You are feeling out of balance for a reason. The solution is not as obvious as you might think. It is not about bringing things into balance. Balance is hard. Try it. Get up and try to balance on one foot for longer than a few seconds. OK, now try staying that way all day. Not so easy, is it?

Balance is an even distribution that enables you to remain upright and steady. Feelings are never evenly distributed nor are they to remain steady. They really aren’t. They are water like. Flowing in and out. Gentle at times and stormy at others.

Feelings are an emotional state. A reaction. A belief. And we suck at emotions. Plain and simple.

Know why?

Because we are never taught very much about them. Basically, we are told which ones are considered good and desirable and which ones are bad and to be avoided or worse, managed. Try managing an ocean. Nearly impossible.

To understand this better we need to look at what we have to work with and how we work. Human life is made up of four basic elements.

Basic Elements

Our minds . . . Which is our intellect or mental body and often referred to as air.
Our physical body . . . This is pretty self explanatory and often referred to as earth.
Our spiritual body . . . This is different for everyone and is often referred to as fire.
Our emotional body. . . . Inward wisdom and how we connect to others. Often referred to as water.

We tend to spend a lot of time on our minds. A little less on our bodies. Some spend all their time on the spiritual, some a little and some so-so. Almost all of us spend little to no time on the health and well being of our emotional bodies.

The thing is, we need all of these and it is best if they are somewhat equal. I don’t mean that at every moment of every day you spend an hour on each. Rather each is given equal attention over a period of time. It is kind of like how you take care of each of your children. You keep it equal in the big picture even if some days one child requires more than another.

I have already written a few times about emotions and I invite you to revisit these stories.

Riding the Emotional Waves
Allowing Sadness and Grief a Voice
A Call for Attention ~ Negative Emotions
Bringing Some Understanding to Suicidal Thoughts

Over the next few weeks, I am going to give each emotion some much needed attention. I would love to have you join me as we explore the gifts each one brings (yes, they have gifts for you…even the “bad” ones). Ways to know if they are being blocked. And ways to practice with them and become more comfortable with each one.

Our emotions are an instinctual language we all have access to. They really have so much to tell us and they are wonderful guides if we pay attention to them. I look forward to sharing them with you!

(Special Thanks to Leah Cox for the photograph featured in this blog.)