…Practice compassion.
Frustration
So many of my clients want to improve their balance. They often become frustrated and lose their patience with the process. The thing is, physical balance has many contributing factors that could prove to be a gateway to deep compassion.
Let’s get physical
The most obvious challenge is the physicality of balance. We are asymmetrical organic breathing beings, so balancing is not so much about being still, but about dancing with body and breath in the present moment. This takes practice, strength and awareness.
Challenges?
Then there is past injury or surgery that can contribute to making balance even more illusive. For instance, if you’ve fallen before there could be some fear lurking around as well. Or, if you have had surgery that could make you a little leery of over stretching a certain area for quite some time after.
Deeper…
We can go deeper still though to family of origin. I know it doesn’t seem like standing on one foot could be effected by your parents, however, if your parents are afraid of falling, it would not be that strange if you are too. Not on purpose, but because it was presented to you repeatedly as a risk. (As a sandwich generation dweller, I know this one first hand.)
Even Deeper…
There is even another layer (as odd as it sounds, in the DNA,) as evidenced by a study of mice who were trained to fear the scent of cherry blossoms through the delivery of a small electric shock. They began to avoid it altogether. The interesting thing about this experiment is that it effected not only the mice in the experiment but their offspring too. You read that right, the 2nd generation was not trained to “fear” cherry blossoms through electric shock or modeling, but actually inherited this trait from the parent. Can you possilby know all the ways your heritage has effected you???
So what is my point?
Honor your humanity! There is more than meets the eye going on in everything you do, especially when you are playing to your edge or learning something new. Compassion and patience for your human experience when applied in large doses will take you to places you’ve never dreamed of, especially when you start to realize that the same layers of challenge apply to everyone!
Real Compassion
Here is where the real compassion begins. Once you’ve learned to offer it to yourself it begins to spill over to those around you. That rude driver who cut you off? Or that closed-minded relative? They can all receive the grace of compassion that balancing in tree pose teaches. Balancing the understanding that you cannot know what brought any of them to this point or why they are the way they are anymore than you can have ALL the answers to why you yourself are frustrated or even triggered by them.
GET IT RIGHT!
Do you expect to “get it right” the first time? Or do you offer yourself compassion in learning? Do you allow yourself to be human? Or do you beat yourself up for not being perfect? Does this area in you feel stuck, immovable?
I can help! sign up here for a free 30 minute coaching call, I’ll share 3 tools to help get you on your way to deep compassion for yourself and others : )