Life gets rapidly out of balance especially when expectations do not manifest as imagined. My family life is notably out of balance right now, affected by the challenge of skillfully navigating our 18-year-old's recent diagnosis of celiac disease. Every aspect of our lives is being touched with imbalance. 

Years ago I attended a workshop entitled Striking a Balance. Memory of the specific content has faded but a pendulum metaphor for balance is clear and alive. The premise of the pendulum swing is that balance is not a static event, but rather a fluid movement where, for a nanosecond, one can experience infinite space, clarity, and precision. Balance. We then move in a direction of imbalance until perfect forces arise to counter the direction of movement and return to balance.

Balance is a euphoric feeling of rightness. It shows up in the body as equilibrium, and in the mind as equanimity. Each and every condition and situation in our modern world returns to balance through fluid movement. The practice of balancing is flow. Flow in the body, and flow in the mind.

Nature balances, money balances, body balances, mind balances. Balance is the natural order of life.

We don't need to look far in nature to recognize the way nature balances: gently through changing seasons and more forcefully through fire, earthquakes, and tsunamis. Nature is the consummate teacher for the practice of balancing.

In the world of money, there is also balance. Basic accounting teaches us about debits and credits, net worth is a calculation of assets minus liabilities, and cash flow renders either a surplus or deficit. Individually, on the micro level, we pay attention to these matters so that our personal financial situation does not get out of balance. Collectively, on the macro level, government debt operates as a system for balancing global trade and individual saving/spending. If the government decreases debt to increase surplus, the balance for debt must be met by either a shift in trade or in the private sector. Everyone can not be in surplus. If the government moves toward surplus and the U.S. imports more than it exports, the private sector balances the difference with decreased spending and saving.

In Chinese medicine when our body systems are out of balance, we get sick. Moving chi (energy) through acupuncture and other healing modalities opens flow. Our body can heal itself if we move toward balance, eliminating toxins and increasing healthy practices.

The mind can be balanced through meditation. The phrase monkey mind is used to describe a frenetic mind filled with thoughts and direction toward something, away from something, or paused in neutral. Most of us are afflicted with monkey mind regularly. The only sustaining remedy for monkey mind, and eventually equanimity, is meditation.

In my family currently, we are recognizing the amplitude of balance. Gaining access to an antidote has been our growth inspiration. Life gives us direct experiences of concepts offered for processing. We are shifting our expectations, shifting our eating habits, shifting our hopes, shifting our fears, and sending the pendulum in the other direction.

Consider your life now and which aspect is beckoning balance.
What practice would support you?

Flowing toward balance,

~ Frank Herbert