Steal My Brainy, Balancing (Tooth)Brushing Routine
Hello there,
I wasn’t sure whether to post this for a Tranquility Thursday or a Movement Monday since it fits into both categories and is helpful for both the nervous system and the body. In any case, I’ve written before about my habit of standing on one leg while brushing my teeth and wanted to share how I’ve been leveling up the practice recently.
As we age, we want to fight for both our balance and memory function. A major takeaway from the yoga neurology training course I took last fall is the benefit of continuous improvement in these areas. Once a new skill becomes easy, see how you can add a bit more difficulty. That’s the idea behind my toothbrushing progression. Here it is, along with the reasons for each step.
Level 1: Stand on one foot while brushing your teeth. One minute on one foot while you brush the bottom. One minute on the other foot while you brush the top. Put your lifted foot down and pick it back up as many times as you need to. You can keep it low to the ground at first.
Level 2: While brushing your teeth and standing on one foot, mentally recite the alphabet backwards. Humbling and harder than it sounds! If you mess up or don’t get through the whole thing at first, that’s absolutely fine … remember the challenge is the point. Check out this recent NYT article on the benefits of building your cognitive reserve with varied mental challenges.
Level 3: Lift your leg up higher (to the side assuming you want easy access to the sink) to work your hip flexors, and/or circle the ankle in both directions. Lifting higher will improve hip flexor strength, and the circling helps both ankle and hip mobility. Weak hip flexors are a common contributor to low back pain.
Level 4: Once the backwards alphabet becomes easy for you, pair each letter with a number counting back from 26 to 1. For instance: Z26, Y25, X24, W23 and so on, all the way to C3, B2, A1. I’m finally getting the hang of the backwards alphabet and preparing to move onto this step. Once I get the hang of that, I’ll need to come up with something even harder.
I love this routine because it helps with so many things and can be done simultaneously with an activity we’re all (hopefully) already doing, making the time investment zero. Two minutes twice a day doesn’t seem like much but adds up. I mean, could you imagine what would happen to your oral health through the years without it?
As always, I welcome your feedback, and if this was helpful, I’d love for you to share it with a friend.