Finding Balance

This isn't a post about falling over, although now that I say it, it's a good idea for a future post! No, I've been thinking about Ayurveda and how it defines us.

First of all, if you're not familiar, Ayurveda is often called the "sister science" of Yoga, and the word Ayurveda itself means the "science of life." It's a traditional medical system in India which uses foods, herbs, routines, etc to maintain or regain health, and you can learn a little bit more about that here. If you want to take a quiz to figure out your Ayurvedic Dosha (constitution) you can find one here.

Without going too far into it, the part that I've been thinking about is the Prakruti vs the Vikruti. The Prakruti, in Ayurveda, is your natural state. If everything were just right, that's your Prakruti. Vikruti is the state of imbalance. We are often not quite perfect in our nutrition, or sleep, or physical activity. It's not unusual to be a little out of balance. We have loads of stressors in our lives, after all. Ayurveda offers methods for us to nudge ourselves closer to our Prakruti. Back to where we "belong," so to speak.

But that's just it. Ayurveda realizes that everyone is a little bit different. We might have a little more or less flesh naturally, or are a bit more flighty, or quick to anger. Perhaps spicy foods don't sit well in our tummies. All of these things are normal. Ayurveda strives to get us to where we should be, not to some sort of monolithic cultural ideal. And that's the thing that keeps sticking in my mind. We're not all supposed to have the same type of body. We're not all supposed to have minds that work the same way. We're not all supposed to have some uniform experience. Because we're absolutely unique.

There's a beauty to that which I think is missed in Western culture. While I think we've come along way in the last ten years, there's still a ton of pressure to look a certain way, to act a certain way, to process information just like everybody else does. Well, we're not everybody else, are we? We're ourselves. Our beautiful, singular, unique selves.

Our yoga practices should be our own as well. Maybe the person next to you likes an arm balance, but you're not there and aren't sure you'll ever want to be. No problem. Practice your practice. Find your own path. Reject the things that don't bring you closer to the person you're meant to be. Embrace all of the things that make you uniquely your own person. Figure it out.

This whole thing--life--is like one giant experiment. I've said in a few recent classes that the experiments that don't turn out the way you expect can sometimes give you the most information. So play with your practice. Try stuff out. When you find the right balance for you, you will feel it. You will settle into a more comfortable self. Things will feel (dare I say it) easier, or more natural. It'll feel like you're coming home.