Test your balance: 7 ways to detect types of imbalance

CHECK!

Self-test for body balance

Check the degree of body tilt!

These seven tests help you understand where your body is misaligned and to what extent. Choose exercises suitable for correcting your misalignment. Have someone else confirm your movement, or practice in front of a mirror. So, what type of misalignment do you have?

CHECK1 Toe Opening and Closing Test

"Normal hip joint"

Use the toe-opening method and the four-point method to test if your body is crooked. For people with complex toe-opening directions, the four-point method can be used to test the degree of body crookedness and determine whether it is "O" legs or "X" legs. For people who are pigeon-toed, have stiff hip joints, or do not close their knees properly, they can practice exercises to correct "O" legs and "X" legs.

Lie on your back, relax your whole body, and spread your legs naturally. Test your foot opening and closing to check if your hip joint is twisted. A normal hip joint forms an equilateral triangle between the heel and toes.

"Dislocated hip joint"

"Pigtails"

Excessive outward hip opening of the legs can lead to bowlegs. Practice the hand-pillow pose and half-squat pose to strengthen the inner thigh muscles.

"pigeon-toed"

Both types can cause hip joint stiffness. Excessive stiffness can lead to bowlegs ("O" legs) and knock-knees ("X" legs). Practice the lotus position to abduct the hip joint.

"Towards Complexity"

One side tilts outward, the other inward, the degree of misalignment is complex. Practice back-stretching poses to extend the feet and knees straight upward. If there is indeed pelvic misalignment, side-tilt poses must be practiced.

8. Check the degree of body tilt!

CHECK2 Four-point test for the lower body

normal feet

Stand naturally with your legs together, ensuring that the inner thighs, knees, calves, and inner ankles touch each other in a straight line. Some thin people may have a slight gap between their inner thighs.

crooked foot

"When the area below the knee cannot be touched"

This is "X" shaped legs. Refer to the following exercises to improve leg muscles.

Lotus posture

When a gap appears at the knee.

This is bowlegs. Refer to the following exercises to work the muscles on the inside of your legs.

Hand pillow half squat

Anterior pelvic tilt posterior pelvic tilt

CHECK3: Full Body Test from the Side

Unstable pelvis

"Waist forward, buttocks protruding"

The pelvis is tilted forward (anterior pelvic tilt). Practice child's pose while mastering abdominal breathing, and practice single-leg extension pose to strengthen abdominal muscles.

Flat hips, no waistline

The pelvis is tilted backward (posterior pelvic tilt). Practice the camel breathing pose to move the pelvis forward and return it to its normal position. At the same time, practice the crocodile pose to strengthen the psoas major muscle and pull the pelvis upward.

Stable pelvis

When the pelvis is in a normal position, it forms a natural curve from the lower back to the hips. An unnaturally protruding or flat buttocks are signs of pelvic tilt. In this case, choose appropriate exercises to adjust the pelvis based on the type shown in the left image that is similar to yours.

9. Detect the degree of body tilt.

CHECK!

Detect the degree of body tilt

CHECK4 Rotation Test

Sit in a chair with proper posture, place your left hand on the backrest, and twist your body to the left. Test the area behind you that you can see; repeat on the right side. This helps identify which side of the spine is misaligned. Mark the areas visible when twisting on both sides; this will immediately indicate which side is more difficult to twist on.

When performing twisting exercises, spend slightly longer on the side that is more difficult to twist in order to improve body balance.

CHECK5: Compare shoulder height

When the spine bends, the height of the shoulders changes, and the shoulder on the side the spine tilts to will also tilt. Practicing the Crescent Moon Pose relaxes the muscles that protect the spine, making the spine, lower back, and neck feel more relaxed. Also, slightly extend the holding time when practicing on the more difficult side.

10. Check the degree of body tilt!

CHECK!

CHECK6: Confirm whether your shoulders are leaning forward or backward.

"Normal shoulder"

There is no tilting or crookedness in the shoulders. When viewed from the side, the shoulder line is perpendicular to the ground and extends in a streamlined shape.

"Wrong shoulder"

Leaning forward

The shoulders protrude forward compared to the neck (forward tilt). Drooping shoulders are common; from behind, the line above the shoulder blades resembles an inverted V. Practice the Coconut Tree Pose to pull the shoulders back and tighten them.

Leaning back

The shoulders are tilted backward compared to the neck. People with square shoulders are more common; when viewed from behind, the upper part of the scapula resembles a figure eight.

Practice the cat pose to relax the muscles in the back of your shoulders.

CHECK7 tests shoulder and neck coordination

"The neck tilts forward relative to the shoulders"

Draw a line upwards from the innermost side of the shoulder. When the line passes through the ear, the neck should be in a normal position without any tilting.

Whether leaning forward or backward, people whose shoulders are behind their ears generally have a hunched back, head held high, neck slightly retracted, and chin protruding forward. Most people have both hunchback and neck misalignment. Please practice the bridge pose to fully stretch the upper back muscles.

Relieve neck and shoulder tension, and the effect is doubled by adding head-turning exercises! Head-turning exercises are also very effective in relieving upper body tension.