THE WHAT:
Tools for developing & refining static balance on the rail in a “high” (standing) position, practiced in both the sagittal (facing the direction of the rail) and frontal (facing perpendicular to the rail) planes. Whilst the initial context A & B work in a static position on one (unilateral) or two (bilateral) legs, the later “7-position leg-lifts” variations add deliberate “noise” into the system through the movement of the limb in different directions with a range of magnitudes.

THE HOW:
What this brings into hard focus for practice are the re-/balancing mechanisms used by the body. Notice how, initially, the body will default to relying on the arms for counter-/balancing (hence they are eliminated in arm-behind-the-back variations in scenarios A & B), and primarily the redirection of forces within the structure (i.e. the body senses falling to the left, so it injects a sharp “re-correction” to the right).

The problem with this is that forces are then continually redirected inside the system, with each correction eliciting another, and another, and another. Not only does this become inefficient & unsustainable, but it can ultimately cause loss of balance if the re-directional forces become too strong or uncontrolled.

So—what else can be used? Instead of stiffness in redirection, we want to learn to prioritise relaxation to elicit “omni-directional” grounding. In reality, the body is always trying to find its equilibrium point—its homeostasis. It will find/return to this whenever it is allowed to.

By primarily relaxing into balance, the body “expands” itself in all directions, which creates a sense of groundedness that translates to improved balance on the rail. Instead of redirecting forces—whereby the body innately injects tension which blocks relaxation—they are dissipated within the tissues of the structure and balance is found. It is effectively the difference between firing a pinball against the iron walls of the table, and melting the table & ball away altogether.

Resource contents:
0:05 - High-rail sagittal & frontal static-balance
0:12 - A1. Unilateral sagittal rail-balance
0:52 - A2. Bilateral sagittal rail-balance
1:13 - B1. Unilateral frontal rail-balance
1:53 - B2. Bilateral frontal rail-balance
2:09 - High-rail 7-position knee/leg-lifts
2:15 - High-rail 7-position knee-lifts
2:47 - High-rail 7-position leg-lifts
3:21 - Frontal-tail 7-position leg-lifts

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