Balance takes work. Lots of it. There is no endpoint in balance, no goal, no finalization. Balance requires practice, patience, and most importantly -- movement. We often get stuck in our ways and form habits based on our fears and driven by our insecurities.
When we work on carving out balance in our lives, we are then shuttled to the superhighway of our best life fueled by our intention. The power and confidence comes from the knowledge that we can absolutely do something to achieve balance. It takes a strong will, desire, and work, but it's completely worth it.
I was at a workshop with Sharon Salzberg and Krishna Das (my ultimate hero) last week. When I see either of them its' like hitting a reset button in me. They energize my being, confirm my purpose, and make me and everyone else around them feel amazing. They share their experience, their lives, and the truth of awareness that most of us spend our lives avoiding.
I had just flew in from a busy trip in LA, shooting video, having meetings, and feeling development deal stress. My career is yoga and wellness so it's always interesting to find the balance between strength and flexibility not only in my body and mind, but in how I deal with other people. For me there is no separation. Interactions -- whether personal or business, teacher student, friend to friend, or family member -- all call for balance, respect, and compassion. When we work to cultivate those qualities in ourselves, they automatically extend and crack open our lives. Energy isn't always about getting up or getting more. When we cultivate our intention we find the balance and that often can settle us back into ourselves.
Sharon Salzberg said something interesting. She always says something interesting but I wanted to share this one. She said we all have our straws that we see the sky with. All of our straws are different. Some are pink, some are blue, some are curly cue. Practice comes in wiping off the dust at the end of the straw so we can take in the sky. But if we're really lucky, and do a lot of practice, maybe we can put down the straw and look at the sky. How cool is that. Lets put down the straws already!
One of the stories Krishna Das told was after his guru Maharaji died, he was back in India, years later and totally bummed out. He was called into a room and had an experience that his guru had never left. He said he was overcome with joy and all his emotions poured out. For a while after he was super high on life. He took deeper breaths to soak up all the bliss. After a few days that high was gone and he was angry about it. He was storming the rooftop (literally running back and forth on the roof) and he got called into a room again and realized that his guru had never left, but he had left his guru. Lesson is, it's not about getting crazy high on life, although that's super fun sometimes, but the love, support, and abundance of the universe is always there for us. We need to find the balance, listen, and be willing to receive.
I'm excited to be working with the lovely, talented, and amazing Ashley Koff and the Huffington Post on the year long Energy makeover. The reader selected winner is Marissa Campise, an insanely busy, driven, hard working caffeine addicted woman with whom I identify a lot. She will be coming to Strala for the year and working on settling and improving her energy from the inside out and I'm happy to share in her journey through her process.
One of the reasons the Energy Makeover got me excited is because it is something we all need. We'll be sharing Marissa's progress updates, tips, tricks, and hints on honing your energy. For Marissa she needs to slow down a bit, find the calm in the stress of every day life and just breathe.
For all of us, we need the same.
5 Steps to Balanced Energy.
1. Reflect on your fears. Fears take up a TON of our energy. Take a good, honest look on what you're afraid of. What's holding you back and what would happen if you didn't have those fears? Maybe it's time to drop them and live fearlessly? What would happen if you did that?
2. Peel away insecurity. We all have insecurities. It takes maintenance and constant practice to first identify what they are so we can have an understanding of how we tick and second to put forth the action to deal with them. Our insecurities don't have to rule our lives. When we step away from them we are jolted to the superhighway guided by our intention, where there are no limits. Can you imagine that? Your life without limits. How amazing!
3. Practice. You have to do the work to reap the benefits. Meditation will reveal your stuff to you. The practice is taking the time and gaining the courage to actually look at all that stuff. You can do it. Just breathe and rest your attention on your breath. It will come.
4. Back off. In Marissa's case, mine too, we are over-workers and often that holds us back and leads to less productivity. Imagine that! In yoga (in the body) efficiency is key. It's optimal to find the way to complete the pose with the least amount of effort possible. It's not lazy, it's efficient. It leaves room for intuition to arise. In sports it's the same. In business it's the same. Use what you need. Drop what you don't.
5. It's a game. We're only here for a blip of time. Realize that each moment is a gift, and not so serious. When we see that each moment is set up for us and the universe is on our side, we can start to have a lot more fun with life, not take ourselves so seriously and enjoy our ride. The bonus is when we loosen our clutch to the results, we gain far more than we expected.