My stepfather and uncle rode trials a little bit, they both regularly practiced balance by putting the bike on the kickstand, then slowly leaning to the right until balanced with the kickstand off the ground. They made me do it as well. I got in the habit and still remember to do it occasionally. If your kickstand allows the bike to lean too far over just ducttape a wooden block or something under it until the bike is almost upright when you are standing on the pegs with the stand down.
Either way, it's best to start this technique on some fairly soft dirt or sand. If using really soft dirt or sand you'll have to use the wood block to widen the kickstands bottom to prevent it sinking in.
With the bike on the stand, standing, feet on pegs, slowly lean right until you acheive balance. If you tip left, just let the bike settle back onto the stand then do it again. And again... If you lean right, you'll have to sit down and put a foot on the ground on the right side, then start over.
This drill helps alot because you can purposely lean right until the bike is just starting to tip right, but quickly lean back left until you acheive balance again. After about a years practice, it'll be easy.
If you are practicing moving forward and balancing, it's also good to do this in dirt that will allow your tires to sink in a little. It seems to help if the tires are pushing into the dirt, I guess it widens the tire's contact patch?
After awhile, you can practice locking the front brake until stopped, but don't put your feet down, just stop and acheive balance. Then begin doing small stoppies, then bigger ones, without putting your feet down once the back tire returns to the ground.
I also like to find a small,short incline, not very steep. Ride uphill as slowly as possible until the front tire is slightly headed uphill, pull in the clutch, then while still standing on the pegs reachieve balance as the bike slowly rolls backwards.
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