Balancing: being fully in, and with life. Matching experience with expression is an effective practice of balancing named by Gay and Kathlyn Hendricks, masters of somatic integration. To sustain an embodied balance, for every life experience, there will be an inseparable expression. When experience doesn't unify with expression, because we have not been fully present, we "go off" balance and our clumsy, unconscious attempts to recalibrate balance are openings for becoming masters. 

I'm very familiar with the profound effects of balancing experience and expression. With embodied practices, I am aware when my matching is off and the inseparability of experience/expression appears as dualistic. Opportunity to engage in recalibration activities! Writing and journaling is a favorite, followed closely by movement (dancing.) Even with a well-developed practice, I still get caught in a space of unmatching. Sometimes life experiences "blow you out of the water" - the stuff where imagination pales and there are no available words or expressions fitting as a match.   

That's what happened recently on a trip to China and Tibet. My experience was so moving - I cannot describe the ocean of love that surrounds us, always. To verbalize it is just not possible. One attempt at an expressive response became a shopping frenzy for my beloved family and friends. If I could buy them a treasure from the places of our experience, a symbol of our experience, then they too could experience the same ocean of love. After two days of rainy weather shopping, and a new suitcase to carry all of the gifts, I looked at the pile of stuff with utter dismay. What's going on? What's really happening here?  

Many of us are unaware of our experience/expression balance. We enjoy a big experience and have no clue our excessive talking is an attempt to integrate toward balance. Or, we indulge in days of celebration with family and friends at a reunion and ignore our body signals of fatigue in over expression, a simple call to feel the experience in sensations and energy from the inside. Depending upon the state of imbalance, here are a few activities to support matching: sharing from the heart, movement in any form with or without sound, writing or journaling using pen and paper, emotional flow feeling the energies and sensations in your body, making sounds with vocal cords, meditation, sleep and cooking.  

Two days out of the gift-buying space, onto the next leg of our trip, revealed a depth of learning about fully digesting experiences. Now is the perfect and only time. When that doesn't happen, follow the opening offered, as the path for insight and wisdom. There is more to say about fully digesting experiences. For now, let's simply get familiar with the inseparability of experience and expression. 

Recognize that life's riches are the experiences that humans are invited to fully receive, and to match with our unique expression. Be mindful that shopping, and spending, are generally unhealthy money habits... not healthy matching practices. No trinket will ever come close to the ocean of love. The only expression close to matching the experience is to be that ocean of love, accessing the same space in our hearts' knowing. 

As this writing completes, I am experiencing the glory of a summer downpour - thunder crashing, and wind blowing - nature at its finest. My breath is deep and round and full, my gaze is vast in the hazy sky, powerfully matching this spectacle of water flow. Wherever you are in this moment, be present to the inseparability of experience/expression. 

Commit to sustaining this presence. When, if, your presence lapses, follow the opening to recalibrate. Choose the activity that best fits your situation. Because money is one of the obstacles of our modern world, key into any money habits that might be ripe for clearing. 

Honoring presence,