Monthly Focus: Balance
While I cycle between several basic intentions based on how I am feeling on the mat that day, I pick one overall focus every couple of weeks to center my improvement around. For the past two weeks I have been focusing on balance.
I noticed in my first Hot Hour that my balance was pretty horrible. I could barely hold an airplane without a block to stabilize me. I started shaking, and worst of all my feet completely cramped in only 10-15 seconds. After working on my breath and focus I knew balance was the most important thing I could work on.
Yoga centers most of its teachings around balance. Balancing your energy, your mind, your spirit. All these things working together is what will create stability on the mat. It does not matter how strong your muscles are when you are balancing, it matters how in tune you are with their flexion. Before you can balance your body, you must balance your mind. The first step is to work on neutrality and breath even as you struggle through a balanced posture. Do not judge yourself or allow your mind to wander. To stay balanced you must be acutely focused. Simply breathe in to lengthen and breathe out to stretch. While this takes some time to get the hang of, it becomes easier and easier the more you practice. After balancing my mind I found that while my foot cramps and shaky legs didn’t go away, I stayed upright longer with more confidence every time I stepped onto the mat. When you mind and spirit are stable, the body will follow suit.
Physical balance is about equilibrium, the push and pull of energy through your body, inhaling and exhaling in equal length. Balance is found when your are pushing out in equilibrium in every direction. I remember talking to studio owner Sallie Riley about this at the very start of my practice. She said,
Take bow pose, it is not the strength of my base leg or my abs that keeps me up, it is reaching out with my fingertips and kicking into my foot as hard as I can while lengthening and stretching in tandem with my breath.
After I discovered the push and pull all that was left to incorporate was the lift. The lift is what will bring ease into your postures. A deep bend in the knee will engage your quadricep and glutes more, but can pull your energy downwards. I have found that lifting my hips while maintaining a slight bend in the knee softens the entire pose, making it easier to hold for long periods of time and taking pressure off of your foot. Using all of these things within my own practice, the pushing, the pulling, the lifting, I am able to balance throughout an entire class.
(Except when those dang foot cramps get the best of me! Kelly Hamblin’s tight-foot tip was to stretch my feet before class. It’s worked wonders!)
This month, I challenge you to tune in to your balance. Whether that is finding a deeper connection between your balance and breath, or adding a more advanced posture into your routine, take some time to focus on how you balance. Ask yourself, what muscles am I using? Where might I incorporate more flexibility? What can I soften?