Balance

Yogi

Your capacity to do good in your environment is directly related to your own balance and ability to maintain a responsible life. If you are excessively self-centered, you will be unable to focus on your commitments to others sufficiently. If you are excessively other-centered, you will diminish your own capacity to do good for others by depleting your energy and efficiency. All life depends on balance to sustain itself.

Finding your personal balance point is a lifelong pursuit. That balance point changes as you change your environment and as your environment changes you. Learning to build a sense of balance that carries from moment to moment of consciousness is the basis of many so-called 'spiritual' practices. Yet, the basis of this sense of balance is healthy brain chemistry, founded in a healthy body metabolism.

Those who are strongly habituated to physical exercise and proper diet tend to be more capable at achieving a sense of balance under stress. This is not spiritual. This is just plain common sense. A well maintained machine (human body) works more efficiently and is easier to fix when something wears out.

The foundations of any healthy daily practice are sufficient diet, sufficient exercise and sufficient rest.

The habits in daily life that build these foundations of practice require planning, setting boundaries and some routine. Meditation is rest for the mind and body. Reflection is useful time spent looking at the details of your life and planning better ways of living. Study is necessary to learn about how the human body and brain operate.

Part of being awake is the understanding that your body is your only vehicle in this precious life. It is all that you truly possess. It is also mortal and will eventually stop working, no matter what you do. Maximizing the usefulness of your brain and body comes with understanding how it works and then doing what needs to be done to keep it working well. As you adapt to this way of being, balance becomes more attainable. Imbalance becomes more evident. Gradually, you begin to maintain your balance less self-consciously. It's like riding a bicycle. Eventually, you can maintain balance and bring that balance to everything you do.