Balance

The word on the street yesterday was Balance, and yes, by "word on the street," I mean Sesame Street.  With 3 young kids we watch our fair share of Big Bird and Elmo and often I tune them out while I am making dinner, but when I heard that they were teaching Telly how to do Yoga I had to stop and watch for a bit.  Elmo was giving Telly directions, "First you must breathe." "I already am breathing," said Telly.  That made me chuckle.  I remember when my therapist, Dr.J (yes I have one....on speed dial;), asked me if I was breathing throughout the day...."Ah, yeah, like all day long," I replied in my oh so sarcastic sweet tone.  "Breathe very slowly," Elmo told Telly.  Oh, slowly, ok, well that's a different story.  We may be breathing all day long but how often do we consciously slow down our breath throughout the day?  I'll tell you right now, not often enough.  So according to Sesame Street (and I'm pretty sure a guy named, Buddha) the first thing we have to do to obtain balance is to breathe.....slowly.  Let's do it together now....in through the nose.....out through the mouth.  There we go, I feel better already, really, I do ;)

So Telly tried and tried to balance in his Yoga pose, but alas, he kept falling and became very frustrated.  So Rosita and Elmo decided to each take one of Telly's arms to help him balance.  What great friends.  Great friends help hold us up when we are struggling to balance it all.  It can be so hard.  There is so much to balance and we keep trying to pile so much on that eventually something has to give.  My gut reaction to "Balance" is: "Balance Smalance," but you know what, there are moments that we stop and think, "This is actually working right now."  Yes, these moments are fleeting, but let's enjoy them while they last.  Sure, we will fall.  When Chris arrived on the Yoga scene on Sesame Street and saw that Telly was falling and was so frustrated, he said to Telly, "Find your balance point....it's inside you.  To find your balance point you must practice."  That seems so obvious doesn't it, and yet when we are trying to balance our lives to maintain our health and sanity we are so hard on ourselves and so frustrated when life seems chaotic.  Does this sound familiar: "Why do I always say yes to everything?" "I am so bad at managing all of this!" "Everyone else seems to have it together and I can't even find matching socks" (okay, that last one might only happen to me;).  Life goes in phases, and boy are there some crazy ones (like 3 young kids crazy).  So hang on and practice finding your balance point.  It's okay to take on too much and then say, "You know what, I know I said yes, but now that I've had time to think about it(or try it), it's just not going to work."  To practice we analyze and readjust until we find that balance point again and again and soon it becomes so familiar that those moments of balance last longer and longer.  At the end of Telly's Yoga lesson Elmo shows him a new pose and Telly says, "Whoa, I don't think I'm ready for that yet, I'm going to stick with the Flamingo."  It's good to know your limits and to know that everyone's limit for how much they take on is different.  Do what works for you so that you can maintain your health and wellness.

I think the most important morsel of insight to take away from this post is......to watch Sesame Street more often!!!  I mean seriously, let's review what we learned from Elmo today:

• Breathe Slowly.
• We need good friends to help us maintain balance.
• Find your balance point....it's inside you.
• Keep practicing.
• Know your limits.  YOUR limits, not the person's down the street.
• And finally....stick with the Flamingo!!!

Be Well.