Get Balanced

Balance yoga is a kind of dynamic meditation. Practicing balance poses immediately brings you into the present moment, internalizes your attention, integrates neuro-motor functions, and enervates nerve pathways from the brain to the soles of your feet.

Try this:
Take a deep breath, hold it and tighten up all your muscles, then release the tension and the breath simultaneously. Feel your tension fall out of you and your circulation increase. (This phase of the yoga balance routine is called “grounding.”)

While standing, find your sense of balance by momentarily losing it: lean forward putting more weight on the balls of your feet, and feel the increased tension. (This posture is “top heavy,” makes you get “ahead of yourself” and creates a tendency to get tripped up.) Come back past center until the weight is on your heals. (This stance makes you a “pushover,” unassertive and easily intimidated.) Come back to center, where the least effort is exerted. (This natural balance point is your most effortless position.)

Tune in to your three axis of position: front-to-back, side-to-side, and up and down. Bring your awareness to the midpoints of each of these dimensions within you, and to the center where they all intersect, i.e., your center of gravity. This point – well known in the oriental martial arts as the “Hara” center – lies at the level of the solar plexus and coincides with the origin of the breath. This step is called “centering.”

Next, fix your gaze on a visual focal point about 3 yards in front of you. Imagine a plumb line suspended from between your legs to the center of the earth. Mentally begin with the line directly between your feet, and then slowly shift your weight to the right (bring the “plumb line” down the right leg) so you can lift the left foot and place it against your upright knee. Hold the balance pose for two minutes - relaxed yet strong - then switch and repeat on the other leg.

Stay Tuned

You can progressively improve your balance by holding it longer, raising your arms in the air, and eventually by closing your eyes. Additionally, the bent leg can be folded across the opposite thigh, up to the chest, or back behind you. For best results, practice daily. After a few weeks, you may be pleasantly surprised to discover that you feel more focussed, and you’re handling your daily challenges more easily. Your sense of balance has become a working metaphor for your active life.

© Lonny J. Brown, Ph.D. is the author of “Enlightenment In Our Time” (www.BookLocker.com/LonnyBrown), “Meditation – Beginners’ Questions & Answers” (www.SelfHelpGuides.com) and “Self-Actuated Healing” (www.amazon.com). His writings on holistic health and healing appear on AOL’s Alternative Medicine Forum (Keyword AltMed), and in Alternative Health Practitioner, New Age, Yoga Journal, and many other progressive publications. Dr. Brown is a holistic health counselor in Harrisville, New Hampshire, and teaches meditation, mind/body healing, and stress reduction courses at hospitals, schools and businesses throughout the US. http://www.holistic.com/lonny lonny@holistic.com lonnybrown@aol.com