We strive for it on our mats, we sometimes get frustrated when we wobble or fall- much like the frustration that comes from feeling off balance when we step off our mats and into the world. Unfortunately imbalance in our lives most often shows up as frustration, shame or sadness because We don’t always have the same intense focus and due diligence with balance off our mats as we do when we are taking a balance Asana like Warrior III.

We are as ill feeling when we experience an imbalance in our lives as we do when we stand in witness of our balance during a yoga class- we just aren’t always aware it’s truly imbalance we are feeling.

In fact, your balance in yoga class can be a peep hole into what is happening in your life. In this way life shows up on your mat and we become more aware of underlying imbalance in our daily lives.

And just as we take time to establish balance on our mats, take a moment or two in life’s moments to become aware of when you feel a balance or when you don’t.

Awareness is the first step to working toward establishing balance between work and home, between indulgence and moderation. Taking steps towards a more balanced life can require drawing some tough lines in the sand- with your boss at work, your friends and family, workmates or peers- all who also may struggle balancing work with pleasure or distracting themselves by busying their lives leading to exhaustion. Like dominoes we’re in danger of knocking each other down. Meeting a leader with a good sense of balance feels the opposite, their grounded ways and stability makes them better able to support and lift you up. Thus, greater success abounds.

So next time your yoga facilitator invites you into eagle pose. Without judgement, notice your thoughts, your focus, and how the pose arrives in your body. Notice as you breathe and let go of thought and make time for balance, the sensations in the body-as you ground down to reach up for possibility.

Imagine all that is possible when we make time to balance time for friends and loved ones with work. Balance movement with stillness. Alone time and time surrounded in friendship. What happens when we become more aware of in balance in our lives is that we get a chance to ground down and open up to possibility.