How I’ve Incorporated the Stork Exercise into My Day
I recently read a book called Fracture-Proof Your Bones by John Neustadt, ND. Some of the highlights for me were the information about medications that decrease bone density and some common supplement misconceptions for supporting bone health.
The tips and strategies in this book will influence the way I work in my practice to support people with healthy bones, but there is one suggestion that stood out to me above the rest. It stood out because it is something that I was able to apply right away and that I have continued to do ever since.
Have you ever heard of the stork exercise? The stork exercise is simply to stand on one foot and balance. It is considered an excellent exercise for fall-prevention as one ages, and the exercise is now used in clinical settings to calculate one’s risk of falling [1]. The stork exercise, and fall prevention in general, is focused on daily exercises that condition muscles and improve balance. Just a few minutes per day can make a big difference.
Although I knew about the stork exercise and its benefits, it was not a part of my daily routine. Dr. Neustadt makes a simple suggestion in his book that changed that for me. He suggests that you do this exercise while brushing your teeth. Brilliant! Now I spend 2 minutes twice a day standing on one foot while brushing my teeth.
If you have an electric toothbrush that keeps time for you, you can simply switch feet at the one-minute mark. I still use a manual toothbrush, so I use my phone to set a timer for 2 minutes. I brush the top teeth and stand on one foot. At the one-minute mark, I switch to the bottom teeth and stand on the other foot. If you need to hold onto the sink while doing this, that’s ok, but with practice you should be able to let go and balance without support. In fact, when used in a clinical setting, this exercise is considered most predictive of fall prevention when done with one’s eyes closed!
I am now finding it easy to incorporate the stork exercise into my daily routine. It doesn’t take any extra time, and it makes brushing my teeth into a bit of a game. Try it out and let me know what you think!
[1] Williamson L. Preventing falls: Try the stork challenge. BMJ. 2008 Feb 16;336(7640):343-4. doi: 10.1136/bmj.39486.471678.3A. PMID: 18276672; PMCID: PMC2244763.
About me
My name is Jillian Bar-av and I am a Registered Herbalist and Licensed Nutritionist. I specialize in supporting people who have complex urinary tract conditions, such as Interstitial Cystitis, with a comprehensive holistic approach that helps people to increase their quality of life. I’ve seen how healing herbs can be for the urinary system and how much they can help people to feel well again. Working with herbs is not only deeply healing, but part of my philosophy that it takes healthy people to create a healthy planet, and I want to make a difference for both.
If you are interested in learning about my clinical practice, or scheduling an appointment, you can do that here: https://www.greenspringherbs.com/treatments
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