Watching the birds…

I spent a good part of last week exploring a new type of training…a training methodology. This practice is focused on establishing a more significant relationship between both sides of your body with a goal of allowing your two “sides” to operate in harmony.

As I retired to my hotel on the southwest coast of California each evening, I spent some time reflecting on these teachings, as well as how I would attempt to apply them to my fitness regimen. In the mornings, I would sit on my balcony and look out over the stunning scene revealed in the bay beneath me. Watching the birds above, I realized that nature was key to understanding balance.

As you know, I write a lot about balance, not only in our physiology, but also in our culture and society.

Although I have come a long way in establishing greater balance as related to my own fitness abilities, I am only beginning to traverse that path. And, if you have been following my posts, you know that the tool I utilized to improve my physical balance was the BOSU Balance Trainer. I continue to use this tool (actually I now own multiple BOSU’s), but am now engaged in an extension of this type of training. There will be more on this in the upcoming posts.

Back to the birds…

One of the aspects of this new training is creating the ability to transfer your downward energy into a positive upward force, not dissimilar from the way the birds wings propel them through the skies. During my trip, sitting in the glowing rays of the morning sun, something occurred to me. This thought wasn’t a ground breaking new theory on life, but something that stares us in the face everyday….nature is inherently balanced.

Typical of my westernized mind, I of course began to “challenge” the idea. Certainly I could identify natural processes which weren’t balanced, that acted independent of other energy or had a process that broke down at some point…

However, I have had an awful lot of trouble trying to find any of those examples, with one exception; human beings. When I could identify a breakdown, there was outside influence causing the imbalance. Scenario after scenario, the only breakdowns in the natural processes I challenged, was directly tied to people and those things which people impacted.

Take a moment and think through it yourself. From the way our sun enables life on our planet day after day, to the way flowers are pollinated; to the countless symbiotic relationships throughout the animal kingdom…there is balance in all of it. Whether you are spiritual or scientific, the same scenario will reveal itself.

Interestingly enough, the more examples I examine, the broader the picture becomes. Begin with the human body…a masterpiece really. The way all of our complex organs work together to comprise a complete and efficient whole. Our musculature is balanced…our abs and back muscles, our biceps and triceps, our hamstrings and quadriceps…perfectly made to provide our bodies with efficient and necessary movement. Now look outside of our bodies. The process of growing food. Sounds simple enough, but consider all of the components which go into it. Nutrient rich soils, water, sunlight and so on. Grains or vegetables will not grow without the correct balance of those and many other elements. Look farther. Look at the big spinning rock which we inhabit. The perfect distance from the sun to garner energy, light and heat, but far enough to allow us to survive. The impact that water has on our planet, from the seas, to evaporation, to precipitation which then of course provides water to grow the foods I just mentioned.

Now, I am clearly over simplifying here, but the point is that nature is balanced. There are elements and processes which assist everything around us in existing. Can you imagine what the picture might look like without it...Certainly the data on global climate change can give you some idea of what will occur should we continue to disrupt this balance.

We (humans) are part of nature just like everything else. So, take the position that we were also much more balanced , in fact it is likely that we were perfectly balanced.

So, if nature is balanced, yet we are seeing increasing disruption in that balance in nature, our own culture and society, what can we possibly do?

Begin to restore the balance which is being lost.

For me, a significant step in doing so has been the process of improving my own physical balance, both in a linear and non-linear fashion. On one hand, I have worked for some time to literally improve my physical abilities with regards to balance, and on the other hand; being more balanced physically has allowed my mental state to achieve greater balance as well. I am healthier and feel better, so I think more clearly, or more balanced.

Clearly there is a spectrum of balance, and I vacillate from dead center often. But my goal is to be as close to center and as often as possible. Of course, in each of our own world views, balance can be shifted quickly…mortgage payments, job stress, traffic, medical bills, politics, college tuition, 401K programs and on and on and on. It would be absurd to think you could eliminate all of those things by just improving your balance, it is the world in which we live. But, greater balance is certain to assist you in the way you react to everything in your life. And, if you react in a different fashion, improve an outcome, make a situation better; then perhaps we begin to slide towards the middle of the spectrum. If each of us could make that shift, however slight, imagine the possibilities.

Balance is the key. Don’t take my word for it, take a look outside…go watch some birds fly. If after thinking it through, you believe that you can identify a natural process that isn’t balanced (human interaction/disruption doesn’t count), then you let me know.

Until then, consider how you can slide towards the center a bit, perhaps I will see you there.

Josh Neimark – Agent of Change