Workshops with Charles MacInerney
IN AUSTIN, TEXAS AND OTHER CITIES

IMPROVING BALANCE

Balance - whether we are talking about physical balance , emotional balance, intellectual balance, balancing time, or living a balanced life - balance is essential to the human experience. When systems fall out of balance, pain and suffering result. If the balance of oxygen and carbondioxide in the blood is not kept in balance the organism dies. If hormones, body temperature, levels of salt, or any of a thousand other equations fall out of balance, illness or death follow rapidly.

The most common reason that elderly are put into nursing homes is a broken hip from falling. A major cause of stress on relationships is focussing on work to the exclusion of family, but the opposite is just as devastating, focussing on family to the exclusion of work. A healthy relationship to food requires balance, not too much, not too little at either extreme likes disease.

Good balance allows for grace and control when moving, and for relaxation when still. Good balance promotes a sense of well being, and improves self image. Improving balance strengthens the student's ability to concentrate, and lengthens their attention span.

The first part of this workshop explores general concepts of balance that can be applied to any area of life. The we will apply these strategies and concepts to physical balance using a variety of poses from Yoga and other areas of life. Students will be able to measure improvement in balance in the course of the workshop.

We will learn how to recreate the movements that infants use to learn the balancing skills. Then we will examine the use of appropriate goal setting to eliminate anxiety and boredom from balance (and from life).

Next we will practice internal "sensing" techniques. Then we will learn to enhance concentration and use visual techniques to "lower" our center of gravity, and bring a feeling of stillness into the balancing poses. Finally, a series of poses will be learned, starting with the easiest balancing positions, like standing, and gradually increasing in difficulty to challenge even the most advanced student.

We will close with an exploration of how lessons learned in physical balance can be applied to find balance in the larger arenas of life, including relationships, business, wellness and others.