Balance [Yogi Dragoness]

I wish you all a wonderful Tuesday!

Balance. Balance is something that we are always trying to perfect. Perhaps it might be trying to find balance in the large things in life - trying to balance time between working your job and spending it in family. Balancing your daily schedule so you cram in enough sleep, a social life, work, relaxation time, and exercise too (has anyone actually ever been able to achieve this?). But balance can be something you struggle with time and time again in a single day. For example, when writing a blog post I am trying to balance getting my message across and not writing too much. Balance is so important and present, that sometimes I forget that's what I'm trying to do. Sometimes we just call it 'juggling' instead, but balance just sounds so much nicer, right? It implies that everything will always be there, even if you get it wrong. With juggling, it sounds like a simple mistake can tip everything out of the balance. 

Lately in life, I feel like I am juggling more than I am balance. Now, that might just be because my exams are creeping closer. I know I already wrote a blog post about feeling under pressure, but as May 2nd creeps closer... I have to admit the nerves are mounting. All of sudden it feels like I am scrambling to study with not nearly enough time to get done what I want to get done. I am sure all of you who have ever had to sit a single test, or a single exam knows what I am thinking about. 

But the best thing about balance is something that we seem to forget. Balance is natural to us. Physically, it is, as we are always standing on two legs and walking around - yes, even you clumsy people have balance come naturally to you. We don't always need to push and prod at it, and stress about it. The most important thing is to trust yourself, to let it all go and focus on doing what you can. But most importantly, on being happy. Once you've got that down, you'll realise that balance somehow just happens to fall into place....

I'm writing those words, but they are a lot easier 'written than done,' in this case. I am really going to work on it. I know that by May 10th all my source of stress will be over and behind me. I have two sisters who are in the final year of either their bachelor's or master's degree, and both of them look back on this time and can remember that it seemed chaotic and difficult to get through, but that's it. A speck in the past. That's what it all comes down to in the end anyway. 

There is this brilliant pose in yoga called the scale pose. It's simple but takes some effort. You need to cross your legs in lotus pose, and then carry yourself. You need to lean forward a little bit, and really use your core to carry you up, and then balance. There are a few other variations to doing this (which I want to learn someday), but I wanted to push my balance. I tried to see how many books I could balance on my head while carrying myself in the air. (Bookworms will be bookworms, right?)

It took a few tries. I managed to balance more than I thought I could, and it made me so happy. You'll be able to see that in the photo. ^.^ Either way, once I was happy I had achieved it, I stopped thinking about the technical things so much - how to hold my weight, how many books I was holding - and suddenly I was able to hold the whole pose for a lot longer.

Balance is hard. But the moment you stop pushing yourself to balance more and more, and focus instead on enjoying yourself, you'll be able to balance more and actually enjoy doing it too.

If you want to see more of my yogi catastrophes, follow me on my instagram @yogidragoness!

Olivia's Question: What are two things you struggle to balance in life?

New Video! My book review of The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson.

Olivia-Savannah x