balance
balance
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and say to him, 'This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. [Exodus 8:1]
I remember going to a conference a few years ago and being absolutely slapped in the face by something the speaker shared with me. We were chatting about post graduate life being a christian in hospitably and the whole juggle and adopting of it all when he looked me in the eye and said Ennette let me save you years of stress this is the truth that no one will tell you: there is no such thing as balance only a list of priorities going from first to least. Even now it still gets me. Michelle Obama says. ‘women can have it all - just not all at the same time’. When I look at the life of Jesus as its laid out in the gospels, I see a man who was never in a hurry and was also never late. He simply did the next right thing that his Father in heaven was telling him to do. He was always fully present, not jugging a million conversations via email, text and instagram thread, a man fully present not rushing the moment on because something else or someone else more important was waiting for his attention, a man fully present not hurrying the person in front of him and their inconveniently timed need. Essentially what I’m gathering from this mini collection of wise people is that one cannot be fully present and also juggle lots of things.
But herein lies the mystery of yoga, the thing I love the most about it. You see, in order to balance and maintain the various balancing postures, many multiple factors are working at the same time that you need to be aware of and balance in order to, well… balance. You need to engage your core, remember to breath maintain the proper alignment of your limbs; all the while focusing on a singular unmoving fixed point. In yoga this focus point is known as Drishti* and so interestingly, all these thing you’re so fiercely simultaneously focusing on are all to achieve the one purpose of maintaining balance in the posture. What if instead of frenetically trying to do it all (saying yes to everything), we begin to streamline our focus, and pick what our priority in life is, start to align our decisions and habits towards that priority, shift our focus and our gaze towards that one purpose and reorient our lives towards it. Rethink what matters. A big cause of burnout is disconnection from one’s values. What is the deep meaning and purpose of your life? Towards what does your heart lean?
I don’t know about you but for all my life those questions used to make me both cringe and panic. I didn’t have a big ‘why’ that drove all my decisions, I listened to other people talk about their vision and goals and dreams and I felt the emptiness of my own simple desire to just: be happy. What I didn’t know then all those years ago is that it’s ok to not know, its ok to simply take the next right step and trust that you will get to where you need to be. Equally, if you’re a person with big dreams, goals and vision for your life; go in the strength God has given you, that is a beautiful grace upon your life and you must live in that fullness with all the passion and purpose you have.
There’s a genuinely incredible story in the bible where many crazy miracles happen, the heavens rain down fire, entire bodies of water are parted: God literally, truly shifts heaven and earth all so He can be with His people. It is quite possibly one of the most epic battles between gods and kings ever recorded. When God commanded Pharaoh to let the Israelites go from slavery, there was no great or grand purpose behind it, it was only so they could be free to go worship Him, so He could be with them. There’s a magnificent yet subtle heart wrenching love story hidden in the saga between Moses and Pharaoh. The great love story of God’s longing to be with us. Our chief goal and primary life purpose is to be with God and worship Him. Beloved how different would your focus and priority in life be if this was the aim and goal with which you orientated your life and balanced things towards?
What is even more compelling about the story is that before going to Pharaoh and asking him to let the Israelites go, “Moses first relayed the message to the Israelites, but on account of their broken spirit and cruel bondage, they did not listen to him” [Exodus 6:9] Maybe you’re reading this devotional this week and you’re thinking its all well and easy to read it but actually believing that being with God and centring your life on this truth is a whole different ball game. Maybe your spirit is feeling just a little broken and hopeless at how hard the road looks to start to make the changes you know you want to but just can’t seem to find the time for. Maybe you’re feeling just a little anxious and lost, not sure what the next steps in your life look like. Beloved be encouraged that God moved an ocean so someone He loved could be free to be with him, He then followed this up by sending his son to die on a cross so that there would never have to be any barrier of any kind, physical or metaphorical, between him and us ever again. You don’t have to have it all together, balancing on a tight rope, juggling work home and all your other life commitments, feeling like at any moment something is going to slip— you just need one thing: the unmoving fixed truth of God’s love for you. And if you must balance and juggle be found the balance of his grace and glory and juggle his many blessings in your life (unsure about this last line)
breath in
and jump off the crippling tight rope of trying to do it all, live into more ease and peace with yourself and others, let go of the lie. There is no such thing as a perfect balance only a list of priorities from first to last. Learn to listen to his Holy Spirit and allocate with wisdom the most important things.
breath out
and embrace God’s deep commitment to you, trust that he will not let you fall or fail or falter, he is leading and guiding you. Let go of the illusion of control and instead embrace his grace for you in this season, in this moment, on the mat.
Enjoy your practice! (its a lovely little 26mins)
(Christ-)Mindful Tip:
* Drishti, or focused gaze, is a means for developing concentrated intention. it requires holding one's mind onto an inner state, subject or topic. The mind can for example be fixed on a mantra or specific intention, one's breath, or a part of the body such as the navel, thumb or the tip of the nose depending on the yoga posture. Therefore it’s more an internal concentration of attention, rather than simply ‘a gaze’. Your yoga practice can be a beautiful way to have a daily or weekly reminder of what you value what’s holding you together at your core and focusing on this truth when doing balance sequences or postures.
We all get over worked and tired every now and then, but burnout is more than tiredness. Burnout is when stress becomes chronic and has a detrimental effect on there areas in your life. signs of burnout include: chronic exhaustion agonies restlessness and trouble sleeping poor self care such as diet and excise other sings include repeated emotional distress such as low mood anxiety or anger outbursts. you may notice your performance at work is going down, who you feel you are working harder than ever you may also start feeling disconnected from loved ones and struggle to get along as well as you normally do. If burn out is on the horizon like it was for me a few weeks ago there are some things we can do put on the breaks.
Interestingly some of the helpful ways to counteract burn out are: start working out what you can say no to. Often we feel obliged to say yes to every request or opportunity. Practise the art of saying no to things that are not an absolute priority. especially if you’re health and sense of well-being is in question. Prioritise self-care. Get back to basics because they are the foundations of good mental health. Make sleep, healthy food, hydration, exercise and social time top of your to do list. don't underestimate the power of these things to build your resilience. and finally rethink what matters; we are vulnerable to burnout when we are working hard on something that is not in line with our own values. taking time to think thought you can want your to be, the kind go person you want to be or the impact you want to have can help to get clarity in how you can redirect your life in away that suits you. (see @drjuliesmith’s post on Instagram on 15 May)
Tree pose.
[Vrikshasana]
Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit” [Jeremiah 17:7-8]
Blessed is he who delights in the presence of the Lord, and who meditates on His word. That person is like a tree firmly planted [and nourished] by streams of Living Water, which yields its fruit in its right season; its leaves do not wither, and in whatever he does, he prospers and his plans come to maturity. [Psalm 1:2]
I love the honest reality of the bible even in a metaphor! Flowers aren’t in bloom all year round why do we expect ourselves to be. Equally when in winter plants don’t worry if they’ll ever have green leaves again, inevitably spring and summer will come. But I also love the eternal hope of that the words of the bible contain maybe you won’t bear fruit all year round but you can be evergreen and flourish inwardly even if outwardly you are not producing much. There is such beautiful poetic wisdom in these verses I hope they bless you as you wobble and sway on your mat in tree pose— bending in the breeze of life on and off the mat, its all part of the journey friends.
half moon pose.
[ardha chandrasana]
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose; and we know without a shadow of a doubt that in all things God works together with those who love him to bring about what is good. [Romans 8:28]
just as the different phases of the moon are equally as beautiful as the last and one leads on to the next. so too are the different phases of your life believe the magic of God’s promise to you that he is even now working all things together for your good. Every phase is important and integral to who you are becoming one leads on to the next no season is wasted or empty or without beauty, just like the moon.