Finding Balance in an Unbalanced World
Exploring the meaning of ‘balance’ in yoga and wellness culture
What does ‘balance’ mean? Yoga and wellness culture speak a lot about balance, but what does that mean? What does that look like in our culture, in our day-to-day lives, in our relationships and communities, and how does this influence our growth and exploration in yoga?
Watch the video discussion on finding balance in an unbalanced world, or read the transcript notes below.
Finding Balance in an Unbalanced World
I find that the concept of balance is, to me, a bit elusive, particularly in the context of our work and personal lives. As yoga teachers and practitioners, we often find ourselves navigating a path between striving and stillness, between ambition and contentment, and it’s an ongoing challenge to even know what balanced would look like.
So, what does ‘balance’ really mean?
I’m coming to this discussion with a lot of questions and not a lot of answers, to be honest. I’m curious about why we don’t we have a reference point for balancing work/life, goals/contentment (grind culture), why is it literally confusing to find a middle ground between striving and laziness?
I have a lot of notes on this discussion – I tried to look through multiple lenses, including looking at balance at a societal level, including our ideas about work ethic, what the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali say about balance, peaking through a dualist and non-dualist lens to look at the idea of mind-body balance, how we might start to look at balance from an individual perspective, and maybe some strategies. I’ll keep asking for your thoughts as we flow through all these subjects, and will look forward to your questions, insights, strategies, and areas that you want to keep exploring.
Where do our ideas about work and rest come from?
Let’s start by talking about ‘work ethic’. Where do our ideas about the ethics of work and rest come from? Here in North America, we often point to the powerful influence of the Puritans when it comes to work, rest, and leisure (although I should mention they aren’t the only group who had strange ideas about work).
The Puritans believed that working hard was a crucial part of their faith. They thought that when people put in effort, it pleased their god. They also thought that hard work could lead to success, allowing them to take care of themselves and their families. Within this belief is also the idea that excessive rest or leisure was indicative of immorality.
The Puritans were big on being self-sufficient and making money through working hard and being careful with their resources. They believed that having money and possessions was a sign that their god was happy with them. Some theorize that this focus on working hard and being self-reliant, along with the need to trade goods with both the Indigenous people and England, helped North America become more focused on trade and having a capitalist, individualist mindset.
This work ethic is fundamental to settler colonial projects like the US, Canada, and Australia. In order to extract the resources of ‘newly discovered’ lands, they needed people’s hard work, so work was encouraged to the point that rest and leisure was considered almost an afront to the project of colonization.
Rest is not laziness, it’s essential
If we look at some of the most influential thinkers and innovators who impacted our modern lives, folks like Thomas Edison or Nikola Tesla for example, they though sleep was, and I quote, ‘a waste of time’. All of this created a culture where rest was equated with laziness and immorality, and hard workers were considered more morally upright than people who lived more balanced lives. They just didn’t recognize the biological necessity of rest (let along the psychological, social, or spiritual necessity of rest).
I don’t want to get off track here, but I think it’s interesting to consider how our relationship with work and rest impacts how we also think about work/rest when it comes to how we approach relationships, our built environment, farming and agriculture, our economy, etc.
Having a deeply rooted idea of work and growth and individual achievement at all costs has…well, costs!
A balancing act
In a world that glorifies hustle culture, it’s no wonder that we struggle to find a reference point for balancing work and life. The constant pressure to achieve more, do more, be more can leave us feeling overwhelmed and disconnected from our inner selves. But amidst the chaos, there lies an opportunity to redefine balance on our own terms.
Pause for a moment and reflect on this notion of balance. Is it about juggling our commitments like a circus act, or is it about finding harmony within ourselves and our surroundings? Perhaps it’s a bit of both. Balance, in its truest sense, is a state of equilibrium where we feel grounded, centered, and aligned with our values.
So, why is it so challenging to strike a balance between work and rest? The answer perhaps lies in the societal conditioning that we’ve just talked about that tells us productivity equals worth. We’ve been conditioned to believe that constant busyness is a badge of honor, while rest and relaxation are seen as signs of weakness. But in reality, balance requires honoring both our need for action and our need for rest.
What do the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali have to say about balance?
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, a foundational text of yoga philosophy and ethics, offers us some insights on balance, both in terms of physical practice and mental equilibrium. A few of these sutras that touch on balance include:
Sutra 1.33:
The mind becomes clear and serene when the qualities of the heart are cultivated: friendliness towards the joyful, compassion towards the suffering, happiness towards the ethical, impartiality towards the unethical.
This sutra, speaking about the 4 Virtues, outlines the qualities of a balanced or equanimous mind, which guides us towards mental and emotional balance amidst the dualities of life. It speaks of cultivating friendliness (Maitri) towards those who are happy, compassion (Karuna) towards those who are suffering, joy (Mudita) towards those who are virtuous, and detachment (Upeksa) towards those who are non-virtuous.
Sutra 2.29:
There are 8 Limbs of Yoga: Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana, Samadhi.
This sutra lists the eight limbs of yoga, of which balance is an inherent aspect. Each limb, from ethical principles (Yama) to meditation (Samadhi), contributes to the overall balance and integration of the practitioner.
Sutra 2.46:
Sthira Sukham Asanam – The physical postures should be steady and comfortable.
This sutra highlights the importance of finding steadiness (Sthira) and ease (Sukha) in yoga postures (Asana). It suggests that balance in our physical practice comes through the practice of balancing of work and rest, doing and not-doing, effort and effortlessness. That balance might come through practicing asana and then relaxation, or finding a balance of work and rest within each pose, breathwork technique, or even meditation.
Sutra 2.48:
Then we are no longer upset by the play of opposites.
Following the previous sutra, this sutra suggests that by mastering the balance of effort and relaxation in yoga postures (Asana), one becomes unshaken by the dualities of life. This includes pairs of opposites like pleasure and pain, success and failure, etc.
These sutras offer profound wisdom on how to cultivate balance not only in the physical realm but also in our minds and hearts. They remind us that true balance is a holistic endeavor that encompasses all aspects of our being.
Mind/body balance
I think it’s worth taking a moment to consider what we mean when we talk about mind/body balance in yoga. Is this just nodding at a holistic/wholistic approach to health, wellbeing, and self-care, or are we speaking more specifically to a dualistic philosophy or approach that might not actually reflect how you think about the Self, or the experience of being?
What does dualistic mean? Let’s take a quick look:
In yoga there are both dualistic and non-dualistic philosophies.
In dualism, there is an idea that we are made of two components ‘purusha’ or spirit/consciousness, and ‘prakruti’ or the material stuff of our body and mind.
If we are following a dualistic approach, yoga is about freeing our consciousness or spirit from its entanglement with the material. This is largely the approach of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. So, the goal of yoga would not be so much mind/body balance but rather overcoming the ‘stuff’ of body/mind in order to abide in spirit.
In non-dualism, spirit and matter are not seen as distinct and separate, and in opposition to each other, but rather part of the whole. This ‘wholistic’ philosophy sees all aspects of the self, body, mind, consciousness, spirit, as arising from the same source and part of a singular energy.
For the dualist, body and mind are seen as separate, and as obstacles to overcome. Whereas for the non-dualist, body and mind are fundamentally interconnected.
How does this relate to the idea of balance? When we talk about mind/body or mind/body balance, which I still do, to a certain extent in my own teaching, what are we talking about?
Are we speaking about taking care of ourselves in a wholistic way? Are we talking about caring for ourselves through a bio/psycho/social/spiritual model?
How does this relate to our ideas about health, illness, and disease?
The reason I might continue to use the term mind/body is to convey that yoga encompasses a wide range of practices such as asana, meditation, breathwork, and ethics, all of which can enhance not only our physical health but also our mental, emotional, social, and spiritual well-being.
You might use different language, for a similar purpose, especially if you are committed to either a dualist or non-dualist framework.
I think this is an important point to continue to explore.
What balance isn’t:
- Static
- Perfection
- Universal/same for everyone
- Visible to others
- Exclusive
- Passive
- Ignoring your needs in order to meet your goals
Even in practices like yoga, intended to guide our journey towards self-awareness, physical health, or spiritual enlightenment, imbalances can arise. The yoga community, spanning centuries, has been marked by folks pushing themselves excessively in practices that are decidedly not fostering balance.
What balance might be:
- Fluid
- Active
- Mindful
- Inclusive
- Personal/Individual
- Dependent on here and now
- Invisible to others
- Meeting your needs then your goals
How do we balance?
This might include balancing work and rest, which is going to look different to everyone.
This might include examining our beliefs and biases about work, rest, self-care, and health.
This might require acknowledging that balance is fluid, rather than static. What is balanced today might not be balanced tomorrow.
This might require both understanding your priorities and being flexible with your goals.
Think about the ‘ingredients’ that impact your balance, including how you spend your time, your movement and meditation practice, how you fuel and nourish yourself, how you engage socially, how you engage with your work, how you care for yourself and others, how you rest and recharge, what environments you spend time in, and how you feel about yourself, your beliefs and values, and how you are meeting the challenges of life.
Practical strategies for finding balance in our lives.
1) First and foremost, prioritize self-care. Just as we encourage our students to listen to their bodies on the mat, we must listen to our own needs on and off the mat. This means carving out time for rest, relaxation, and rejuvenation. Burnout for yoga teachers is a regular phenomenon, so to reduce burnout we have to find a balance in our lives.
2) Next, learn to set boundaries. Boundaries are not walls; they are bridges that allow us to respect our needs while maintaining healthy relationships and commitments. Whether it’s saying no to extra work, setting boundaries on how far you’ll travel to teach a class, or setting aside time for self-reflection, boundaries are essential for maintaining balance.
3) Explore the Yamas and Niyamas. Bringing the ethics of yoga into your everyday life can be a great way to learn more about yourself and find a balance that works for you. These ethical practices are non-harming, truthfulness, integrity, moderation, nonattachment, simplicity, contentment, clarity, refinement, and relaxation.
4) Practice mindfulness and present-moment-ness in all aspects of your life. Mindfulness is not just about meditation; it’s about bringing awareness to every moment, whether you’re washing dishes or leading a yoga class. By staying present and attuned to our thoughts and feelings, we can cultivate a deeper sense of balance and clarity.
5) Embrace imperfection. Balance is not about achieving perfection; it’s about finding peace amidst the chaos. Give yourself permission to make mistakes, to falter, and to grow. Remember, it’s okay to recalibrate and readjust your balance as needed.
As we conclude our discussion on balance, I encourage you to reflect on these ideas in your own life.
How can you create more harmony between your work and personal life?
What practical steps can you take to cultivate a greater sense of balance and well-being?
Remember, the journey to balance is ongoing, but with our yoga practice, with mindfulness and intention, we can find our way back to center.
Thank you for joining me on this exploration of balance.
Until next time, may you find peace and equilibrium in all that you do.
Heather Agnew, ERYT-500, lead trainer, Yoga Trinity
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