COFFEE YOGA BALANCE

COFFEE YOGA BALANCE

As the coffee pot begins to gurgle – indicating the rising temperature of the water necessary for a perfect brew, I stand facing the window adjacent to the pot in tadasana, the yoga mountain pose that aids proper posture, better balance, strengthens the legs and can be a resting pose. It is my preparation pose before balancing on one leg and foot while the opposite leg and foot are raised off the floor. Breathing is an important component while holding the delicate pose. After holding the pose for about a minute and a half of the four-minute brewing cycle, I return to the mountain pose to rest and re-establish the base of the pose. During those few seconds, I hear my yoga instructor speaking, “Notice how different the two legs feel – the imbalance – to correct, let’s do the other side.”  Some mornings this is as easy as sliding off a greasy log. Others, one side works but the other doesn’t, sometimes neither works and I collapse. My instructor whispers, “honor the body that you have today.”

While in the pose should I begin to teeter back and forth, I also hear from the instructor, “go back to the base of the pose.” My balance is likely to be restored with small almost unnoticeable tweaks…but if headed for a fall, I simply grab the counter for support. After all, I am practicing balance.

Tadasana sends the message of intent to my body. It sets a boundary around the wondering mind drawing it to focus on the foot pressing into the floor, stacking the bones one on top of the other, and to choose a focal point or in the words of my yoga instructor, “get out of your head and into the body.”  Research shows that good balance is a predictor of longevity. The practice of working toward the maintenance of it, is applicable to maintaining a balanced lifestyle…a more sustainable way of living.

The hallmark of a balanced life is the harmony between the physical, mental, and spiritual self while managing work, relationships, and self-care. It can be overwhelming and losing balance is easy. Balance between the inward and outward parts of life, of exercise and diet, of boundaries between work and relationships are key to living the healthiest, happiest, and strongest life possible.

My balanced pose is harder to maintain when I lose focus or hold my breath and when I switch sides. Why? Fatigue is a prelude to the collapse of the pose and loss of focus produces the wobble. Seeking a little bit of support from the counter next to me is often all I need to restore my balance. It is a deliberate and delicate pose.

I have concluded that a balanced lifestyle combines a daily reaffirmed intent (base), the execution of the intent (pose), asking for help when needed (the counter), breathing through the controllable and shedding the other, and most importantly making rest and boundaries a priority. Sometimes it works- sometimes not. I practice anyway.

Proverbs 16:11

PONDER THIS THOUGHT --- A balanced lifestyle is not the absence of chaos, nor does it allow chaos to cause imbalance.

SOMETIMES IT WORKS -SOMETIMES NOT - PRACTICE ANYWAY