Balance can be found, but mostly it’s created.
It takes work and it takes practice. It takes repetition and consistency.
The journey towards balance will not be a perfect one, you will likely have wobbles and falls.
Here are a few tips to developing balance while navigating the journey:
Keep your eye on the destination, not the details. If you find the tiny details of what to eat or not to eat are messing you up, don’t worry about them. Don’t get caught up in them. Keep asking yourself, will this thing take me in the direction that I want to travel in? When I learned to paddle board, I was taught not to look at the end of the board if I felt wobbly, rather look towards the water in the direction that I wanted to go.
Balance doesn’t just happen by itself. At some point, you need to make a decision to make it happen and actively do things over and over again. Identify those things that help you feel balanced and do them. Keep doing them.
Equally getting out of balance doesn’t just happen by itself. What are the things that throw you off balance? How could you eliminate them or do them differently?
Ditch perfectionism in favour of acceptance. There is no such thing as perfect and it will disturb your peace trying to find it. You will provoke your pitta and the heat of this will vitiate your vata and before you know it, you will feel anything but balanced. Just keep coming back to your centre.
Your centre is YOUR centre. Nobody else can tell you what is good for you and what is not good for you. Trust yourself. Tune in to the quiet voice within and trust your own inner wisdom. There is so much conflicting information out there, especially within the Ayurvedic community. There is not a one size fits all. Figure out what makes you feel in balance and then go for as much consistency as you can.
Forgive yourself. As many times as you wobble or stray from centre. It’s all part of the journey, YOUR journey.
As ever, try things out. If they work great, if not then figure out what you want instead…. make that decision to find balance and then work at it. This is more like practise than willpower, but it definitely takes work.