Since I accepted a full-time teaching position this year, the shift in my daily routine has me thinking about balance even more that usual. With the fall equinox arriving in the Northern Hemisphere this Thursday, I am reminded of Missy Vineyard's perspective:
"Balance would be better described as an exquisitely delicate act of continually recovering – not holding – our uprightness. In order to achieve this, a subtle poise and mobility of the head on the spine is essential to stimulate our [vestibular] system, which sends its data to the brain, enabling it to know our spatial orientation – particularly the direction toward the ground, and the direction of movement of the head.” (How to Land, p. 22)
I am captured by the notion of balance as a practice of "recovering uprightness," restoring or rediscovering verticality, integrity, equanimity. This practice requires a willingness to move to the edge of balance – even perhaps allowing ourselves to fall – as a way to find the ground and a sense of direction. I'm inspired to consider this as an on-going practice of bodily becoming. How are you practicing balance in this season?
Seeking Balance