Balance doesn't have to include yoga, but standing steady during the hours and days of your life does need a commitment from you. Even those who don't have addictive dynamics woven into their relationships need ways to center, particularly in the face of all we're fed each day through social media and news stories. Stimulation overload, brain numbing, too many choices and too little quiet make it easy to lose our way.
How do you maintain emotional and psychological steadiness during times of great busy-ness or great stress? I often think of an image from one of my favorite childhood books, The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Snow was no kidding matter in those pioneer days. Blizzards and snow 6 - 7 feet deep were common occurrences. So how were Laura or Pa going to get to the woodshed and/or the barn where animals stood waiting for food and water? Snow squalls left them without vision to guide. So in anticipation of those blizzard conditions, Pa planned ahead. He tied a rope from one building to another so they could follow it from house to shed to barn.
So do you have a rope to hold onto? A way of navigating during stressful times? How do you practice self care? What is your "go to?" What does your support system look like? How do you keep track of YOU while navigating all that is in front of you? Is it time to re-evaluate what you do to stay aligned with your personal strengths? And to take stock of your weaknesses? Triggers? When are you most likely to go off the rails? To make decisions that will not serve you?
My personal "rope" has changed over the years. Currently mine includes daily yoga, prayer and meditation, daily walking in nature, some journaling, contemplative readings, a little online time and a lot of talking-out-loud-to God. All ways to keep my rope strong so I can find my way through personal (or even political) storms. And life has taught me that recovery doesn't mean there will be no more storms.
There will be those days and times when the world, and everyone in it, just feel off. Make sure your rope is equipped for storms so you can continue to be the wonderful human that you are in the coming year. Make a list of the 4 or 5 things you do on a daily basis to stay aligned with YOU and your one precious life.
Peace for us all as we enter this new decade. May it contain awe and wonder for you and just enough surprise to keep you on your spiritual toes!
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