Balance
I touched on this topic during Boot-Y Camp this past Monday with my students. Now, I can share with all of you!
Why are our days so stressful? What can we do to de-stress and de-clutter our lives?
By creating more space in our lives for things that make us feel happy and alive we create a balance.
Whether it is a balance between work and personal life, family time and alone time, or just balance between saying yes and saying no - without it we are in a constant state of tension.
Little known facts that may help you with creating balance in your life:
you don't have to do things that you don't want to do (in most cases)
you don't have to eat strictly all of the time
you CAN say no sometimes
you CAN take time for yourself
Another form of balance comes in the form of opposites. Opposite emotions. Opposite movements.
A favourite quote of mine is as follows:
How would we recognize happiness if we had never experienced sadness? Without the opposing emotion, many wonderful emotions wouldn't be as wonderful.
We also must not chase the "good" emotion or push away the "bad" emotion - rather, accept either for what is and what it has come to teach us. A yogic principle known as Equanimity touches on balance in this light.
Here is an excerpt from a yoga journal article that talks about this very subject.
"This understanding of upeksha as equanimity stresses the importance of balance. A balanced heart is not an unfeeling heart. The balanced heart feels pleasure without grasping and clinging at it, it feels pain without condemning or hating, and it stays open to neutral experiences with presence. Insight meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg speaks of equanimity as a “spacious stillness of mind,” within which we can remain connected to others and all that happens around us, while remaining free of our conditioned habit of grasping at the pleasant and pushing away the unpleasant."
My favorite ways to promote balance:
Attend at least one yoga class a week to balance the bodybuilding (major blogging news coming on this front!)
Ensure to practice yoga following my workouts as stretching
Say no when I really don't want to attend a function or know that it will make my schedule unbearable
What are YOUR favorite ways to promote balance in your life?
