Finding Balance: How We Stay Upright
Have you ever found yourself stumbling on uneven ground, or wobbling during a standing Pilates move and thinking, “Wow, my balance is off today?” You're not alone. Balance is one of those body systems we often take for granted—until it's not working the way we expect it to.
At SOMA, we work with balance every day—sometimes overtly, sometimes subtly—because good balance is foundational. It’s how we move through the world with confidence, safety, and ease. But balance isn’t just about being still on one leg. It’s a dynamic, full-body skill that involves sensing, adapting, and responding.
Let’s take a look at what actually determines our balance, how it changes over time, and what we can do to keep it strong and responsive throughout life.
What Determines Balance?
Balance is your body’s ability to keep your center of gravity over your base of support, whether you're standing still or moving. It’s a complex system that relies on several key players:
Vision: Your eyes provide spatial orientation—helping you understand where you are in relation to your surroundings.
Proprioception: These are the sensors in your muscles, joints, and skin that tell your brain where your limbs are and how they're moving.
Vestibular system: Located in the inner ear, this system detects head position and movement, crucial for balance and coordination.
Reflexes & Muscle Response: Your body needs to react quickly and efficiently to small disturbances—like a shifting surface or an unexpected turn.
Joint Mobility & Strength: If your ankles, hips, or spine are stiff, your balance suffers. You need range of motion and strength to make micro-adjustments.
Pressure Sensing: The soles of your feet are packed with nerve endings that detect shifts in weight and pressure, helping you respond appropriately.
When these systems work in harmony, balance feels effortless. When one or more are compromised, balance becomes more challenging—and sometimes, even risky.
How Balance Develops and Declines
Balance is a skill we learn and refine over time. As infants, we wobble and fall constantly—each stumble helps the nervous system gather data and learn. By the time we reach adolescence, balance is typically at its peak.
Then, starting in our 30s and 40s, things begin to change. Muscle mass gradually declines, reflexes slow slightly, and if we don’t stay active, we start to lose the range of motion and sensory input that supports balance. Vision and vestibular function can also diminish with age.
But here’s the good news: Balance is trainable at any age. And the more variety and challenge we give it, the more adaptable and responsive it becomes.
What Improves Balance? Unpredictability.
While holding a balance pose is helpful, the most effective balance training comes from moving through unstable, unpredictable environments. Why? Because life doesn’t happen in stillness. You slip on ice, walk on uneven terrain, turn your head while walking, or trip over a shoe. Your body needs to adapt in real time.
At SOMA, and in the Pilates method in general, we use a range of activities to promote exactly that kind of responsiveness:
Movements that shift your center of gravity
Exercises that change levels and directions quickly
Transitions between positions that challenge coordination
Props and surfaces that introduce just enough instability to keep the nervous system alert
How Pilates Challenges Balance in Smart, Supportive Ways
One of the hidden superpowers of the Pilates method is its built-in ability to train balance without isolating it. For example:
The Reformer’s moving carriage introduces dynamic instability—requiring constant micro-adjustments.
The Wunda Chair’s split pedal or spring-loaded support challenges unilateral strength and balance in creative ways.
Standing on padded surfaces—like the Reformer or Cadillac—stimulates the pressure sensors in the feet and activates stabilizing muscles throughout the body.
The variety and transitions in Pilates workouts—changing positions, loading patterns, and spring tensions—train you to stay organized and adaptable in motion, not just stillness.
This variety is essential. It teaches your nervous system to respond instead of brace, and to move efficiently through change rather than freezing when things feel unfamiliar.
In Summary
Balance is not something you either “have” or “don’t have.” It’s a skill that responds to your attention, your habits, and your movement practice.
We design every class to help you build adaptable, intelligent movement patterns—the kind that keep you grounded, confident, and capable in the face of life’s unpredictability.
Whether you're standing tall on one foot, flowing through transitions, or stabilizing against the resistance of springs, you're training more than muscles—you're training your whole system to stay responsive, ready, and resilient.