WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE BALANCED AND HOLISTIC “BY NATURE”?

Human kind has not

woven the web of life,

we are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web,

we do to ourselves.

All things are bound together,

all things connect.

                                 - Chief Seattle

Many of the world’s greatest earth-based traditions claim that we are interconnected beings who instinctively pursue our life’s purpose of attaining inner balance and well-being through continuous integration of all of our parts.  These philosophies are often accompanied by mind-body-spirit techniques and practices that help us to retrieve stored knowledge and wisdom that are applicable to many aspects of our lives.

Yoga, for example, reminds us of all the steps that we take for granted when we balance ourselves on one foot.  Most of us learned this simple balancing act through trial and error, and made adjustments until we got it right without giving it much thought.   We now know intuitively that if we stick an arm out and flail it, it is much harder to find our balance than if we counterbalance our weight with another arm and keep it still. 

There’s a lot of other useful knowledge and information that we continuously gather in our minds, bodies, and spirits, but are not always aware of or don’t always use.  For instance, through mindful contemplation we may notice that we find our center of balance much easier if we look at a line or speck on the floor or in the horizon.  This helps us to shut out distractions, quiet our minds, and minimize movement in our bodies. 

Once we are really still, we are able to regulate our breathing and focus on subtle bodily sensations that inform us what shifts we need to make to stand more firmly.  We learn to listen to our bodies and control the muscles necessary to make the shifts.

With practice, concentration, and stillness, we can develop more conscious control and awareness of our bodies and our inner core, which is usually around the navel area for most people. Our stability and sense of balance increase depending on the strength of our awareness, physical control, and connection to this core.  

To get to an ideal state of balance, it is necessary to think holistically – to be aware of this core and to be equally aware of all other parts of our body from the position of the crown of our head to the tips of our fingers to the controlled muscles in our toes.  This ability comes naturally to most people even if it requires a bit of practice.  With these basic skills under our belt, we can learn to do increasingly more challenging poses without losing our balance. 

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