Tomorrow is the Spring Equinox, the time of year when days and nights are of equal length. The earth teeters on this edge of balance before falling over into increasingly longer days. This is a powerful time to explore balance in our lives. Do we have it and can we sustain it? How does our balance mirror that of the seasons? For years I fought the trend to find balance. What I read and heard about balance felt very static. It seemed as though I had to maintain a stable wheel of life, doling out an equal percentage of my energy to the different wedges: family, work, community, etc. This static view of balance reminds me of balancing rocks. While beautiful, if they are hit from the side or the earth shakes below them, they come crashing down. Balance in my life felt as precarious as those balancing rocks.
Then I ran across some notes from a previous teacher: “Equilibrium is balance in motion.” This shifted my entire focus around the issue of balance. Instead of balance’s static energy, I now strive to attain the homeostatic power of equilibrium. Our lives are constantly moving; nothing remains the same from moment to moment. When I look at the ebb and flow of my life, I see that there’s nothing fixed about it, even when I feel stuck or unmotivated. I see this reflected in the seasons as the days of the year wax into fullness and wane into darkness.
There is a constant subtle shift to each day of the year, just as there is in my life.
However, tweaking my definition of balance isn’t enough. The balance I’m seeking doesn’t come from external factors in my life. Regardless of what the world throws at me, I need to find my balance from within, like the hub of the wheel. If my wheel of life is driven by my core instead of from the rim, then I don’t feel out of control. I carry this sense of balance with me wherever I go. It’s like my inner ear, always adjusting its fluid no matter if I’m standing on my head or lying in bed; I always feel balanced. My inner core has its own equalizer that guides me through each day so that, when I’m connected to it, I don’t come crashing down like the rocks when my position to life changes.
An Invitation
As the days of Spring wax into the fullness of Summer, I invite you to look at Balance in your life. Where does it come from? How precarious or stable does it feel? What needs to change so you have the balance you seek? How do you connect with your core and invite it to guide you through your day? Perhaps when we meet the Earth’s balance again at the Autumnal Equinox, you’ll find yourself having spiraled round to a new understanding of balance in your life.