Can We Think Our Way Into Balance?

In today’s Mid Week Mindful Moment I am asking the question, can our minds tell what is real or what is imagined? You may have heard this before. Let’s examine this concept a bit further.

Have you ever watched a scary movie and jumped out of your seat when the villain finally catches up to the lead character? If you have watched the Netflix movie Heal and visualized cutting a lemon in your kitchen and then licking one half of that lemon, did your saliva glands start salivating? Maybe they just did. These types of exercises tell me that the mind cannot always tell the difference between reality and imagination.

Let’s take this concept into our yoga practice. Have you had days where balancing in tree pose or dancer pose takes so much effort that you can’t seem to figure out what the heck is going on? This is where some Svadhyaya or self reflection comes into play. Is what’s happening in our practice mirroring what is going on in our life? Is there an area that is out of balance?

This is where it gets fun. Can we imagine that whatever is out of balance is currently in balance? This is something we can do right now. Close your eyes and think about something that needs to be done. This can be a difficult conversation with a loved one, it could be an unmade bed or a closet that needs cleaning. It could even be that life is so full that you are wondering if there will be time to breathe.

Did you find something? Now, let’s imagine that we are in the future and all that needed to be done is done. Visualize yourself talking to that loved one with a favorable outcome. They are even smiling and nodding, hearing all you needed to say. The bed, made. The closet, organized. Your day, smooth sailing. Imagine the feeling of relief knowing that it’s done. Even imagine the ease of getting it done. Take a deep breath, notice the exhale and come back to your tree pose or dancer pose. Is there a difference in finding your balance? For me, this works every time.

Bringing our extremes of life closer together can help us feel more balanced. I truly believe that what we put our minds to will start to play out, so don’t be surprised if life starts to balance more naturally.

Namaste. Janay-