Putting on a sock. Stepping onto a kerb. Walking on loose sand. All three ask you to stand on one leg for a moment — and for a lot of people, that moment is not as automatic as it used to be.
▶️ The full 20-minute routine, filmed at sunrise on the beach of El Médano, Tenerife. Press play and follow along — no experience or equipment needed.
This routine is built around exactly that moment. It has a name in tai chi: the Golden Rooster stands on one leg.
This is not a walk
Walking is healthy, but it does not train your balance. For that you have to stand narrow, shift your weight, and not hold on with your hands. The Golden Rooster does all three at once — and that is exactly the kind of exercise that works in the research.
Exercises that challenge your balance measurably reduce falls; it is one of the best-evidenced findings in exercise science. Research also shows something quieter: people become less afraid of falling. That matters, because fear makes the body stiffer, and stiffer means less steady.
In this video we first stand on one leg, and then we walk with it. After every step you pause on one leg, and that pause is the exercise.
How the twenty minutes are built
- A short one-leg check — before anything else, while you are still cold. It shows you where you start today.
- Two movements from the Ba Duan Jin — the first brocade, hands up through the centre line with the breath, and Separate Heaven and Earth. You mirror me.
- Warming up the joints — from the feet up: ankles, knees, hips, and upwards to the neck.
- Standing on one leg — feet together, one knee up to hip height, hold, and down again. Root down before you lift.
- The knee opens — the knee circles from the inside out. Your hip stays where it is; only the knee moves.
- Three steps forward and back — the front foot turns out, you root, and the other knee comes up. Stepping back, the toes land first and the heel turns in a little.
- The Golden Rooster — now the hands join in. One hand rises through the centre to nose height, the other rests beside the hip. Keep the arms round and relaxed. If your balance is unsure, lift only the heel first.
- The Golden Rooster Walk — everything together: three steps forward and three steps back, with the rooster on every step.
- Standing meditation — zhan zhuang, to settle everything back into your centre.
At the end, one small request: try that first check again tomorrow, and notice what has changed.
Before you press play
You need only a few steps of space. Choose a flat, clear floor — no loose rugs. Everything is standing and low impact, made for beginners and for anyone who notices their balance is not what it was. Keep something solid within reach, a wall or a chair, and lift your knee only as high as feels safe. Using the wall is not cheating.
One cue matters more than any other: your knee stays in line with your toes when the foot turns out and you root. That is where getting it wrong can hurt rather than just feel clumsy.
Real change comes from repetition — a few times a week, over months. These twenty minutes are a beginning, not a cure. This is general wellness content, not medical advice: move gently, stay within your own range, and stop if anything hurts or if you feel dizzy or light-headed. And if you have fallen in the past year or feel unsteady, mention it to your doctor — medication can play a part too.
This routine is one of the free follow-along videos on my YouTube channel MindBodyInMotion. More in the same vein: Tai Chi & Qigong Basics, or the walking routine that came before this one: Tai Chi Walking for Beginners. New to Tai Chi? Start with the free 7-Day Tai Chi & Qigong Challenge.
