Finding Life Balance Through Yoga
Practising the ‘perfect’ pose
The practice of yoga presents an opportunity to rebalance body, mind and spirit both on and off the proverbial mat. In other words – practising yoga can directly translate into an opportunity to live a more balance life in broader terms.
Finding that perfect stability and balance in every yoga pose requires a focus on ourselves in the immediate moment and how we can negotiate the next movement, moment, breath, emotion, thought. Focussing on the past or the future in these situations can cause us to lose balance! A person regularly practising this process is better equipping themselves to have focus on tasks at hand in their broader lives, to be able to have increased awareness to turn attention where it is needed and will be nurturing their ability to find the ‘stirrum and sukham’ – the balance between effort and ease – required for life’s daily challenges.
In other words, the joyful decompressing, energising and rebalancing that can be felt after a yoga class are changes within ourselves that can last into the day and can positively alter the way a day is approached and experienced. A life filled with juggled responsibilities and experiences, for example, can at times be overwhelming and the practice of yoga can help reduce the stress and energy disturbances that might occur as a result, and create a more integrated sense of purpose.
Boosting Self-Compassion
The ‘perfect’ pose is the one where you find your balance between effort and ease. Your pose might not look anything like some of the fancy images we find on social media feeds or yoga manuals – and this is where self compassion and lightheartedness is the order of the day. Trying something out and being happy with so called ‘imperfection’ and where your body is at in that moment, is the new definition of perfect! Finding that sweet self acceptance and self compassion makes us more compassionate towards others and has been found to enhance health, relationships, and general wellbeing. It takes courage sometimes to find self compassion, but there’s a wisdom in that courage and compassion that’s worth looking for and that can make for a more joyfully lived life.
Just Breathing
Yoga is an energetic practice and the key component is breathwork. Coming to understand the power of our breath in directing our intentions, emotions and energies guides every yoga movement. Every inhalation, exhalation and seconds of peace on each pause in between, has an effect on us. Again, breathwork not only underpins our activities in our hour long class (or however and wherever we choose to practise) but also underpins how we go about our daily lives. If we build breath awareness through yoga, then we can have more breath awareness any time of the day to guide ourselves through any situation that we find ourselves in. In stressful times, even a few deep breaths that help you find the ‘pause’, or our internal ‘listening space’ can make a difference.
Yoga is a practice of building a window into ourselves that can help us find courage, self compassion, wisdom, purpose, happiness, joy. What’s not to like! That ‘window’ creates a balance and a more peaceful state of mind that comes from knowing ourselves at a deeper level. Making time to practise yoga can make a big difference to how we experience life – even a few minutes a day can help and will build momentum. Life can throw us all manner of obstacles and developing an ability to drop in to this more centred, strong self is an excellent navigational tool!
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