It’s largely taken for granted and achieved with little thought, but balance impacts almost every aspect of life and is crucial to overall health and wellbeing

Vital for countless functions, from the most basic, such as standing upright while walking, to more complex and dynamic movements, including running and dancing, balance is often an undervalued gift. Yet alongside these fundamental actions, it plays a role in the ability to concentrate on tasks and memorise information, while also bringing confidence to move positively through the world and, quite literally, hold your head up high. But how does balance work exactly and what’s the best way to look after it throughout life?

Balance requires the brain to process a complex combination of signals and information. These are received in the form of feedback from the musculoskeletal system, visual cues from the eyes – which provide real-time feedback on surroundings and the position and movement of the body – and auditory and vibrational information from the delicate and intricate structures of the inner ear, which send information on the position and movement of the head. When things are working effectively, this all comes together beautifully, facilitating everything from everyday activities, like crouching to tie a shoelace, to epic challenges such as marathon running or mountain climbing.

Natural decline

As with many physical and mental functions, however, balance needs to be practised to keep it in good working order. To coin a well-worn phrase, there’s a need to ‘use it or lose it’. Taking into consideration the increasingly sedentary lifestyle of many people, this is more important than ever. Moving and interacting with the external world are vital ingredients for maintaining good balance, so the less time spent sitting down the better. Balance is also impacted by age – from around the age of 40 – as the body starts to lose muscle mass, eyesight naturally deteriorates, and changes in the inner ear lead to a gradual decline in hearing. Damage to any one of these three essential information-providing components can trigger balance issues, leading to a range of health problems that impact the ability to live a fulfilling life.