The middle is a pretty comfortable place to be. What is it to live a balanced life, a life of “in between”?
The Importance of Being Balanced
To be in balance is to be at ease. There is no “other“, there is no opposition. When we are in balance there is no chasing one side, nor running from the other. There is no push, there is no pull. There is simply peace with all that is, with all that is not, and with everything in between.
3 Tips for “Middle Living”
Here are some reminders that help myself to be centered and balanced in life, with the aims that it may help you as well.
1. BE WARY OF “EXTREMES”
Perceiving the world through a filter of extremes is a major limitation. The truth is that this reality is a spectrum. Our minds often like to fit things into categories. We tend to label things as “this” or “that” from a dichotomous point of view.
(It also helps to avoid talking in extremes, with the two main words to avoid being “always” and “never“.)
Overall, a mindset of extremes is detrimental. Life is so complicated and that’s honestly the beauty of it. There is no concrete “thing” and there is no concrete “other”.
Balance is embracing fluidity. To realize that there never was one or the other, but both. One and the other. Which encompasses it all. One, which is also both simultaneously.
Therefore, by being in the “middle“, you encompass both things, one thing, and neither thing, all at the same time. What a concept, right?
2. use YOUR BODY as YOUR COMPASS
There are many metaphors that can be used with the physical body. One that I like to use in this case is thinking of the body as a compass, and a controller for our energy.
The body, mind, and spirit are all intertwined and interconnected. Therefore, they all influence each other. Thinking of it in this way, we can literally use our physical bodies to adjust our balance on an energetic level.
I will now share how I do this. I use these techniques on my own to calibrate my energy on a daily basis:
- First, it always helps me to do a quick energy cleanse. What this mainly does is clear any limiting energies that I may be holding onto unconsciously. I do this by:
- Closing my eyes.
- Visualizing a clear field encasing my body.
- (In mind.) Focusing on the intention to cleanse my entire energetic field within that moment.
- After that point, so be it, and it is done.
2. The next step I take to balance my energy is to close my eyes, and bring all of my attention on my spine. For me, my spine basically represents my body’s antenna, and it’s a great tool for balancing. To do this:
- I set the intention to accumulate and gather all of my energy into my spine, visualizing it as a magnetic force.
- I imagine each inhale guiding my energy down my spine to the bottom, and each exhale guiding my energy up my spine to the top.
- I visualize this energetic breathing pattern as a continuous and cyclical motion.
- When all of my energy is rooted in my spine, I then move on to the next step.
3. Lastly, I move into my heart center by:
- Closing my eyes.
- Bringing all of my awareness to my heart.
- Visualizing a green field of energy surrounding it, feeling both the front of my body and the back of my body.
- (In mind.) Setting the intention to be centered in this space, opening myself up to giving and receiving love. So be it. ❤
Once I conclude rooting myself in my heart and along my spine, I like to finish off by visualizing energy flowing out of my heart center and into both of my palms, down my spine all the way to the bottoms of my feet, and up my spine meeting the crown of my head.
This process leaves my physical and energetic bodies balanced, aligned, and rejuvenated.
3. notice where your boundaries lie
On a closing note, I will finish on the subject of boundaries. The importance of boundaries can often be overlooked. I know it seems contrary to what I touched upon earlier on the topic of reality being a spectrum, although I did also included that there was no “one” and no “other“, having it therefore be “both“.
Using discernment can help us to determine whether boundaries serve us or limit us by being there. Boundaries can change, and sometimes they’re nonexistent when they should be present. We all create our own boundaries, and we all have them.
Sometimes we’re confused about where they lie because they were never fully established, and sometimes we let them rule our lives by seeing them as a barrier that will always be there. By having boundaries that are well-maintained and in between both of these, we find balance in setting clear boundaries of our own and respecting the boundaries of others.
A life in the middle is a never-ending dance. One of a constant flow and motion, twists and turns, rights and wrongs, and everything in between. So have fun, release rigidity, embrace your play, and be free in this wild complexity of what we call the universe. ❤
United Being 