Finding Balance

This weekend I’m back in Wales for the first time since last September.

I feel home, I feel calm, I feel settled. I’m enjoying the space, the coast, the mountains. These few days have been a breath of fresh air. Although I haven’t needed to take time off work to get away, it is my first break from the everyday since Christmas, which as you’ll remember wasn’t really a break, or indeed Christmas. I’m reminded of the need to take a break, to rest and recharge. Working part-time, it’s easy to fall into the trap of not booking annual leave because I have time away from work. Of course time away from contracted hours is not the same as time off and I’ve realised in the run up to this trip, how tired and off kilter I’ve been feeling.

At the moment, I’m working with my students on balancing poses. Balances help us build strength in the body and in the mind. Standing balances strengthen the legs, but also the abdominals, back and upper body in order to hold us steady in the pose and we can become more aware of how subtle body movements can alter our balance and how balances can help us coordinate our movements throughout the body and increase awareness of the body’s position in a pose.

But also - and perhaps what I particularly need to think about for myself this week is that the focus required to perform balances develops concentration and balance, removing stress and anxiety. Even if we are physically strong, if we are wobbly in the mind, we will wobble in a balance. So balancing helps us focus, and focussing helps us find balance.