Time For Balance

I'm back in the States and back at work. It's been quite a break for me, not any longer than last year, but quite a different experience. Our trip was ironically book-ended by two funerals, which when experienced with travel and vacation in between, is a powerful reminder of the fragility and preciousness of life. Perhaps it added a sweetness to the experience, bringing the sensations of travel and the unknown into a more vivid experience. Adding to the colorfulness of the trip, our house went into escrow when we were a few days away from returning from Australia. This, in turn, added a layer into the saying of "hit the ground running" which we didn't plan for nor expect.

Needless to say, my motto for the week has been to remind myself to make room for welcoming rest among the chaos.

And what a powerful reminder is before us! The Equinox is happening this weekend-the shift from one season and into the next. We mark and celebrate both Equinoxes and Solstices every three months as they are powerful turning points as well as compasses in our lives. The Equinox is about balance and equanimity with daylight and night hours becoming more or less the same as we sense a shift out of the more extreme temperatures into more mild conditions. The Solstices represent the extremes, longest day and longest night of the year. I think of the Equinoxes as being the more gentle reminders of change, beckoning us to get outside, either for the first time in the spring or for the last few times before winter arrives.

Our last day in Melbourne was spent in the Royal Melbourne Botanical Gardens (a worthy and spectacular place to visit if you're ever in the neighborhood). We could sense that spring was getting primed to burst forth, noticing buds on plants and smelling jonquils, jasmine, and cherry blossoms. And this week in the desert, you can sense a shift simply by looking at the forecast over the next week with no temperatures predicted to pass the 100F (38C) mark. The dragon's breath of summer is beginning to recede, the Harvest Full moon has passed, and the Northern Hemisphere is taking the turn toward the cooler and incubating fall and winter months.

As it relates to the physical practice of yoga, it encourages us to check-in to see if there's an underlying current of energy that is one of ease rather than distress or agitation. In Patanjali's Sutra 2:46, Sthira Sukham Asanam, it states that the "asanam" or posture finds a state of yoga/union when it is both alert and relaxed. Nowhere in the Sutras does Patanjali suggest that we need to push, strive, or struggle during our practice. To me, it says that although we may be challenged, whether it's sitting quietly in meditation or practicing a Warrior Pose, within each of those moments we have an underlying feeling of ease and presence. It can seem quite counter-intuitive as I was always rewarded for "trying hard and pushing through". I was "tough" and that was a good thing, so to back off and not always "do my best" feels uncomfortably unfamiliar.

We all have a tipping point where whatever we're doing is no longer beneficial. Beyond this optimum point, what may have had an essence of ease shifts towards struggle. Our physical structure is like that as well if we push our bodies too hard, the tissues begin to break down. Our practice is an amazing opportunity to deepen our internal awareness or our interoceptive ability, to notice if the ease has gone out of the equation and to once again cultivate its presence.

My thought of the week is no matter what you're doing in your life-a yoga pose, closing escrow on a house, recalibrating your schedule, or taking a driving test that you check-in to see if ease is detectable. If not...back off, take a deep breath, and find that sweet spot!