How's Your Balance?

This is a photo my daughter and I took in 2006 at the Louvre. I don't recall the name of this sculpture or the artist. This warrior is reaching for something, maybe a weapon, as he stands on one leg. He has good balance. That's our topic today - Balance

It's something most of us start to lose as we get older. Just as it slips aways from us without us really knowing, it comes back with practice.

When I think of physical fitness I think of -

*strength training
*aerobic training
*flexibility training
*balance training

When you improve your balance you will have - 

*heightened physical coordination

*a more centered core

*a more focused mind

Poor balance can be unsafe and lead to falls which can lead to bone and other tissues breaking or tearing which can lead to doctor visits and x-rays and cortisone injections and pain and poor sleep and missed work and becoming sedentary and being grouchy because your mobility is limited and........ I think you get the picture. 

Balance training should be practiced every single day. It only takes a few minutes and can be done almost anywhere.

     YIKES! This photo was taken by Lukasz Warzecha. It is of professional climber Marina Cufar.
She says in the Nov. 2011 article On Top Of The World that when she thinks she can't hold on to a hold in the rock anymore, she breathes and imagines the wind blowing away the fatigue. She says it suddenly gets effortless - when you don't think about the outcome, energy comes from the sky. (Thank you Lukasz, Marina and Yoga Journal peeps)


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               I've included three exercises for you. Mountain Pose, The Pendulum and Knee Sweep.

CAUTION! If your balance is not good, please hold on to a chair or the wall or any surface. At first hold on with both hands, then one hand, then 2 fingers, then one, then eventually (or not), none.
If you have good balance and can do these exercises with ease, close one eye and try, then close both eyes. If you can do them safely with both eyes closed, have someone throw a bag a rice at you or tickle you or do something to make you unstable! Ha!

Mountain Pose

Before doing any kind of balance exercise stand in Mountain Pose. Make contact between your body and the floor. If you start grounded and balanced right and left, forward and back - you will have a heads up on performing the exercise successfully. Your feet should be like the root of a tree. Your brain should sit right on top of your spine.

The Pendulum

Begin by standing in Mountain Pose, feel grounded through your feet with a lifted chest. Feel upright. Stand as if you've just heard good news!

Knee Sweep

Begin in Mountain Pose. Always go back to Mountain Pose - no matter what you're doing.

Videographer - Howard, husband of Janice. Thank you Howard and Janice. These were taken on their balcony overlooking a beautiful lake.

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This is my very favorite cornbread recipe. I make it all the time. It's crunchy and filled with the aroma and flavor of three important grains - cornmeal, wheat germ and oat bran. Sometimes I add berries. It is so yummie with a good hot bean soup. The corn and beans together make a complete protein.

Cornbread With Wheat Germ and Oat Bran

1 cup cornmeal

2 tablespoons sweetener (honey, maple syrup, agave, anything you like)

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ cup toasted wheat germ

½ cup oat bran

1 ½ cups buttermilk or soy milk

1 large egg or egg whites from 2 eggs or 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 tablespoons canola oil

Preheat oven 400 degrees. Use 7 x 11 baking pan or muffin pan – coat with vegetable spray.

Mix and stir cornmeal, salt, baking powder, baking soda, wheat germ and oat bran in bowl.

Mix together milk, egg or applesauce, oil and sweetener.

Pour liquid into dry, stir quickly until well moistened only.

Pour into prepared pan.

Bake 20-30 minutes until dark golden brown


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Balance doesn't mean merely balancing the body. Balance in the body is the foundation for balance in life. In whatever position one is in, or in whatever condition in life one is placed, one must find balance. Balance is the state of the present -- the here and now. If you balance in the present, you are living in Eternity. When the intellect is stable, there is no past, no future, only present. Do not live in the future; only the present is real. The mind takes you constantly to the future, as it plans, worries, and wonders. Memory takes you to the past, as it ruminates and regrets. Only the self takes you to the present.


                                                               From Light On Life, B.K.S. Iyengar


Namaste, Ya'll! Let some energy come to you today..... from the sky, from the ground in Mountain Pose, from a big hug or just from taking a moment to notice how your breath goes in and out.


Donna Rae