How to use Balance Practice

Read, reflect, practice

When I teach yoga, I find myself offering the same instruction in as many different ways as possible —

Move your right hip back.
Right hip away from right shoulder.
Lengthen your right side waist.
Level your hips.
Right butt cheek toward the wall behind you.

Different words, examples, and guidance connect with each of us in different ways. A suggestion, offered from different perspectives, creates more entry points — and opportunities for the knowledge and understanding that connects our internal dots when we practice.

I use the same approach here in my offerings to you.

Look, your practice and its practicalities are incredibly personal and unique to you so how you use Balance Practice is really up to you. I’m also conscious that your life is full and I hope to help inspire and support you in balance and in practice, rather than to add more clutter. My aim is to create a pause for you to slow down, breathe deeply, and pay attention, knowing that’s really all that both balance, and practice, ask of us. 

I write a lot about balance and a lot about practice because this is, well, Balance Practice. Both of these broad themes share a common approach in that they’re not fixed or end goals, rather, fluid ways of being. Just like what balance looks like for you can vary widely from day to day and even moment to moment, so do the practices you’ll find yourself drawn to and most needing — or what is, practically, available in the moment.

Read, practice, reflect

This is how I suggest receiving these newsletters each week:

Read — Let it land.
Reflect — Consider how it relates to where you are and how it might support you.
Practice — Integrate offerings based on whatever feels timely and relevant.

Share, I should add, is also an important part of what we’re doing here, knowing that sharing your own notes in the comments or your own platforms creates meaningful entry points for everyone’s practice.

Because the nature of life is so cyclical, you’ll notice concepts and related practices resurface in different ways — here again is my attempt to offer as many entry points as possible. You might relate to a personal example I share, or specific practicality for how to do/use a practice, or connect well with a physical posture, or feel inspired by suggestions in poem form… Some weeks the practical integration might feel more intuitive and readily accessible, and others it might (hopefully) nestle itself into your subconscious and connect later, in a moment when you need it most.

All this is to say, there’s no right or wrong way to practice. Please do read, reflect, and practice, (and share!) in your own ways, knowing that what matters most is your attention — If you are breathing deeply and paying attention, you are doing it right.

How are you using Balance Practice? We’d all love to hear in the comments!