Areas › Your body › Your nervous system
Stand on one foot for half a minute, a hand on a chair if you need it, and put all your attention into the foot on the floor.
You will find it is never still. There is a constant small negotiation towards the toes, the heel, one side and back again, and every so often you fall out of it and find your way back in. That is what staying balanced actually consists of. It is a better picture of regulation than any diagram, and it takes thirty seconds.
Qur’an and Sunnah
The Qur'an praises those 'who remember God standing, sitting, and lying down' (Quran 3:191). The position of the body is no obstacle to attention, and here it is the doorway into it.
ٱلَّذِينَ يَذۡكُرُونَ ٱللَّهَ قِيَٰمࣰ ا وَقُعُودࣰ ا وَعَلَىٰ جُنُوبِهِمۡ وَيَتَفَكَّرُونَ فِي خَلۡقِ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِ رَبَّنَا مَا خَلَقۡتَ هَٰذَا بَٰطِلࣰ ا سُبۡحَٰنَكَ فَقِنَا عَذَابَ ٱلنَّارِ
who remember God standing, sitting, and lying down, who reflect on the creation of the heavens and earth: ‘Our Lord! You have not created all this without purpose- You are far above that!- so protect us from the torment of the Fire
Qur’an 3:191read it in the library
Translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur'an, Oxford University Press, 2004.
What the research says
A systematic review and meta analysis of tai chi, a practice built on slow weight shifting and balance, found it was associated with reduced stress, anxiety, depression and mood disturbance across randomised trials. The authors are clear about methodological weaknesses in the studies they pooled. Thirty seconds on one foot is not tai chi, so treat this as the same family rather than the same evidence.
Wang C, Bannuru R, Ramel J, Kupelnick B, Scott T, Schmid CH. (2010). Tai Chi on psychological well-being: systematic review and meta-analysis.. BMC complementary and alternative medicine doi
Strength of evidence: one line of research. A single study, or a theoretical account.
Why it works
Feeling the constant small corrections teaches you that steadiness is a live process rather than a position you hold.
When not to
Skip this or keep a hand on something solid if you are dizzy, unsteady on your feet or recovering from an injury.
This one is still a draft. It is waiting on a scholar and a clinician to read it before it is published.
Near this one
If you start shaking or trembling after a fright, or partway through a difficult conversation, that is usually your body finishing something rather than falling apart.
Neurofeedback has its strongest support in attention difficulties, decent support in depression and anxiety, and for trauma it is promising rather than proven.
Being strong, trained or brave does not decide which way your body goes. People who could easily have fought have frozen instead.