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“Life is a balance of holding on and letting go.” – Rumi

Balance is one of those tricky elements of the asana yoga practice (and life, for that matter) that changes daily. When we feel calm and centered on our mats, our bodies tends to follow suit. However, we often arrive on our mats for a plethora of reasons — maybe we had a bad day and need to blow off some steam; maybe we just went through a horrible break up and we need to find our centers again; maybe we had a great day and are thrown off balance by our overwhelming excitement; or maybe we have a daily practice and we come to our mats each day filled with new emotions.

A large percentage of the asanas in the yogic practice are balancing postures. And a vast majority of them are very tricky – eerily similar to the trickiness of finding balance in our lives. Here is a simple checklist to run through your mind every time you find yourself out of balance:

1. GROUND YOURSELF IN GRATITUDE.

Even a posture as “simple” as tadasana, or mountain pose, takes a great deal of balance to hold. We often say that we have “terrible” balance when we cannot hold the most “impressive” of balance postures. However, you often need to take a step back and cherish the incredible capabilities of our bodies. To simply be able to stand, walk, or run takes a great deal of balance and control. Our fairly large bodies are designed to balance on two very small feet — and keep in mind that there are many people out there that balance on just one foot (and some of those people are even great athletes!) So next time you find yourself getting frustrated after falling out of tree pose for the 19th time, take a deep breath, take a step back and find thankfulness for what you do have and for the amazing capabilities of your body (including whatever limitations you may have). Having gratitude is the quickest way to become grounded. And being grounded is the quickest way to find flight.

2. CONTROL THE BREATH.

The easiest way to lose your balance? Hold your breath. When your body is contorted in to a difficult one legged, folding forward, backbending, twisted shape, it almost seems counterintuitive to breath. Almost. It is one of the most common mistakes in balance postures – forgetting to breath. But, just as in life, when we need to feel most grounded, centered and *balanced*, remembering to take slow, steady, deep inhales and exhales is what helps us maintain composure. Breath. Slowly and steadily. Allow the breath to become the metronome of your practice providing a constant and consistent beat to follow. Always move with the breath and you will be amazed by the results.

3. CLEAR YOUR MIND.

There is nothing that will take you out of your practice more than a cluttered mind. Draw your attention to the here and now. Focus only on the breath or your intention. Move with grace and purpose, guided only by the breath. Do not let frustrations or competitions or any other thought guide your practice. Clear the mind and you will find ample space to work.

4. FIND YOUR DRISHTI AND LOCK YOUR GAZE.

Find a fixed point in front of you and lock your focus there. For the entire duration of the posture do not move your eyes away from this point. It sounds trivial, but it makes a huge difference. Make sure that your drishti (or point of focus) is straight ahead of you – not on the floor. A wise teacher always said “If you’re looking down, you will go down.” Keep the head and gaze lifted at all times.

5. PRESS DOWN INTO THE STANDING FOOT.

Plant all your weight into the standing leg. Press firmly into the foot and spread the toes wide. And then, both physically and energetically…

6. LIFT UP ON THE KNEE CAP OF YOUR STANDING LEG.

Physically lift the kneecap of the standing leg to activate through the quadriceps and fully activate the leg. Also, energetically, lift all of your weight upwards. Let all your weight and all your energy rise up high toward the crown of your head. That upward momentum will help make you feel weightless. And when you don’t have weight and gravity pulling you down…hell, you could levitate on one leg!

7. ENGAGE YOUR BANDHAS.

Physically engage your mula bandha, or root lock, by lifting the pelvic floor — imagine that you really need to use the bathroom and pull those muscles in toward the body as if you’re holding it in. Physically engage your uddiyana bandha, or flying upwards lock, by pulling the navel center in toward the spine and then up into the ribcage. Keep these bandhas locked and fully engaged throughout all balance postures and you will notice a significant difference.

8. PULL IN ON THE LOW BELLY.

Another physical and energetic motion. Engage throughout your entire core, activating through the abdominals. The core is one of the major contributors to balance so make sure to keep it tight and active throughout any balancing.

9. FIND EQUAL AND OPPOSITE ENERGY.

In vricksasana, or tree pose, press into the leg with the foot and press back on the foot with the leg with equal and opposite energy. In nataranjasana, or dancer’s pose, kick into the hand with the foot and pull back down on the foot with the hand with equal and opposite energy. Whatever posture you are holding, keep all the muscles active by pushing and pulling with equal and opposite energy in different directions. The more muscles that are active and engaged during any posture, the easier the pose becomes as it distributes the weight of the body across more muscle groups.

10. ALLOW YOURSELF TO FALL.

No one is perfect. Even the greatest of yogis have their “off” days. And that’s okay. Allow it in yourself. Find some humor in your practice. Fall. Laugh. Fall some more. And then come right back into the posture. At the end of the day, it is called a yoga practice. And picture-perfect postures as well as falling flat on your face is all part of the practice. So enjoy it and have fun. Humble yourself with every fall and congratulate yourself with every achievement. And find that perfect balance within your ego.

May you always find your balance on and off your mat 🙂

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