Life’s a balancing act; we try to be in balance but then we get thrown off balance. At the macro level, society is addressing balance in power and communities are balancing their priorities against their checklists, and at the micro level, families are balancing their checkbooks and their busy schedules. It’s all a balancing act and the scales are forever tipping this way and that way.
Lately, I’ve been primarily concerned with two areas of balance in my life.
The first is maybe one you wouldn’t expect but can most likely relate to. It’s the balance in art and design. You see, at the age of 42, I’m building my forever home, and I guess I realized that even though I’m into aesthetics and home decor, I don’t have a very strong visual-spatial sense. Good thing my sister-in-law is a professional photographer and an interior designer; she’s a huge support during this process. In building and furnishing, I’m looking to balance the energy in my home by means of space, light, objects, colors, texture, and the like. One change in the balance of the layout was to include two big windows on each side of the fireplace; a change in color was to add opaque colored paneling to the appliances so they more naturally integrate into the open concept. These examples seem simple and actually not very important compared to the well-balanced family life we’ll be living in the home. However, that is a balance we have—we have worked to make that a reality in our daily lives, and so now, we focus on our new physical home.
Then there’s our other physical home—our body as our physical vessel. In recent weeks I have been made very aware of my grandma and my mom’s imbalances—mostly losing balance while walking. It’s nerve wracking to worry about them falling, and it’s terrifying to see them fall. It’s made me more aware of the importance of balance and range of motion. So, I started up my yoga practice again. I was super into it when I went through my 200-hour yoga teacher training experience a few years back but then became uninterested. Well, I’m back for the benefits. Most recently, I’ve been attending 90-minute hot yoga classes. Balance practices are the most challenging when it comes to yoga postures as it’s likely to shake and teeter and fall out of poses. So, I’m learning about balance from the inside out. Some everyday tips you can even use out of the yoga studio are as follows: focus on your breathing, lock your gaze, check your alignment, and feel grounded in the earth. The balance I’m developing and strengthening is physical, but it’s also emotional and spiritual, and that is a beautiful benefit.
Next up in the realm of what I’d like to balance in my world…
I plan to tackle balancing my plate. The recent and temporary move into our apartment while our house is being built has me cooking in an unfamiliar kitchen yielding meals that are a bit uninspired and most definitely imbalanced—I haven’t even been going to the grocery store with a shopping list. I’m looking forward to bringing back some freshness and color and balance to my breakfast, lunch and dinner plate. Think: colorful fruits and veggies, leaner proteins, whole grains, and the right nutrients. Think: less standing up and eating mindlessly out of a Pringles can and more sitting down and being present while nourishing myself with something that has ingredients I can pronounce.
A final word…
I’ll leave you with the quintessential image of balance—the yin and yang. That white and black representation shows a balance between two opposites with a portion of the opposite element embedded in the other. There’s a duality there, which is the reminder we need to promote balance among the opposing elements that exist in our lives because life, in fact, is not so black and white.
