balance

Balancing On Life’s Beam

shadesofpinkmagazine.com

I recently had a personal epiphany about balance in my life, and the lack of it.

I didn’t realize my imbalance until I found myself rushing on Sunday evenings when I didn’t accomplish anything as planned over the weekend. I was grumpy after work when coming home to my disorganized, untouched little suite. I was dissatisfied with my lack in reading, in practicing yoga, and in writing.

So what did I do to try and regain some balance? I chased it. Fast. Only to find after over a month of this desperate and unsuccessful chase, I had to stop. You cannot catch balance no matter how long you chase it for; balance will catch you when you slow down.

But how can we catch ourselves before we lose our balance? When researching answers, I came across a technique in Psychology Today called S.W.E.E.P by Dr. Charles Sophy.

Sophy writes, Balance is a scale, both concrete and imaginary, on which we weigh things that affect all aspects of our lives. To live our lives to the fullest, we must try to find balance in five key areas which together form the acronym S.W.E.E.P.

The five key areas to examine are Sleep, Work, Eating, Emotional expression of self, and Play.

People whose S.W.E.E.P is in check, can teach, guide and love from a position of balance and, quite simply, have better overall relationships. When we strike that balance and make that connection between our minds and our hearts, many benefits follow.

In reading this, I couldn’t believe how seemingly obvious these tasks are. I rolled my eyes as I read about the importance of sleep and eating, I mean, who doesn’t know this stuff?

Nevertheless, as obvious as these five areas are, I slipped up and need to work on a few.

Just like in yoga, some days we can hold Warrior Three without wobbling or struggling. Yet, there are those times when we shake and vibrate to hold the pose for a mere minute. So what do we do? We come out of the pose, come back to our breathing, focus on our intention, and try again. We slow down to catch what we want. And we can all agree, that it works.

For the full S.W.E.E.P article, go here: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/side-side/201003/how-keep-your-life-in-balance-using-sweep

Finding Balance

I am out of balance. I keep getting sick and sometimes I’m bored and then I’m too busy. I know that yoga is the answer, but I still have to keep asking the right questions. Life is an iterative process. All the things worth doing have to be done again and again– like forgiving someone, and dishes.

Finding balance is constant work, balancing this part of your life with that part. Being a good person– being good both to me and to the people I love. Not always the same thing, is it?

I also need to find balance in my yoga practice.

When my practice is out of whack, so goes the rest of my life. I’m loving hot sweaty power classes these days. I miss my hatha and yin teachers, but I keep going back to vinyasa to burn through something inside me. Where my knee is and what my hip flexor is doing is not as important at the moment as connecting to my core and finding the devotion and grace that I find on my mat in power classes. Recognizing what I want and need is the first step to coming back to balance.

How do I find balance?

1. Listening. Yoga is intense and sometimes it’s important to take a break. It’s also important to work hard, so I work to listen to my body and my spirit.

2. Taking breaks. I have a daily yoga practice, but some days I lay off. I have a glass of wine instead because I need to keep that part of myself alive too.

3. Find joy. I like to work hard, and progress– hit my marks. But sometimes I get driven, and get way out of balance. Connecting to my joy in something allows me to go back to a sustainable and rewarding level of intensity and effort.

Like an elephant in crow pose on a beach ball, balance keeps me elegant and powerful.

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