Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Balance: Part 1

One key element of yoga is balance. Our practice can help us learn all kinds of things about becoming balanced. We can learn to listen more closely to our bodies so that we can achieve greater clarity about our needs. We can learn to find a healthy balance to our thoughts, finding what internal voices to listen to at what times.

Balance is also about making choices. It means learning when to push, and when to back off. There is the choice about when to relax and play. Balance calls for a healthy mix of doing our best, and having compassion on ourselves when times call for compassion.

Our asana practice constantly allows us to experiment with balance. Most of our postures take us in more than one direction simultaneously. We must constantly find our center between these lines of energy. We learn to balance our weight between both feet or on one foot or the other. Sometimes we invert or even balance on just our hands. By working with this balance on the mat, we begin to understand more about the nature of balance itself.

Today, notice look at balance in your practice. Play with that balance, and see what you might be able to extend into your everyday life.