Finding Balance in the Dance of Life
I came home from teaching a yoga teacher training feeling out of sorts. I couldn’t figure it out. The training had gone great. My heart felt open, my mind had plenty to chew on from the discussions. But I felt agitated, like my skin was crawling. And even though I was super tired, I just couldn’t sit down.
To help myself feel better, I started doing chores: carrying laundry down to the basement, tearing down the spare bed from our guest, washing dishes, straightening the pillows on the couch, even dusting.
Finally I realized that even though I was rightfully tired from a weekend of teaching, and even though my heart and mind were feeling complete and full from working with the trainees -- my body hadn’t gotten any attention in a few days and it needed to MOVE!
Once I let myself move around, the agitation disappeared and I was able to sink into a well-earned rest.
As I softened, it dawned on me that to be able to come into more balance in life, I have to make sure to feed myself on 3 levels: Body, Mind, and Heart.
Of course, it’s not surprising that I realized this. I’d spent the last 4 days teaching on the Baghavad Gita - a handbook for living that was written about 2,000 years ago and is still relevant today.
One of the main teachings in the Baghavad Gita is the three paths of yoga. They are labled as paths of yoga but we could just as easily call them three ways of living in harmony with Life. No big surprise, the three paths are: the path of the body, the path of the mind, and the path of the Heart.
It would be easy to skip over the three paths. They are pretty simple guidelines, and we are living in a complex world. Maybe they were useful in 0 CE but come on. What about 2018? Is it really possible that more ease and balance could come from just paying attention to how I am feeding my body, mind, and Heart? It seems too simple.
What I’m finding as I spend time focusing on feeding all three is: Yes, It is this simple. Too much time in my mind makes me irritated, so if I move I feel better. Too much time ignoring what I love makes me sad - so if I allow myself to indulge in something my heart desires I feel joyful. Too much time moving I feel bored so I read a good book and am inspired again. The culmination of it all is that I generally feel more ease and balance in my life right now.
What about you? What have you been doing to feed your body, mind and heart? Is anything out of balance? If you have been doing a lot of mind work, you could probably use more time moving your body. If you're always on the go, it's time to slow down and get your mind cracking a puzzle. What about your heart? Have you been neglecting it lately? It's time to connect with what you love.
Did the teaching around balancing Mind, Body and Heart catch your attention as much as it did mine? I'd love to hear your insights in the comments below.
And, if you're feeling really out of sorts, I would love to help you explore ways to bring more ease and balance back into your life. An hour together in a simple coaching call or private yoga session could be just the thing to help you start to feel better.