I Just Want To Find My Balance: Lessons from the Writing Yogi by Debralee Mede

Lately, I've been thinking about the issues that seem to get in the way of my

Balance Pose by lobster 20 at freedigitalphotos.net

writing life, and rest assured, there are many: the neighbors, the landlord, the job or lack thereof, and life in general. All these issues seem to want the front seat of my mind! Then I think to myself (sometimes out loud): "What will allow me to accomplish what I need and want to do in my life, especially when it comes to writing?"

Suddenly, a fuse is flicked on and an old cartoon light bulb appears over my head. "An idea is born!" and oddly enough while standing in the "tree pose", during yoga class, balancing my check book and juggling six buzzing chainsaws. "How is it that I can feel self aware, with my mind focused on one basic task, without all the confines of my stressful life, and only when I do yoga? Answer: My five basic rules of yoga: 1Trust; 2. Maintain a steady gaze and stand firm; 3. Gain stamina ; 4. If you fall, get up; 5. Keep the courage; 6. Keep it moving.

I recalled my Yoga instructor, Sherry, who had been through some difficult times in her life and found that Yoga was the one thing she could say actually helped her to achieve the balance, wholeness and peace that she desired. In our discussions we found that it may be very helpful to my writing life if I started to apply some of the principles of balancing in Yoga.

To accomplish any type of balancing one must accept that there may be modifications to the pose, at first. I couldn't start out with the balance needed to just do a perfect "tree pose" immediately. Like many other things in my life I found that more practice was necessary to finally accomplish balance. I also needed to continue practicing without self-judgment and comparison so that I could ultimately balance without any added baggage.

The most widely used pose in Yoga for balance is the "tree pose" where the practitioner stands on one leg and holds his hands together in a prayer position next to his heart. A famous Indian Yogi, Yoga Madiram, says that this pose is "supposed to motivate the individual to work toward their goal even if there are many obstacles in the way. The point is to make a dedicated effort to one's practice," he says. "It makes us strong, it enhances our willpower, and we achieve amazing benefits." So here are six steps that work for attaining the tree pose and for finding balance in your writing life.

1. Make it an act of trust:

First, take a risk because any kind of balancing requires trust and a leap of faith. As it is with Yoga you need to leap forward and trust your dreams. Be willing to write and take a chance on your dreams.

2. Keep your eyes on the prize or maintain a steady gaze and stand firm:

Keep and maintain a steady focus by keeping your eyes on the object that you desire. This should minimize distractions and keep you fixed on your goal

3. Gain writing stamina by strengthening writing muscles

It is in the tiny movements of daily or regular writing practice approached with steadfastness that will allow the words to flow. This lesson is about giving up some control of all circumstances you face. Understand that things come up; control your reactions and minimized distractions and stay the course.

4. Okay, so you fell or you're in a full tilt, so get up, life happens only to the living.

Give yourself a break! Falling is easy, recognize your effort thus far, pick yourself up and start again by accepting where you are in that moment and move forward.

5. Keep the courage and get on with it:

When you fall, don't quit just keep going. Let go of how you think you should be to seeing yourself to seeing yourself where you are now. You will improve with practice but you have to be determined enough to "Stick to it."

6. Keep it moving:

Lastly and this has to do with another activity and to quote Albert Einstein: "Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving." So keep moving and keep writing.

My question to you is: What do you do to keep your life balanced and keep on writing?

Debralee Mede

7/26/2011

Filed under: Debralee Mede, romance, Writer's Life