Standing in a tree pose during beach yoga class Wednesday morning, I lost the center of my balance and my foot touched the ground. Our yogini Sherry said, "If you fall out of it, that's okay, just get right back in it." I lifted my foot, readjusted my balance, and focused my steady stare on a seagull in the Gulf perched on a buoy.
Yoga is a strength class. With most challenging balancing poses, our footing might occasionally slip and we lose the balancing act. It's okay, we simply give ourselves another chance and begin again - we readjust. That not only strengthens our yoga practice, it strengthens our bodies.
As most utterances said during yoga class, Sherry's wise words can also apply to life.
Not one of us is always balanced, always on, always righted, always have it together 24/7. We are seesaws! We fall. All of us. We fall out of it. We fall into it. We fumble / stumble / tumble out of place. We fail, we flail, we flounder. Then we readjust. We rise. We stand.
When you become unbalanced - physically, emotionally, mentally - you eventually get back into place, align yourself. Touch down and lift up again. That's okay. We are constantly learning, growing, evolving.
It may take 2 minutes, it may take 2 months. It might involve self-help, professional therapy, a long hot bath, or hours of girlfriend time. It may take years or weeks. That's okay. You'll find your balance again.
In the meantime, be kind to all versions of yourself: balanced and unbalanced.
Offer yourself another chance to get it right.
