There’s no negating it: there’s a global crisis when it comes to phone addiction. Our attention spans have drastically decreased due to the effects of doom scrolling and constantly consuming short form content, making it tough to stay centered on tasks without needing stimulation breaks. Even finishing an entire full length film without checking your phone or getting distracted feels like a feat, so you can imagine what staying focused on a work task feels like.
This is why many are finding new ways to retrain their brain and reinstate their ability to focus, but could balance boards actually be the secret? Promising to improve focus by engaging the brain’s attention, balance, and sensory systems simultaneously, balance boards can force continuous concentration through maintaining stability. Here’s how.
What Are Balance Boards?
Balance boards, which have multiple cultural origins, have become highly coveted training tools in the wellness arena due to their long list of benefits. Standing on a balance board even for just one minute engages your core to promote stability and better posture while strengthening your ankles, which can be monumental for athletes and sedentary folks alike. Physical therapists also use them to help patients recover from injuries, including ankle sprains, knee injuries, ligament damage, and post-surgery mobility issues.
Balance boards have also become widely used in occupational therapy, particularly with children, as it’s a helpful tool for sensory integration, coordination, body awareness, and emotional regulation. Here’s a rundown on the most coveted balance board benefits:
Core Strength: Balancing requires constant engagement from the abdominal and lower-back muscles. Over time, this strengthens the core stabilizers that support posture and spine health.
Better Posture: Because the body must align itself to maintain equilibrium, balance training naturally encourages proper spinal alignment and posture.
Injury Prevention: Training stabilizer muscles around the ankles, knees, and hips improves joint resilience, helping reduce the risk of sports injuries.
Coordination and Reflexes: Balance boards train the body’s neuromuscular system, aka the communication between the brain and muscles. This can improve reaction time and coordination.
Proprioception (Body Awareness): Using a balance board sharpens proprioception, the internal sense that tells you where your body is in space. This ability is essential for both athletic performance and everyday movement.
Gentle Movement for Sedentary Work: Many people now use balance boards with standing desks. The small movements help reduce stiffness, increase circulation, and prevent fatigue from standing still.
Balance Boards and Focus
However, the benefits reach far beyond posture and core strength. From schools to offices, more and more people use balance boards at their standing desks, citing that the gentle movement can help them stay mentally engaged during long work sessions. Balancing requires constant adjustments, keeping the brain active and boosting focus and productivity. This is why students and employees alike have found the tool to be so helpful when it comes to learning or getting assignments done. Here’s how it works.
They activate the brain’s sensorimotor networks
When you stand on a balance board, your brain has no choice but to constantly monitor and adjust your body position to keep you upright. This leads to increased activation in sensorimotor areas of the brain responsible for movement control and coordination. Because the brain is continuously processing feedback from muscles, joints, and the inner ear, your attention is naturally engaged.
They stimulate the vestibular system
Balance boards stimulate the vestibular system, which its located in the inner ear. This system controls balance, spatial orientation, and coordination. When the vestibular system is activated through movement and balance training, it can help support concentration and cognitive processing. This is why balance tools are commonly for kids with sensory processing challenges.
They create “active focus”
Balancing forces the brain to perform dual processing, maintaining physical stability and focusing on a task like reading, working, or listening. Some educators and therapists use balance boards or similar tools during learning activities because light movement can help the brain stay engaged. In fact, balance exercises have even been linked with improved concentration in children in some studies.
They increase proprioception
Balance boards challenge proprioception, which is your sense of where your body is in space. Improved proprioception sharpens neuromuscular control, strengthens your brain–body communication, and can enhance attention during physical and cognitive tasks.