The Bizarre Thing I Do While Brushing My Teeth

About a year ago, my mother fell in the night while going to the bathroom. She cracked her pubis and sacrum bones in multiple places, making her unable to walk.

Over the course of a few months, I made the trip from France to California 3 times in order to act as nurse and listen to her call me a pain in the ass, as I made her get out of bed, walk with her walker, and do her exercises.

It allowed me to see first hand the importance of balance and proprioceptive skills as we age.

Now, every morning and every evening, I work on my balance and proprioceptive skills while I brush my teeth. (Thanks to habit stacking.)

I do so in one of two ways.

1) I stand on one leg, and do hip CARS, or hip rotations. I raise one knee up, rotate it around to the side and back, then reverse directions. Switching legs after 1 minute.

2) I stand with both feet in line, toes touching the heel of the other foot, and close my eyes. I swap the foot in front after a minute.

What I've realized from this practice is that true balance is a myth.

At no point in my practice am I ever static.

My toes are gripping.
My ankles are re-adjusting.
My hips are slightly swaying.

I rely on my body to make the micro-adjustments to counter-balance, so that I don't fall over.

Sometimes, I do need to reach out and grab on to the bathroom counter, so I can center myself again.

It's the same thing in life.

Balance is never something we will achieve.
It's a no-win goal.

Instead, we need to learn how to make our own micro-adjustments to counter-balance what life throws our way, and not berate ourselves for those moments when we need to reach out to hold on to something so we can re-center ourselves.

As we enter into the end of the year, I invite you to think not of balance as a goal, but of the constant micro movements you can make so that you don't fall over.

Originally posted on LinkedIn with comments.

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