttanasana

On the floor

Twelve minutes down low, and a slow way back up onto your feet.

Marjaryasana

2 min

Cat Pose

On hands and knees, rounding the back on the out breath.

The spine, and a reason to get down to the floor twice a week.

Learn more about Marjaryasana

Bitilasana

2 min

Cow Pose

Chest forward on the in breath, moving slowly between the two.

Extension. Most days are already full of rounding forward.

Learn more about Bitilasana

Baddha Konasana

3 min

Butterfly Pose

Soles of the feet together, knees on cushions. Massage the arches of the feet with your thumbs for the last minute.

The hips, and then the feet again by hand. Waking up the sole directly is a cheap way to sharpen what it reports.

Learn more about Baddha Konasana

Finishing

Five minutes, and a deliberate way back to standing.

Apanasana

2 min

Knees to Chest Pose

On your back, knees towards the chest.

A small shape on the way out.

Learn more about Apanasana

Savasana

3 min

Corpse Pose

Lying flat, cushion under the knees. Roll to your side, push up to sitting, then stand with a hand on the chair.

Getting up unhurried, every time. It is a habit worth having before you need it.

Learn more about Savasana

Phase 1 · Weeks 1 to 4

This practice is part of a program

It belongs to Four Weeks With Both Feet Down, the first phase of the 12 Week Yoga Program for Balance Confidence. The program says how often to practise it, what comes before and after, and when to move on.

See the whole program →

Integration

Twice a week for the first four weeks, plus ten minutes on a third day. Do not skip ahead to the single leg work. The progression here is deliberately gated on doing this phase properly rather than on how confident you feel.

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.

View profile →

Go deeper into the poses

Every asana in this practice has a page of its own. You will find alignment cues, what the shape actually works on, and the energetics behind it.

Open the Asana Lab

Make it yours

Keep this practice in your library, print it for the mat, or build your own sequence from all 108 asanas.

Create a free account

All sequences

← Back to overview