Energy and Equilibrium.
Yin and Yang.
Status quo.
Balance.
The universe, and everything that makes it up, is in a constant struggle to find one thing – equilibrium.
This is true in the environment, in ecosystems, in the world’s water cycle, in the cycle of the seasons and the turning of the earth. The winds, the waves, and every motion that is created in the universe, is a result of a force attempting to return matter to a state of balance.
The same is true in your body, mind, and spirit.
When your body, mind, or soul becomes out of balance, it is your natural reaction to try to correct that imbalance. This can lead to both healthy and unhealthy behaviors.
I’ll give you a couple examples:
If you’ve stayed up all night studying, you put your brain into a state of imbalance. It is no longer rested, you feel sluggish, and you try to correct that imbalance with a chemical – caffeine. Eventually, your body would have correct that imbalance on its own, with sleep, but by forcing it to correct with caffeine, you set off a chain of events that will force the body to return to balance from both the lack of sleep and the jolt of chemicals that you gave to your brain.
Another example is if you decide that suddenly, you’re going to eat McDonald’s every single day for a month. (Thank you for this, Morgan Spurlock). You will throw your body’s equilibrium out of whack, and it will try its damndest to rid your body of the excess chemicals – Diarrhea? Vomiting? Excess sleep? If you were to continue on this diet, eventually your body would find a way to adapt to the damage you were doing to it, and again reach an equilibrium state. Although you may not be healthy in this new state, your body would find balance.
One more example, a little more personal. I struggled for a long time to find balance in my diet and exercise routine. I’ll admit that it’s something that I’m still on the hunt for, but it’s improved dramatically. About two years ago exactly, I was running every day, and consuming very minimal calories. My body was shocked by this routine at first and I lost a dramatic amount of weight. However, eventually my body, in an attempt to reach a state of equilibrium, was no longer responding to the amount of cardio I was doing, and I could not continue to lose weight.
The damage that this did to my body and hormones was devastating, but the good news is that my body is STILL trying to reach equilibrium! As long as I continue to fuel it with good food and a healthy amount of exercise, it will figure out that I am not going to starve it anymore, and it will return to a balanced state.
If you feel as if you are out of balance, or that you are suffering from any type of extreme state of being – chronic pain, depression, headaches, an eating disorder, an exercise addiction, obesity, alcoholism, insomnia, etc. the good news is that you can fix it. I truly believe with every fiber of my being that the universe, and you, will eventually find balance if you want it. Your body already desires so much to reach a state of equilibrium, that if you don’t fight it, you are more than halfway there!
How do you go about finding balance?
That is a deeply personal question and one that only you can answer. Your personal imbalances are most likely a result of your thoughts and everyday patterns. If you are able to identify the source of your imbalance, then you can begin to take the steps to correct it.
How to find the source of your imbalance?
Again, there is no one right answer for any person. Some people can do some reflecting, journaling, or meditating and come up with the answer within themselves. For others, you may want to look to your family and friends and take into account their honest and loving opinions. For many, including myself, I find that therapy is a great place for me to uncover my patterns that put me out of balance, and learn how to correct them through the advice of a professional.
If you take away nothing from this but one thing, I just want you to know that peace is possible. If you have ever experienced a quiet moment all to yourself, where you felt that everything was right with the world, you know what I mean. In that moment, you may have felt calm, happiness, or even just content. For me, it happens with the first snow, when the world is quiet, blanketed in a soft fresh layer of new-ness. It speaks to me of all the extraordinary possibilities of life.
That is what being in equilibrium feels like. It’s not an overwhelming excitement or joy, it is simply a happiness and satisfaction with the present moment.
This is what I am forever searching for, and I hope that you and I both find it. If we can live at peace and find balance with ourselves at each present moment, then we will be able to find peace and balance with the universe and all those around us.
Namaste.
❤
T&T
TreatsAndTraining 