Balance and Movement

Some people feel that good dancers are born. All the good dancers I've known have been taught or trained.
---Fred Astaire, quoted on the back of the "Ballroom" video tape.



Life on earth is a living meditation. Everything we do has the potential to teach something and the results are not always easy. We hold onto things we should let go and let go of things that are best embraced. Who can choose but us? When the time is right, we know what to do and really feel.

One Master in the martial arts once told me that the small releases were as good as the big ones. They certainly feel that way. For those of you who do not know me, I was injured in a car accident. This left me trying to return to work in a difficult economy with difficulty explaining the gap in my employment. Although I am not old by most standards, I am a bit up there in age to do the college trip to Europe after spontaneously leaving a job. This is a tough break for me but I did end up forming my own business. I love working at home! Of course, the money could be better, but I haul in the cat food, which makes Thomas very happy.

There is this underlying neck injury I have. There is a sort of underlying pain just below the surface of what I am very conscious of. I feel good, but I am not able to return to martial arts and some of my pre-accident activities. There are moments when I feel I can let this injury go. I get to this moment and I feel as though I can release... and I don't. I must be holding this injury for some reason.

Listening to Chris Northrup, M.D. in Creating Health, she states that we sometimes hold onto injury when this serves us in some way. What we receive from this injury may be just identification. For instance, "...the lady that was in the car accident." As long as someone's identity is found in the injury, it may be difficult to let go of. I can't imagine that I would be doing thing, but I found this concept interesting and pondered the possibility.

I look to life experience when trying to solve "spiritual riddles." Often the physical has a parallel teaching to the spiritual if we look to the lesson. Balance... is a riddle to me. I learned in my yoga classes that balance is an ever-changing fluid concept. The world is always moving and changing. Flow is important. One needs a flowing balance that is never the same exact center from one moment to the next.

When we are born, we do not have balance. We don't have enough strength to try it either. I remember wanting to walk because everyone else did. I did walk by nine months too, although my first steps were not strong ones. I had the opportunity to see someone else's first steps and I remember pondering if that little step or two was an accident or not. Then they tried it again.

So, when I was little, I took a few steps and spent a lot more time crawling and a few more steps, then more crawling. I could stand by steadying myself on things or holding furniture. Pretty soon, I was walking. Walking was not enough. It seems just as soon as we get somewhere in life, we naturally desire more.

I wanted to stand up and zip my zipper at the same time or try out those buttons without falling over. There was hopping to do and then full-fledged jumping. Then there were ropes added to the mix. No sooner could I do one rope by myself then I learned to jump with my friends. They twirled the rope and we took turns jumping in the middle. Then Double Dutch was even more fun!

For someone who could not walk at first, just like all the other babies, I was really going all the way. I joined the gymnastic team, then held some records in jumping. I learned to dance. I jumped off things.

I still learn a lot of lessons in balance because things are ever changing. No sooner do I have something down pat, then I grow... quite literally at times. I became too tall to continue being a gymnast. I was taller than the male gymnasts on my team. It was time to go onto other activities. I practiced martial arts for years and now I am back in yoga class.

Even after growing to full height the lessons in balance continue. Do you ever flail your arms around when you are losing your balance? Did you ever notice it does not help? If you can think through and past flailing, you can make one smart move in the direction you want to balance to, and chances are you will find balance. I learned that in martial arts years ago although it seems a rather obvious lesson when you think about it.

So, it is not that I am perfectly balanced, because I am still changing. I still have adjustments to make as I get older. But I do understand that balance takes time, learning, patience, and adjustment to changes in order to learn and continue.

Ways to understand and study balance can often come through more structured physical activities. Tai chi, yoga, and martial arts are great for this type of learning. Observative living is a good teaching tool too. Just stand balanced on one foot for a really long time and see if you would like a change.