I'd like to get better at protecting the things I love, self included.

February 12, 2008 3:20 PM

How can I become less clumsy?

Exercises, thoughts, vitamins, and other suggestions all welcome.

posted by iamkimiam to Grab Bag (33 answers total)

meditate.
posted by muscat at 3:23 PM on February 12, 2008

My wife, despite being a classically trained dancer, is also the clumsiest person I know. I asked her how she could dance so well, but not make it up the stairs without stumbling. She says in dance, you have to be constantly aware of your orientation in space and whats going on around you. So there you go.
posted by sanka at 3:24 PM on February 12, 2008 [1 favorite]

Work on your coordination. Dance, martial arts, juggle, parkour, that thing college kids do walking on ropes tied between two trees, etc.
posted by Nelsormensch at 3:25 PM on February 12, 2008

Yoga.
posted by callmejay at 3:32 PM on February 12, 2008 [1 favorite]

Brain Age, and video games in general.
posted by rokabiri at 3:33 PM on February 12, 2008

Yoga. It helped me a bit.

A lot of my friends were in shock and awe when I said I was taking yoga. They commented that they could never do it, it looked too hard, they aren't that flexible, blah, blah blah. Well, I wasn't flexible or coordinated in the least so I started in a beginners class. Nothing too strenuous, it helps with stress, coordination and flexibility in a peaceful and relaxing setting plus it makes you feel good afterwards (think how doped up a cat looks like during and after a really good stretch, that is how you feel after). Yoga is all about working at your personal level and pace, never doing things to your body that hurt, and it is not competitive.
posted by silkygreenbelly at 3:39 PM on February 12, 2008

Sorry, should read "helped me quite a bit".
posted by silkygreenbelly at 3:40 PM on February 12, 2008

Move more slowly. Make deep, regular breathing a habit. This I know.
posted by sourwookie at 3:41 PM on February 12, 2008

Best answer: Wow, I'm glad you asked this because it's a question I could certainly benefit from, too! The only thing I can offer from personal experience has to do with something my dad told me once when he was trying to teach me to windsurf (at a time when I an absurdly uncertain, gawkward and accident-prone adolescent): wherever your mind is, that's where you'll end up. Focus too hard on "not falling" - you'll end up in the water. Focus instead on doing what you know you need to do, and chances are that you'll do better than you'd expected.

Man, has that proven true for me in so many things, from windsurfing to personal matters to simply trying to navigate icy Chicago sidewalks in winter. Doesn't matter what you're doing, focus on what you need to do rather than what you need to keep from doing. It certainly isn't easy (I don't succeed anywhere near as often as I'd like), but to the extent that you can, try not to spend too much energy on telling yourself what a klutz you are. Avoid psyching yourself out with thoughts like "okay, don't screw this up, don't screw this up, people are watching and look at all these steps oh my god this is gonna be horrible and mortifying don't fall don't fall don't fall..." I realize it's important for us clumsy types to be aware of where we are physically so we can be careful, but personally I find it all too easy to carry that mindset to an extreme that becomes at least as self-defeating in its own right ...
posted by zeph at 3:49 PM on February 12, 2008 [4 favorites]

Make a conscious decision not to rush. When you are doing something fast, stop and think about the motions involved. Only do one thing at a time.
posted by unknowncommand at 3:54 PM on February 12, 2008

Nth-ing yoga. I constantly notice the difference that it's made in my balance and how "rooted" I feel to the ground. For me it was very noticeable in like 6 months with 1-2 classes a week (and little to no practice outside of class, shame on me).
posted by madmethods at 3:58 PM on February 12, 2008

I don't know if your clumsiness is more related to balance-type issues or not being aware of where your limbs are, but if it's balance, it helps to do some core strengthening exercises. My trainer had me balance on one of these and I had a lot of fun doing it. But then I asked how much they cost and um... decided that I didn't need to improve my balance that badly.
posted by reebear at 4:09 PM on February 12, 2008

Dance + meditation or relaxation. Maybe tai chi? I'm a dancer, and if I find that I'm getting clumsy in regular life, I tell myself, "I'm dancing!" and I immediately relax and become more coordinated.
posted by PatoPata at 4:11 PM on February 12, 2008

I've read that juggling is one of the few exercises that focus on improving coordination. And I meant to start doing it myself. But forgot. Oops.

Martial arts will also help, but it's sometimes a lot more effort, and that effort is often spent on developing a lot of other physical qualities, which you may not be interested in.
posted by ignignokt at 4:15 PM on February 12, 2008

I was the original "trip when walking on a flat surface free of impediments" kid. What helped was, in no particular order: several years of martial arts, wrestling in a pool (walking from one end to the other with four people hanging off of you doing their best to dunk you is grand), blindfolding yourself and learning to walk through your own house, juggling, learning to pick things up with your toes, never missing an opportunity to flick something into the air with one hand and catch it with the other, practicing unusual methods of locomotion (go down stairs with one leg behind your head, it's a great way to learn about balance), always walking on a raised curb quickly rather than the pavement, and generally being conscious of your body.
posted by adipocere at 4:18 PM on February 12, 2008

Juggling, martial arts, dancing. I asked a similar question a while ago and got good answers. Regretfully, I haven't really pursued any of those routes, but have found coordination through doing lots of Olympic lifts, High Intensity Interval Training, box jumps, jumping rope, and other things through my workout program (Crossfit). It was so bizarre to knock something over and then actually catch it. So it can be done.
posted by Anonymous at 4:24 PM on February 12, 2008

My optometrist suggested vision therapy, also, for the type of clumsy that involves walking into doorframes and such.
posted by leahwrenn at 4:34 PM on February 12, 2008

I was a klutz for many years when I took a job demolishing and installing windows, work for which being a klutz is certainly an obstacle. I asked my pal/boss about it,. As sanka's wife said, my pal told me to think about what I was carrying, think about my surroundings, and think about what I was about to do next. Try taking a day in which you do your best never to move without taking half a second to consider your next action, where it's going, and what you're carrying.
posted by waraw at 4:42 PM on February 12, 2008

Spill one tray of drinks onto a seated black woman's freshly-done weave and I guarantee you will never, ever drop anything again.
posted by tumbleweedjack at 5:19 PM on February 12, 2008 [3 favorites]

Rock climbing is a nice way to improve your proprioceptive senses. Touchstone just opened a new gym near you. They also teach yoga classes there.
posted by strangecargo at 5:34 PM on February 12, 2008

You might consider seeing a podiatrist to learn if orthotic inserts might help. I remember reading a book by Bonnie Prudden where she claimed that a classic greek foot (when the metatarsal in the second toe is longer than that in the first) caused an imbalance. It changed the way the foot landed from a tripod to a straight edge and made balance harder to maintain. She offered a fix of her own design but I imagine if the idea was sound a podiatrist could help.
posted by InkaLomax at 5:39 PM on February 12, 2008

Overtrain / overcompensate.
Shaky on a bicycle? Learn to ride a unicycle.
Trip on the cracks in the sidewalk? Try parkour.
Tipsy in general? Learn to walk on a tightrope or stand in the subway without holding on to anything.

Dropping things? Learn to juggle.

Find opportunities to do things in the hardest way possible when nobody's looking. Sing to yourself, while you're at it.

Soon you'll be the person you're currently envying.
posted by Acari at 5:45 PM on February 12, 2008

Nth Juggle for the hands. Then, stretch your arms out above your head and stand on tip-toes... hold it for a while... slowly bring your arms down (like bird wings straight out to the side) while at the same time dropping down from tip-toes... bend your knees a little... at the end, you'll be in a balanced posture. Go out to a heavily crowded place and keeping as balanced as possible, walk against traffic. Keep going, dodge people, look for open spaces, don't stop... turn, step to the side, weave in and out.

And for the Juggling, get tennis balls, cut a small slit in them and stuff them with pennies to make them heavy... also keeps them from rolling far away when you drop them.
posted by zengargoyle at 6:27 PM on February 12, 2008

Juggle and skip rope.
posted by jimbotex at 6:46 PM on February 12, 2008

You might find Feldenkrais to be worth looking into.
posted by BigSky at 6:57 PM on February 12, 2008

If you find you are especially clumsy during PMS time, a few drops of yarrow tincture can help.
posted by Riverine at 7:55 PM on February 12, 2008

Tai chi chuan did wonders for me, even after I stopped. It also eliminated 90% of the times my jaw would get out of socket on one side, permanently.

I know. I didn't believe it myself.
posted by dhartung at 2:13 AM on February 13, 2008

I asked a similar question some time ago. Perhaps you can find something useful in there. I did. I actually am less of a klutz now.
posted by Skyanth at 3:43 AM on February 13, 2008

Best answer: You need to learn how your body moves through space and how to judge close distances. We aren't born knowing this. It's very much a learned skill, in my experience.

There are lots of ways to learn this skill set, many outlined above, but the important thing is practice. Just like learning the clarinet, you need to learn to play the instrument you were born with.

In my experience, martial arts, Tai Chi, climbing, yoga, pilates, dance all put heavy emphasis on grace, balance and form. Team sports can work too, but more slowly. I've even known people to get more gracefull by hiking---Ask some of your outdoorsy friends about "footsense". But there's no getting away from it: if you want to become graceful, you need to practice movement and you need to think about form and balance.

There's really no secret but hard work.
posted by bonehead at 7:17 AM on February 13, 2008

I've always been a klutz--bad hand-eye coordination, breaking things, etc. I think part of this stems from being left-handed.

Although I didn't start doing it with the intention of improving my coordination, I've found that firedancing has made a big difference in my physical grace. You don't actually need to be using fire to get the physical benefits.

A part of that was a shift in mental perspective. In hindsight, I think I had acquired a sort of learned helplessness when it came to my physical awkwardness—I couldn't do anything right, so why bother trying? What I've learned is that with only slightly greater mindfulness of my surroundings and what I was doing, I could avoid a lot of the mistakes I used to make. But part of it is also training your muscles to do what you want to do.
posted by adamrice at 7:25 AM on February 13, 2008

Suggestion - holistic approaches have been mentioned above. But it can also help to take note of an instance when a normal daily activity went wrong and just made you feel clumsy (trying to get your keys out of your pocket, getting your hand stuck in your pocket, tugging it out, losing your balance as a result, and doing a Mr Bean comedy routing :-). Then spend a few minutes sometime that day practising that specific activity, as if it were some slight-of-hand trick, until you can do it smoothly and perfectly. You'll probably only need to do this once for each activity - once you've thought about it, found your groove and practised it, it will work from then on. So it won't take long for most of your daily activities to become showpieces of coordination :-)


Aside:

"I asked her how she could dance so well, but not make it up the stairs without stumbling."

The explanation I've heard from many dancers is that many (most?) dancers are always stumbling, and it's not coincidence - their training influences their movements to keep their feet very very close to the dancefloor. And in the real world, the ground isn't a sanded, polished, perfectly flat and even hardwood surface. So the little bumps and irregularities of normal ground are more likely to trip you than before the training.
posted by -harlequin- at 3:03 PM on February 13, 2008

Nthing all those suggestions for increasing your situational awareness.

I was/am clumsy too. Less so, now. I found rock climbing and playing cello as part of a chamber ensemble to be helpful. Rock climbing was useful, because there were a lot of opposite hand-foot movements that I had to really think about. Playing in a chamber ensemble helped me to be more aware of what other people were doing while I had all my mental registers full.
posted by mausburger at 6:10 PM on February 13, 2008

I forgot to say, yoga did not help me one bit.
posted by mausburger at 6:11 PM on February 13, 2008