Jackii Mudge was rock climbing in Utah when she first noticed something was off. “I said, ‘Something’s going wrong with my right eye. I’m not seeing things right,’” she recalled. Only weeks later, with no warning, she lost central vision in that eye. “Just — boom,” she said, describing how sudden it felt.

Already living with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in both eyes, Jackii was then diagnosed with geographic atrophy (GA), a condition that thins and damages the center of the retina.

As someone who’s always been active — rock climbing, skiing, and even teaching fitness classes — Jackii wasn’t going to let vision loss stop her. Instead, she found a simple but powerful way to stay balanced: training her body to rely less on vision and more on instinct.

‘You Need To Train Your Body’

Jackii explained that balance isn’t just about vision. “You need to train your body to learn where it’s at in space and how to balance without your eyes,” she said. “It can be done.”

She recommended that anyone living with GA or low vision start working on balance, even before mobility becomes a challenge. “I’m not to the point where I need to use tools to navigate the world,” she said, “but I’m careful where I place my feet.”

Her favorite trick? A wobble board and a kitchen counter.

Wobble Board + Counter = Training Tool

“One of my favorite exercises that I’ve been doing is balancing with one hand on a kitchen counter and a wobble board on my foot,” Jackii said. “You start out just standing on one leg, holding on to a counter. Then you slowly let go of it, and you keep doing it until you can actually stand there and not hold on.”

This step-by-step approach helped her body build awareness of where it is in space — a sense called proprioception — without needing to rely on sight. “It works,” she said. “You teach your body, and then your body knows.”

Helping Others Stay Balanced

Jackii didn’t learn these exercises just for herself. In the past, she taught balance classes for older adults, and she still encourages others to build strength and awareness through movement.

“I used to teach balance to senior citizens, and that’s something I would recommend to anybody that’s got vision loss,” she said. “Work on your balance, because if you’ve got good balance and you trip, you’re not going to fall.”

For Jackii, it all comes back to knowing her body and keeping it strong. “Being in tune with your body and doing things to keep your body strong and balanced are important,” she said. “That’s probably one of the most important things to me.”

Find Your Team

On myAMDteam, people share their experiences with age-related macular degeneration, get advice, and find support from others who understand.

Have you experienced problems with balance since being diagnosed with geographic atrophy? Have you worked on improving your balance using these or other methods? Let others know in the comments below.