Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Balance

There is a beautiful yoga pose called bakasana - or crow. It's a floating pose with the weight of the body poised onto the back of the arms.

Have you ever looked at a spinning top and noticed the center? No movement. While the rest of the top blurs around furiously, the center is actually still. That is the feeling that bakasana invokes.

Tiny adjustments forward, back, side to side, until only the breath flows in long, slow inhales and exhales. The world fades and there is...

Calm
Rest
Non-efforting
Balance

But yoga is not meant to happen in a vacuum, it is meant to be lived. Everything that happens on my yoga mat can be applied elsewhere.

So what does bakasana look life in life? It looks exactly the same - balanced.

Exercise is important, but it cannot take the place of meditation
Meditation and scriptures are vitual, but they do not fuel my body as a proper diet does
A proper diet gives the body energy to move, but it cannot meet my social needs
My friends make me laugh and think, but they cannot take the place of exercise

And around and around it all goes.

It's like the top - all these aspects spin and spin, but my center - my soul - is still.

What happens when one feature is out of place? When I exercise too much, forget to meditate, deny the nutritional needs of my body, or ignore my friends? Not a single thing works well, the top of my life tilts, sways,  and eventually, everything crashes down leaving me wondering where I went wrong.

Nothing went 'wrong.' It's only my true self searching for that calmness and doing whatever it takes to get my attention. My body, my brain, my heart all crave the equilibrium that balance brings. That place where the heart abides, breathing and sharing the radiant prana of life.

There...right there, no effort, just floating, poised. Indeed.

Thoughts to take with me today: Let the world blur around furiously with its striving and yearning; let me love the stillness, the calm, and yes, the balance






7 comments:

  1. Some balance in life is a wonderful thing...wish I could hang out in the yoga room with you :).

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    1. Love you sweet girl - and we WILL hang out in a yoga room together - and we WILL love it so

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  2. Balance is the key to happiness! I have to admit that I have never really thought of Yoga poses to relate in life so seamlessly... perhaps because in my head I am fighting with myself about how much I dislike yoga :S Perhaps

    Make it a great day!

    http://www.mommasweightloss.com

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    1. When I first started practicing yoga, my first teacher introduced herself as "Hi my name is Diane, I'll be your torturer for the next hour." Not the best start at all.

      I think it was when I started connecting the breath with the movement that I found the beauty and relaxed into the poses. Then I discovered the philosophy behind the poses and the other limbs of yoga and yoga became an intricate part of my life.

      But you know what? Your balance, your happiness, your yoga will be different from mine - many paths to the one truth. And that is the most beautiful isn't it?

      Thanks for the comment - love your blog!

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  3. I could sure do with more balance in my life.

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  4. This is such a great insight on many levels. Moderation is something I struggle with. My brother-in-law is a huge devotee of yoga and posted this link on FaceBook this morning and I knew you would appreciate it! Made me cry into my coffee...

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qX9FSZJu448

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    1. Caroline! I love that video! Thanks for sharing. I'm going to have to get my thoughts together on it and write about it. So moving, so wonderful!

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