Building our stability.

DanielleEastman
Jan 18
4 min read

(Part 2 of our Cultivating Organic Fitness series)

Ooh friend, I loved our exploration of mobility last week. This week, we’re gonna continue our special series of Cultivating Organic Fitness with a deep-dive into stability.

Whereas mobility has to do with our move-ability, stability has to do with our stay-ability. It’s our ability to stay put, or keep one body part put, for example. A healthy, happy body has a nice balance of both mobility and stability, and they work together as a team to help us do all that we do. From simple actions like walking or sitting, to more complex things like soccer and figure skating, our body is always experiencing a dynamic dance of both mobility and stability. Some parts are busy moving, some parts are busy staying.

Stability gives us control. It helps us move intentionally, with precision. Plus, it’s supportive - it keeps our body from being just a puddle of goo on the ground. :) Instead of just oozing all about, we can “stay” in stable shapes, such as standing, sitting, lunging, squatting, jazz squaring, kicking, balancing, on one foot, etc. Think of phrases like postural stability, or core stability. Your stability is what allows you to hold steady, stay firm, pause, move slowly, or smoothly with grace. To shift. To wait. To stop. To hold. To stay and support from within. It’s a dynamic, always-happening process - a very active dance. Your nervous, vestibular, and musculoskeletal systems are constantly responding and coordinating to help you stabilize yourself based on where your body is in space, where you want it to be, and what the environment around you is like (slippery, sloped, sticky, bumpy, flat, hard, soft, etc.).

Sometimes, to sense something, it can be helpful to think about its opposite. So, what is the opposite of stability? Yep, you guessed it—instability. It is experienced as being unstable, unsteady, wobbly, weak, or out of control. If chronic, instability can lead to excessive strain, tension, or wear & tear. Too much can lead to misalignments throughout the body, which can eventually lead to pain and injury. Yikes, right? The good news is that, like anything, it’s never too late to nurture stability in our body. And, thankfully, this is another thing we can do while we dance (yay)! :)

So, with that in mind, stability’s what we’re going to play with this week.

We’ll dance and explore what it’s like to sense our bones, ligaments, tendons, muscles, nervous system, and fascia all working together as a team to provide structure, support, alignment, and responsiveness. We’ll still move in all kinds of ways (just like every class), but this week we’ll pay extra attention to how we are building stability by staying, shifting, and moving in controlled, precise, intentional ranges of motion. We’ll nurture our stay-ability, providing balance for our happy, healthy body.

We can even begin exploring it right now. Here are a few fun ways:

1). Sensing your alive, responsive stillness:

For example, simply shift your weight until you are standing on one foot. And now sense how stable you feel balancing on that foot. Sense the little wobbles taking place within your standing foot, ankle, lower leg, knee, upper leg, and even core. Notice how they are all working together to help you stay upright. Sense how alive and responsive your leg is, even in “stillness.” Sense your stay-ability. Is it the same on both legs? Where do you feel the wobbles the most?

2). Sensing how stability in one area frees mobility in another.

For this one, plant your feet in a wide (squat-like) stance. And now, with your feet & legs staying put… wiggle through your core and/or upper body. Notice how keeping your feet still allows you to bring mobility into your core and/or arms. Isn’t that so neat? Now, try reversing it. Let your feet move around, while keeping your core and/or arms stable. Notice how natural that is. That one part holds somewhat “still” so another part can move. Cool, huh? Is one part or the other easier to move? Or easier to hold still?

3). Playing with gravity to challenge stability.

Now, let’s see what it’s like to stabilize on one leg, while adding some more movement. As you balance on one leg, gently wave your arms around a little bit or wiggle your core. Add movement and play with gravity (lean this way or that way) to challenge your stabilizing muscles & vestibular system even more. Notice how responsive they are. Sense your stay-ability. How does it feel? How long can you stay? Is it the same on both legs? Do those stabilizing muscles start to get tired? What do you notice in your core as you play with gravity?

Isn’t your body amazing? It’s sooooo very cool how (without us having to think about it at all), our body can just naturally respond and react, and keep us upright as we move and dance in all kinds of ways and directions.

After you play with these, I'd love to hear—did anything surprise you about your stay-ability? Did one side feel steadier? Are there any areas of your body that you think could benefit from more intentional stability practice at this time in your life?

Alright, friend: building our stability. That’s what we’re up to this week in Aya-land. As always, I can’t wait to see what we discover together. See you soon!

Much love,

💛 Dani

P.S. Want still more to explore? Here’s a nice, introspective one to ponder… Where/how, in your broader context of life, do you experience mobility and stability? How is your current balance of the two feeling for you? Are you craving more of one or the other? For example, are you craving more staying? More going? More stillness? More movement? More resting and rooting? More adventure? More repetition? More spontaneity? Hmmmm…. Thoughts? Any juicy aha’s there?