…And that’s when I hit the wall (A Story About Balance)
I’ll never forget the time I was in a hard af hot yoga class with a challenging teacher.
I was holding a crescent lunge twist and the teacher kept encouraging us to go deeper.
I was deep into this twist, lost my balance, and ran (literally) into the woman on the mat next to me.
I knocked her over like a bowling pin 
and that's when I hit the wall
.
Unnecessarily—she apologized to me. It felt very important to remind her that I was the one that rammed her over. I was embarrassed and fortunately no one was hurt. Sometimes when trying to balance, it doesn't turn out the way I had intended.
Ah, balance. That S.O.B. 
This week’s practice video is a balancing sequence. At one point in the video, I definitely fell into the wall. Apparently, that’s my thing. Lol.
What can balancing on one foot teach a yoga practitioner? That balance is bull
.
We do not have to get it right, look good, or nail the pose in order to give ourselves permission to try something.
When talking about the 50/50 work-life balance, my teacher and mentor Amy Porterfield says, it doesn’t exist. However, work-life integration is possible if we’re intentional about it.
What does integration have to do with balance?
To ‘integrate’ means to combine one thing with another so that they become whole.
What if you can give up the idea that balance means we need to get it right? Rather, embrace the willingness to try it, mess it up, and get back up without the feelings of frustration, guilt, overwhelm, and failure.
Instead of standing on one foot for the sake of nailing the perfect pose, you can create yourself as whole through your intentionality, focus, and presence regardless of how it turns out.
What if learning how to balance is really learning how to fall, dust yourself off, and stand back up?
Perhaps the lesson is what you learn by trying to stand on one foot, not the balancing act itself.
Maybe you can relate—when I can’t balance on my feet, it’s usually because there’s a lot of shit going on in my head. Balancing on one foot requires presence. Presence can be hard to come by some days.
So what if, rather than striving for balance, whether it's work-life balance or physically attempting to stand on one foot—the goal is to stay present in our exploration for wholeness?
This is an invitation to bring your whole self to the party, even on days when falling over and hitting the wall is what the universe ordered. 
I created an interactive PDF to get your juices flowing about balance. You can use this guide on its own or as an accompaniment to the episode. It contains some thoughtful questions for consideration about balance in your life and practice.
Download your FREE guide here.
And once you’ve listened, consider joining me for a LIVE yoga class in-person or virtually. Come and find out how it feels to practice imperfect balance on your mat.
If you hit the wall, I promise not to apologize 
With love,
~Kari
