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
