WHY FEBRUARY IS PERFECT FOR INTRODUCING BALANCE IN YOUR LIFE
New month, new theme
Balance the Nervous System, Quiet the Mind, Heal the Body
As you might already know, in The Heart Journey we practice monthly themes that we integrate in our classes and observe them unfold in our lives throughout the month.
The theme of February is balance.
Balance is one of my favourite theme’s, because it’s challenging and playful at the same time.
Interestingly enough, throughout the month we are met with 3 significant and beautiful dates to support our intention for balance and harmony: February 2, 2022, February 20, 2022 and February 22, 2022.
The number 2 in numerology deals with the energy of duality and balance. The key lessons the number 2 brings are calling in for compromise, acceptance, compassion, cooperation and harmony.
Moreover, this call intensifies when there is a sequence of 222 like in the exceptional dates this February. Pay close attention, as it will either shed a light on where you need more balance in your life, where you need to cooperate, delegate and partner more, or it will let you enjoy the benefits of harmony that you have already cultivated in your life so far….
Balance is the key to everything
….What we do, eat, say, think, feel they all require awareness. As human beings it is very easy to fall into habits and repeat the same thing over and over if we do not have this sense of awareness.
In yoga this can be seen in how we often gravitate towards a particular type of yoga style. Although there is no right or wrong, if we practice a lot of yang-energy dynamic styles, we miss the softness that gentler practices bring (and vice versa).
Yoga, just like life, is a balance between what we can control and what we cannot. It’s learning to live between effort and surrender.
The physical practice of yoga is called hatha yoga. Ha represents the heating quality of the mind, and tha its cooling quality. Our asana practice offers us two poses that express these opposites—the heat of exertion and the cooling quality of release—tadasana (mountain pose) and savasana (corpse pose).
This month, when you’re on the mat, no matter what pose you’re doing, can you experience the outgoing effort epitomized by tadasana in equal measure to the internal letting-go feeling you encounter in savasana?
Can you discover that in-between place composed of just the right blend of tadasana’s determined strength and savasana’s quiet relaxation?
Even when you’re doing tadasana, you don’t clench all your muscles and hold on for dear life, right? That kind of extreme exertion misses the point of asana: steadiness and ease.
In Sanskrit this is know as: sthira sukham asanam.
Sthira means steady, sukham means happiness and asanam refers to the poses. All poses have a balance to them and a point of grounding. This sutra reminds us that, despite the steadiness, we also need pleasure.
A Buddhist story explains this concept quite nicely. A musician once asked the Buddha how we should meditate. The Buddha responded by asking, “How do you tune your instrument?”
The musician answered, “Not too tight, not too loose.”
At the deepest level, not too tight, not too loose reminds us that nothing is solid or permanent. As you transition from one pose to the next, you are completely leaving one experience and entering a new one. The old pose does not exist anymore, and, in fact, it never did. It was a momentary gathering of alignment, breath, and attention into one physical shape. And then it was gone—as soon as you focused your body and mind on the transition and then on the next pose.
The Buddha said, “Exactly like that.”
Our yoga instrument includes both the mind and the body. We know that whatever comes up in our mind will affect how we work with our body and vice versa. The useful notion of “not too tight, not too loose” offers us a guideline about how hard to work, when to let go, when to engage our quads more, when to release our jaw. This back and forth of firming and softening, advancing and relaxing, toning and releasing, is how we find balance in our asana practice.
A regular yoga practice supports a strong foundation to harmonize relationship with yourself. At the end, inner balance is the base for harmony in all other parts of life, right?
So, during this month theme we’ll be exploring and asking ourselves: what is the challenging aspect to the pose? And what is the easy part? Where do you feel heavy and where do you feel light?
If you’re interested in finding more balance this month, then I invite you to try out one of The Heart Journey classes, whether you are already a member or you are just seeking to start your journey of the heart.
You can join drop-in classes starting as low as 10€/class. Or save by becoming a member and only paying €21/monthly to join 4 live classes.
There is a 7- day FREE trial here available in which you get your first 3 classes for free.
You can find the weekly and monthly class schedules on the website here.
I look forward to seeing you in class!
NAMASTÉ MARIJKE
Dutchie • Digital Nomad • Travel Junkie
Ocean Lover • Yoga Enthusiast