IT is a real balancing act that has become a global movement.

People from all over the world descended on Dunbar at the weekend to take part in the European Stone Stacking Championships.

About 40 competitors took part in categories ranging from the most stones balanced atop one another, to balancing stones against the clock.

Described as both art and meditation, the internationally recognised practice of stonestacking – the use of natural materials to create sculptures – is an art form rising in popularity.

And it is particularly popular on the coast, where there are plenty of pebbles and stones.

Skilled exponents build delicately balanced stacks several feet high.

Event organiser James Craig Page, director of Dunbar Street Art Trail, said the works are created for anyone to enjoy and the “benefit you find in trying it is the moments of clarity when you are zoned in to searching for the next stone when you know you’ve got the perfect balance”.