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Proprioception and Kinesthetic Awareness, Part 4

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Working with fitness professional with these types of exercises is also highly recommended. A trainer or a physical therapist will be able to individualize a program for your specific needs.

The following exercises are examples of simple things you can do at home to start working on improving your proprioception and kinesthetic awareness:

Using our earlier example of walking on a path made of large pebbles and rocks, you might start your training by doing a couple of simple things. Stand at a counter with your hands lightly on it as safety check. Pick one foot off the floor and close your eyes. Without using your hands to balance you, do some shallow squats on one leg. See if you can achieve a sense of balance with your eyes closed. Do you feel shaky or maybe like you are going to fall down? Does one side feel unstable compared to the other side? Proprioception is giving your brain clues as to what your body is doing even though your eyes are closed. With practice it is possible to eventually become confident that you can lift one foot off the floor with your eyes closed and not fall over.

Next, line up four soup cans on the floor. Space them apart far enough so that you can jump in between them. Instead of facing the line of cans head on, face yourself so that you’re standing to the left of the first can. Lift up you left knee and lightly jump your left foot over the can. Your right leg follows. When your right foot touches down next to your left, immediately jump the next can in the same manner. Keep going until you’ve cleared all the cans and then go back in the other direction. Now you’re using your proprioceptive skills to help keep you nimble as you navigate getting over the soup cans. Kinesthetic awareness is guiding you as to where you are in relation to the soup cans and how far you need to lift your feet to clear them.