Frequently asked questions

About the product

A firm, single-leg balance board with an adjustable peg base. You stand on it one foot at a time, the surface tilts a small amount, and the small muscles in your foot have to engage continuously to keep you steady. It's about 12 inches in diameter, made of maple, comes with three stability bars and two round pegs that let you progress the difficulty as your feet get stronger.

The full daily protocol is four minutes per foot. Most people do it watching TV or while their coffee brews.

Three things. First, the surface is firm, not soft — soft surfaces let your eyes and inner ear do the balancing instead of your feet. Second, it isolates one foot at a time — two-footed boards let your strong foot cover for the weak one, which is usually the one that needs the work. Third, it's adjustable across 125+ configurations, so you can progress instead of plateauing on a fixed difficulty.

Most BOSU balls and wobble boards miss all three.

The Aurayae Axis board with adjustable peg base. Three stability bars (beginner, intermediate, advanced). Two round pegs for fine-tuning.

No. The day-one setup is intentionally gentle — both feet on the floor, the board low to the ground, just enough movement to wake the muscles up. You progress from there as your feet get stronger.

If you can stand, you can use this.

About results and timing

Most people notice the morning pain getting less sharp around week three. Walking down stairs gets easier around week six to eight. Standing barefoot for any length of time without bracing for pain typically takes two to three months.

This is slower than the "feels amazing for a month" you may be used to with insoles. But it lasts.

Insoles work by externally supporting the arch from underneath. The relief is immediate because the support is immediate. But it doesn't fix the underlying weakness — it just compensates for it.

Strengthening works in the opposite direction. The small foot muscles have probably been weakening for years. Rebuilding them takes weeks. There's no shortcut for that, and we won't pretend there is.

The trade is: insoles are faster relief but the relief stops the moment you take them out. Strengthening is slower but it carries forward whether you're wearing the right shoes or not.

Some people don't. The first few weeks for most people is mostly the muscles waking up — the visible change comes a bit later. We've had customers feel nothing for the first month and then notice a clear shift in week five or six.

If you've used the Axis consistently for two months and nothing has changed, send it back. The 60-day guarantee exists for exactly this reason.

No. The mechanism works on consistency, not perfection. Most people do four-to-six days a week and that's enough. If you skip a week because of travel or life, your feet don't reset back to zero — you pick up where you left off.

The guide explains how to think about consistency without making it feel like a homework assignment.

About fit and safety

We'd recommend against starting a new single-leg balance routine during pregnancy. After pregnancy, when your balance has stabilized, the Axis can be a useful tool for rebuilding foot strength that's commonly affected by the weight changes of pregnancy. Talk to your doctor first.

Yes, for most people. The day-one setup is gentle and the Field Guide explains how to know when you're ready to advance.

That said: if your foot pain is sharp, sudden, or recent (under six weeks), or if you've been told you have a stress fracture or a torn fascia, please talk to a doctor before using anything that involves single-leg standing. The Axis is built for chronic foot pain that hasn't responded to other things — not for acute injuries.

Fair question. The short answer: every solution you listed works on the same principle — supporting the foot from outside or stretching the calf above it. None of them strengthen the small muscles inside the foot itself. That's the gap.

The Axis isn't another support tool. It's the opposite — it forces those small muscles to do the work again. We back it with a 60-day money-back guarantee. If it doesn't change anything for you, you don't pay for it.

Honest answer: barefoot shoes and toe spreaders are passive — your feet strengthen because they have to do slightly more work than they were doing before. Active loading (single-leg, firm-surface, focused) does the same job faster. What takes a year of casual barefoot walking happens in eight to twelve weeks of focused four-minute sets.

If you're patient and your feet are improving, you may not need this. If you want to accelerate the same process you're already on, this is the tool.

Not necessarily. The starting configuration is gentle enough that most people in their 60s and 70s can use it safely. Some of our customers are in their 70s.

If your balance is already compromised — if you've fallen recently, or if you find yourself reaching for railings on stairs that didn't used to need them — start with the lowest configuration and use a chair or wall for support during the first two weeks. The Field Guide covers this.

If you're not sure whether it's appropriate for you, talk to your doctor or PT before buying.

About ordering, shipping, and returns

Yes, we ship to everywhere most major carriers deliver to.

During busy periods it can take up to 3 days to process and dispatch your order, we do out best to deliver within the week but this can sometimes take up to 10-12 business days.

60 days from the date you receive your order. Free returns. No restocking fee. No questions about whether you "tried it for the full program."

To start a return, email us at [info@aurayae.com] with your order number.

Email us at [info@aurayae.com] with your order number and a photo of the damage. We'll send a replacement immediately at no cost. The damaged unit doesn't need to be returned.

One-year warranty against manufacturing defects. If a peg breaks, a stability bar splinters, or anything else fails through normal use within the first year, email us and we'll replace the affected piece at no cost.

The warranty doesn't cover damage from use the product wasn't designed for — using it outdoors on uneven surfaces, leaving it in a wet area, dropping heavy objects on it, etc. Common sense applies.