Friday, January 20, 2012

Balance and Excuses

According to Dictionary.com the following are definitions and synonyms for "unbalanced":

Definition:not even, stable
Synonyms:asymmetric, asymmetrical, disproportionate,irregular, lopsided, not balanced, off-balance,shaky, topheavy, treacherous, unequal, uneven,unstable, unsteady, unsymmetrical, wobbly

Can we take a moment a giggle about the fact that Top Heavy is a synonym for unbalanced. I mean, really?


I am feeling unbalanced this week and I'm not quite sure why. Usually when I'm feeling offish I can pin point my reason:

1. its that time of the month
2. a holiday
3. family emergency
4. a cold

But I have experienced none of these things.

This week I have missed out on my yoga practice. I have even stopped knitting. If you know me, even a little, you know that yoga and knitting are my healthy vices. They are like taking my daily vitamins. They keep me mentally and emotionally balanced. But I missed them this week. Somehow, the week has gone by and I've neither practiced nor knit. And I can't pinpoint why I chose to do this. It started on Saturday and now we're on Friday.

During a yoga class you usually find yourself practicing at least one balancing pose. I tend to like Tree pose the most. It is often in this asana (pose) that I tune in with my body and discover where my balance is or isn't. Sometimes its all on the left side, sometimes its on the right, and sometimes its just not there.



For me this week it has not been there at all. Last Saturday was thrown off by an extra beverage which lead to me feeling less than energetic on Sunday. Then on Monday I told myself I would go to practice after work but then after work I told myself I'd go Tuesday, and so the story went until I found myself on Wednesday convinced when I woke up that I was going to practice that night no matter what. But then my phone and IPOD were stolen. Yup, stolen.

If my balance was a little "wobbly" earlier in the week this threw it way off. I found myself questioning if I had lost these items myself or if someone had actually come into my place of work in the 20 minutes I was not at my desk and swiped them. I was convinced I must have misplaced them and I retraced all my steps. I started to doubt my memory which is a terrible thing.

And so, I came home and thought... well I can't focus, if I go to yoga I'll be thinking about my phone and not be able to find balance. So again, I did not go. And I did not knit. I just sat on the couch and watching TV thinking and rethinking that 20 minutes. Thursday I did not practice either, I had dinner plans with my husband and although he would have happily waited for me to practice I didn't even give him the option.

Its funny because I know how to find my balance. Its to stick with my routine. For me, routine is very important and healthy. It calms me and yet I did this to myself this week. I made excuses and that is never balancing.

The good news is that I am always able to find my balance. I get back to my routine. I get back to the mat and I pick up my knitting needles. My new phone should be delivered today, I will be back on the mat tonight, and I've already planned out my next two knitting projects (they are quite juicy!).



"Yoga cultivates the ways of maintaining a balanced attitude in day to day life and endows skill in the performance of one's actions." B.K.S. Iynegar.


Namaste




3 comments:

  1. Hey Sarah it's Howard from YTT. I had the EXACT same week and really feel ya on the getting back up & on the mat. It was wierd though in some ways because even though I knew I was "off" the path or whathaveyou all week I couldn't bring myself to get back "on". Don't know if I just didn't care enough or if it was something deeper like needing to let myself be off for a little while for whatever reason - perhaps to re-appreciate being on. Dunno. Anyway hope your Friday is great & namaste.

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  2. Hey Howie! Thanks for reading. There must be some force in the universe right that is telling us to rest. Hope to see you on the mat next week :)

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  3. I had a week like that in teacher training. I tried to go...but I was just sooo lethargic all week and ended up taking a "vacation" week for absolutely no reason other than my heart wasn't really in it. Of course, I was in a funk all week and the minute I got back on the mat, I felt better. Go figure. Hope you're feeling more balanced this week!

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