A Delicate Balance

In our busy, busy world, we usually focus too much on the effort we are experiencing – the movement, the commitment, the temporary dedication, thinking that it’s this effort that will get us to wherever we think we need to go.

It seems as though we have forgotten how to feel at ease – to take a true rest. Even when we partake in practices that are meant to be easy and soothing (yoga, meditation), we often find it difficult to take it easy, to slow down, to trust in the easiness. Our minds, conditioned to always be in “busy” mode, always feeling a little restless, make it difficult to allow ourselves to drop into mental, emotional and physical ease.

So many of our thoughts and so much of our precious energy is expended on an anxiety that we are not exerting enough effort.

Am I doing enough? Am I trying enough? Am I efficient enough? Am I accomplishing enough? Am I good enough?

We can see how these patterns of thinking can lead to forms of suffering and further restlessness – stresses in the body, stresses in the mind.

How, then, do we confront this difficulty of always being in tension with the forces of effort and ease? We must find a balance of these two energies – a steady middle ground where we no longer feel conflicted.

But how is this to be done when we are so conditioned to always focus on the effort; when it is so difficult to feel at ease?

There are all kinds of rulebooks, techniques and therapists that offer us guidelines for how not to feel torn between activity and rest, work and play – on how to instead have both coincide peacefully.

The simplest, most basic path, however, is the breath – always available, always guiding us through each and every moment.

The breath – the effort of the inhale, the force of the belly pushing away from the spine, the powerful ribcage reaching out; the uplifting, encouraging inhale. Always followed by the exhale – the easy, smooth release, a soothing relaxation of structure, the natural return to neutral; the rooting, reaffirming exhale.

And the space between. The pause at the top of the inhale, the bottom of the exhale – a mere glimpse of silence and steadiness. A moment of balance between effort and ease.

The breath offers us an awareness of our experiences with effort and ease. We can use the breath to find a middle ground, a quiet center, a graceful surrender. When we follow the breath, we come back home, over and over again.

Love and light,

Heather