What gives you balance?

If your thoughts are really loud today, try this:

Stand up, and lift your left foot off the floor.

Now jump from one end of the room to the other just on your right foot. 

While you were doing this, how busy were your thoughts? How many different directions were they able to go?

Probably not many.

Balancing poses help direct our focus to only the present moment. Really, doing anything weird with our body that we’re not used to will do the same thing.

Learning a new dance. Brushing your teeth with your non-dominant hand. Walking backwards into the kitchen.

When our mind focuses on one thing, it’s amazing how quickly the noise quiets.

This is why your best tool for being present is your body.

When we first learn meditation, a lot of teachers will teach you to focus on your breath. But a lot of the time, our mind quickly wanders because there’s not a lot of sensation there.

Whereas if I put you into a weird shape and ask you to hold it, and feel everything that’s going on in your body, you might notice there’s a lot you can pay attention to.

Maybe your hip is really tight. Maybe you notice your right knee is a bit more tense than your left today. Maybe your shoulders are really sore from your workout or lifting boxes at work or your child all day. You start to make that connection with your body and your awareness can drift from all that busy energy “up there” in the mind, to more of what’s happening right now “down here” in that stretch in the hamstring or the burning sensation in your quad.

And over time, you might realize that’s probably why you feel so good after a few yoga poses. Because you turned your attention away from all the worries of the future and regrets of the past - places where the mind loves to run to. You gave yourself a 15-60 minute break away from those thoughts.

And the more you do it, the easier you find it is to come back to the body, the present, and being where you are, right now.

The word “balance” seems to get thrown around a lot these days, especially in marketing for wellness spas, nutrition and fitness programs, and really anything health-related. But what does it really mean, and what does it really look like?

The word might make us feel that there needs to be a fair share in every slice of the pie - family, work, exercise, meal prep, house chores, friends - and that if any area is lacking or suffering, we’ve failed.

The truth is “balance” looks and feels different for every one of us. There is no one formula of making it work, or how to achieve the feeling of success in every avenue.

Because rather than trying to balance everything, perhaps what’s most important is knowing what’s most important. Being clear on our values so that urgency doesn’t replace priority.

When we know what our values are, we can prioritize and do what we know is best without feeling guilty. We can trust ourselves to do one thing at a time, rather than pressuring ourselves to multitask (which isn’t a real thing, btw) to get it all done.

We can let go of the rush of the rush, the cortisol high of being stressed out, that antiquated pride of overwork and burnout.

Balance isn’t about doing all the things. It’s about doing the one thing that’s going to make the most difference in how you feel.

Being able to sense what that thing is, and taking action to make it a reality.

It’s never as elusive or complicated as we think. Come back to the body. Feel what’s needed. Replace the rush with trust, and watch how everything balances itself out.

What do you value most?

What's one thing that will give you balance right now?