When teaching martial arts we talk a lot about balance. If you are unbalanced you can easily lose your footing and take a fall or be knocked to the ground. This is not desirable. So physically good balance is important. The key to good balance physically is a strong core. Abdominal and back muscle strength leads to good balance. Crunches anyone?

Just as important is good mental balance with good healthy thoughts. Too much thought of self produces self absorption. Too much focus on possessions creates discontentment. Too much thought of past offenses creates bitterness. Too many thoughts that are pie-in-the-sky just make you an annoyance. Good emotional health comes from being in balance too. Having a balance of practical emotions that can respond to our environment, and hopeful, positive emotions that can keep us proactive in the present toward goals for our future.

To be spiritually balanced we must have connection with the spirit, yet also have connection with the people around us. Living in a monastery for a time might be good, but how would the world work if everyone disconnected from the world like this? To be relationally balanced we must have good boundaries with our relationships. We should be inter-dependent, working together, not dependant or independent in our relationships.

Having balance financially means wisely spending our money, yet not being so frugal that we become miserly and stingy. We need to feel the blessings that we have. We need to live a little and give a little. That takes a little cushioning in our budget.

These are some important principles of balance. One area I think that we also get out of balance in is in the area of character. All of us have personality and character traits that are of excellent value to us, and help us bring value to others. Yet even our good character traits need to be balanced.

Good character traits have polar opposites. Someone who is strong and confident can become arrogant and rigid, just as easy as someone who is humble and open can become weak and dependant. To be in balance we need both confidence and humility, strength and meekness. Someone who is highly principled yet lacks connection with people, can become self righteous, and judgmental. Someone who is involved and connected can become undisciplined and ineffective. Even our character needs balance.

As I look around I see a need for balance everywhere. How can I sustain better balance in these areas? I think being open to look at my own areas of imbalance instead of at other’s is my place to begin. When I am swinging through the emotional pendulums of life, somewhere in the middle is a balance. I find it in prayer and meditation. I find it in connection with my creator and in connection with others.

I find the areas of my life that need fine tuning in balance and allow them to be sanded, chiseled and refined. I pay attention to the results of my life that are not working. In this way I find an imbalance and try something else. I find a lesson even in the environmental things that happen to me and around me and the behaviors of others I do not like.

Excellence requires balance in all areas of life, which is not for the faint of heart. It’s a process and a wonderful journey. I haven’t arrived yet, just on the path.

To great travels,

BE

As I look around and study the universe, I notice it is in a constant motion! Who supplies all that energy to the universe? From the tiniest atoms, to the largest galaxies, everything is in motion with electrical, chemical or gravimetric energy. Energy permeates everything, including our bodies. So the question is, with the price of fuel currently, how can I have more energy and more power to accomplish the things that I am here on this planet in motion to accomplish?

Due to a struggle that I had with Chronic Fatigue years ago I read all I can about physical energy. What my research has revealed is that relaxation plays a large part in the energy process. I am not talking about being a couch potato. What I am speaking of is the release of muscle tension in the body. It seems relaxation plays a vital role, not only in health and longevity, but also in vitality (energy and well being)! Relaxation also plays a vital role in energy dispersion (power)! These are some of the things that draw people to study the softer parts of martial arts. So let us look at why and how energy and relaxation work together.

Notice how relaxed the swing of a great golfer or a great batter is. They make it look so easy! That is because the power swing, is an easy relaxed swing that projects great power on the ball. Look at Lorena Ochoa right now, she is a little tiny thing, yet she can drive the golf ball just as far as pro golfers much bigger and more powerful. It is because the power is not in the body weight or size of the swinger. Look at Bruce Lee; he was a powerful man very slight of stature.

Here in the middle of baseball season if you notice a batter trying, or if you are out there batting yourself and you try to slam the ball into a home-run, nine times out of 10 you will miss the ball completely or hit it off center. This is because of muscle tension and the anticipation of crushing the ball. Relaxed power is more power. Some of our martial arts training is geared to accomplish relaxation, peace and harmony.

Sometimes we are tempted to take less seriously this portion of our training. I see students doing less than their best on things like stretching and breathing exercises. Just as in the example above, in the long run, this will limit us in precisely the areas we want to develop, power and strength. Isaiah 40: 29-31 says, “He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

I have narrowed down seven ways to focus on relaxation to increase our personal power quotient. 1. Practice slow, deep breathing techniques. 2. Practice some form of exercise daily. 3. Practice renewing your mind. 4. Practice prayer and meditation 5. Practice silence 6. Practice surrender of negative emotions. 7. Plan your work and work your plan.

More on these things will follow in Part 2

Blessings,

BE -peaceful