Balance and Yoga
In part one of the introduction to B.K.S. Iyengar’s classic book ‘Light On Yoga’ Iyengar spends 2 1/2 pages offering various definitions of yoga. One that I particularly like describes yoga as “…a poise of the soul which enables one to look at life in all it’s aspects evenly.” Considering this definition some other words come to mind which further suggest the meaning of yoga – “balance”, “control”, “calm”, “equanimity”, “grace”. Of these, I’d like to suggest that “balance” is the most fundamental component of any yoga practice.
The word “balance” can have very different meanings depending on how it’s used. For example, if “balance” is used as a verb it suggests something we do to acheive stability. . .poise. If I say to you, “balance on one leg!,” your mental and physical effort is directed into maintaining your position with one leg lifted. Standing on one leg can be challenging for many of us, but sometimes the effort to do it results in something very different from stabiltiy or poise. In fact, our effort to “balance” often results in an increase of tension in the body and mind that not only doesn’t help with balance but in fact impairs it. When we try to “do balancing” rather than recognizing and rectifying the cause of our instability our ability to balance remains elusive.
Recognizing and rectifying the cause of our instability requires that we train the mind not just to see what we need to do to acheive stability, but also to see what we are already doing that is promoting instability. As a human being with a mind I am very prone to habits. Perhaps I have a habit of standing with my hips pushed forward. I may do this so often that I don’t even see that I’m doing it until I have occasion to stand with my hips backed up over my ankles. Then my mind sees that I was pushing my hips forward and likely has been for some time. This recognition is the essential step to breaking the habit and changing what I do.
From the standpoint of balance, standing with my hips pushed forward is perhaps the most reliable thing I can do if I want to have difficulty balancing. Standing this way turns off the lateral and posterior hip muscles that are built and positioned for supporting my full weight without undue stress on my joints. Try standing and putting your hands on the lateral and posterior hip with the hips pushed forward. You can easily feel that the muscles are not working to hold you up. This helps the mind to see objectively what you are doing and how it is affecting your ability to stand with stability. In other words, this recognition by the mind is essential for you to balance.
The word “balance” can also be used as a noun in which case the meaning will be quite different. “Balance” as a noun means not something I do but rather something I have. Taking the earlier example, if I simply say to you, “stand on one leg,” it suggests something very different than “balance on one leg”. If you stand on one leg, your effort will be directed toward standing rather than balancing. This will automatically lead to greater stability.
In the earlier example of standing with the hips pushed forward, the word “standing” is really the wrong word. Standing with the hips pushed forward is not really standing but rather falling forward and being held up by the quadraceps. Before you can have the quality of balance you must first stand. If your ability to stand, whether it be on one leg or two, is well developed then the whole notion of “balancing” is a non-issue. Your standing is stable and therefore you are stable. You have that quality.
In yoga we seek to move beyond balance as something we do or something we have and realize that is it something we are. We seek to reveal balance as simply one aspect of our nature. Discovering correct alignment of the body through recognition by the mind (such as seeing that we habitually “stand” with our hips pushed forward and then backing the hips up and actually standing with the hips aligned over the ankles) is an important part of this.
As a human being with a body and a mind, I am subject to the universal laws which govern life, including the laws of physics which govern my physical movements. In practicing yoga I am teaching the mind to recognize these laws and the body to express itself with respect to them. When this happens, I am doing yoga, and control, calm, equanimity and grace manifest automatically.