Coming into Balance
Our world is quite polarized today. It is an unfortunate situation, the distance between extremes is growing wider and wider. Whenever I see dysfunctional manifestations in the outer world, I like to look at my own, much smaller scale contributions to the mess. Where in my life is this polarization happening and what can I do to bring peace to my little slice of the world? You know, the whole be the change you want to see in the world.
I need not look far, my life is a constant balancing act of doing too many things and doing nothing at all. Since I quit my day job, it has been a challenge to build consistency in my days. I find myself full of inspiration and motivation one day, then the next day not so much.
Yoga has a wonderful practice for bringing life into balance using the concepts of ease (Sukkah) and effort (Sthira). Yoga means to yoke, finding a balance between ease and effort. I imagine finding the sweet spot between ease and effort similar to holding the reins of a horse. If you want to move forward you need to make sure you are holding the reins with an equal amount of tension, otherwise the horse will turn to the left or the right. Too much effort and you are creating stress and strain. Too much ease you are creating sluggishness and dullness. Sometimes you want to turn right and other times you want to turn left, as long as it is intentional, the problem comes when you are basically at the whim of the horse, think dropping the reins and letting the horse run wild while still trying to stay on.
Many years ago, we were visiting some friends in Colorado. The wife was an avid equestrian and owned several horses. She invited me to go for a ride. I enthusiastically accepted, being thrilled to have the chance to ride horses in the picturesque Colorado River valley. My enthusiasm and confidence far exceeded my horseback riding skills, but I was young and brave. My friend instructed me all about the ins and outs of riding while we were preparing the horses for our outing. I was riding a horse named Seven, short for 007, the fact that the horse was named after a thrill seeking spy should have been a clue, but I digress. Seven was my friend’s dad’s horse who had not been ridden in a while but was excited to go out. We mounted the horses and headed out toward the trail. Seven was a magnificent brown and black Arabian and followed my friend without hesitation. The horses were well trained, and my confidence grew as I rode, feeling a sense of pride in my ability to ride so effortlessly with so little instruction. My friend even commented on how well I was doing, boosting my already overblown confidence as we continued up the trail which was a wide dirt road climbing up into the mountains. Seven was eager to be out for a ride and started picking up the pace. My friend now riding alongside me as our pace kept increasing. My friend asks if its okay to let the horses run for a bit as it was obvious Seven wanted to run. So I said, sure, why not, I am obviously a hidden talent in this whole horse riding situation, I’m game. So, the horses start to run. At first, it was exhilarating, I had never experienced this feeling before, it felt so free, wild and terrifying all at once. Seven however, was just getting started, his pace kept increasing, my friend now eating dust as Seven explodes into a run that he must have been holding on to for quite some time. I squeeze my thighs on the saddle to keep from flying off the horse (later I was told that this tells the horse to go faster). Holding on for dear life now, thinking, the horse will get tired and eventually stop, I realize not only is he not stopping but he keeps going faster and faster, I will not be able to stay on much longer, so I start applying the brakes. Pulling back on the reins, afraid to pull too hard, my friend now pulling up along side me, asking if I was good or needed to stop. Trying to remain brave, I said I needed to stop for a minute. She instructed me to pull hard on the left rein, turning Seven’s head to the left causing a sharp turn, and thankfully slow to a stop. My heart racing, adrenaline pumping, my friend in awe that I did not fall off. We laughed for a second, then came some solid advice, sometimes you have to pull real hard on one rein to get the horse to stop. Good to know.
Balance is not a static state, sometimes to find balance you have to go to the extremes to get a sense of where you need to be. This dance of balance between ease and effort, requires attention and awareness. The more you dance, the easier it is to find the sweet spot.
The theme for tomorrow’s Yoga Nidra Class is Finding the Sweet Spot.
Email me at kirstengoliver@gmail.com for the zoom link.
