Improving Health with Balance or As the Pendulum Swings

If there is a seed from which all health and wellness grows it is balance. If there is root cause for most of the unhappiness and disease we experience in our lives, it is lack of balance. A pendulum is a simple object possessing powerful forces of nature that you can use to bring your life into a more comfortable and healthy balance.

Technically, a pendulum is an object attached to a pivot that is able to swing freely. When energy displaces the object from its place of rest, gravity exerts a force that causes the object to swing back and forth between two points. As the energy that put the object in motion runs down the object will always return to it center, to a point of equilibrium.

Now, picture yourself as a pendulum. You are the object that swings back and forth. You are attached to a pivot - the pivot is your belief system, your core values, your faith - it is the spiritual part of your life that grounds you and doesn't move. The energy that puts you in motion is your self-determination and your reactions to the things that move you. Energy will expand and contract at different times and cause the arc of your swing to be larger and smaller at different times under different circumstances. Note that you swing freely - you are not forcing yourself to go in one direction or another - other forces are at work here. You will naturally swing back and forth between two points. This is often referred to as the yin and the yang - the unity of opposites. Our lives are always in motion. Achieving total stillness and complete equilibrium is an experience you can seek through the practice of meditation, yoga and prayer.

Many of us make the mistake of trying to live only on one side of the pendulum swing. We like to feast, but we don't like to fast. We like to rest, but we don't like to exert ourselves. We only want to feel positive emotions so we don't deal with negative ones. We like to play but we don't like to work. Or, maybe we are more comfortable working and have forgotten how to play. The search for comfort at all costs defies the laws of nature. Not only does the comfort we seek elude us, but we end up chronically uncomfortable instead.

Here's my suggestion for how to put the natural forces of the pendulum to work for you. First, be mindful and observe your life. Think about the choices you make. Experiment to see how much balance you can bring to all your behaviors. Whether it is diet, physical activity, unwanted habits, or emotional ruts - allow the forces of nature in the pendulum to swing you back and forth. Find that balance and you will find your center - your place of equilibrium. That is where you will find comfort and wellness - and best of all - personal freedom.

In this very unbalanced world, do you have any suggestions on ways to find balance?