What does it mean to be balanced in life?

What am I supposed to balance? (do you mean on my head?)

How do we create balance in our lives? (get a bunch of scales?)

How do we know if we are in or our of balance?

What are ways to find balance? (stand on one foot? maybe..)

Balance. We all want it. When life finds balance there is a feeling of harmony, equilibrium, and stability. All of this = greater sense of freedom.

Balance will look different for each individual as we determine how much energy to spend in various areas – work, relationships, activities, health, introspection… There is an optimal formula for each person and no real way of calculating it except by experience and self-awareness.

I start to notice when things are off-kilter in my life when I start to feel flustered and stressed. This is often when I get sick. I have to really take a look at my life and ask myself, “Where am I spreading myself too thin?”. On the flip side, I can also tell when I’m really hitting the mark. Life flows more easily. I have the time and space to get my shit done and still have time to rest, I feel light and uplifted. My body, brain, and heart are all actively engaged in in sync. When this happens, life is AWESOME!

I like to think of this balance as a system of pillars upholding a giant platform. The platform represents my overall life and how stable it is at any given time. Each pillar below is one aspect of my life. There is a pillar for love, a pillar for work, one for my own sense of inner reflections, one for my various hobbies… you get the picture. The balance and stability of my entire life system is dependent on the strength and flexibility of each of these pillars. The system is strong enough to thrive if one or even two of these pillars should falter. When too many start to weaken or over-strengthen, the platform dips and gets really weird. So it is with life.

B.K.S. Iyemgar says

Balance does not mean merely balancing the body. Balance in the body is the foundation for balance in life. In whatever position one is is, or in whatever condition in life one is placed, one must find balance… balance as I have emphasized in every nature of our being.

Grounded, vibrant, yet luminous. That is balance.