Being in Balance

Maybe because I was born under the Zodiac sign of Libra, I seem to see/k balance everywhere. Even my favorite part of the gymnastics module in high school P.E. classes was the balance beam. I’ve been practicing yoga for almost thirty years, and that is all about balance (and some other good stuff). Yes, I’m one of those people who balances her checkbook at least monthly. And even the various healing modalities I’ve been drawn to and practiced over the years are based on restoring balance: counseling, massage therapy, Reiki energy healing, Shamanic healing, and conscious cooking.

Ironically, I stayed out of balance for years; so much so, that it showed up in my physical functioning. I walked with a pronounced limp for about three years. It resulted in a vicious cycle of imbalance: I was in pain, so I wasn’t sleeping well and couldn’t exercise as regularly. Consequently, my mood and energy level were impacted, which led to my avoiding many social and family activities. It also meant the physical labor of massaging and cooking put wear and tear on my body, and I was not able to work as much as I had in the past. Therefore, my finances went out of balance, as well. Yes, quite the vicious cycle!

Thankfully, this year has seemed to restore my balance, and most days my gait appears even. However, I am clear that I still face challenges with balancing the many priorities in my life, and I have to stay alert to it tipping me off my metaphorical balance beam and onto my face.

Perhaps it’s being a Libra with my arms wobbling like the scales as I teeter on said beam that helps me see this world from a different vantage point. This view has helped me to understand that our world is also out of balance. Way out of balance. Here is a list of examples, which is by no means exhaustive:

1. We’ve used pesticides, herbicides, additives, and processing that zap the life and nutrition out of foods.
2. We’ve depleted the soil of necessary nutrients, and have had to rely more heavily on supplements.
3. We’ve allowed Monsanto and gang to genetically modify our food, refuse to label them, and try its best to stomp out smaller farmers along the way—all greenlit by our Food & Drug Administration.
4. We’ve polluted our waters with chemicals, oil spills, plastics, and other refuse, killing off aquatic life and making some drinking water unsafe, and fish and sea vegetables toxic to eat.
5. We’ve become dependent on household cleaners and personal care products that put additional toxins in our bodies.
6. We eat food in portions that are much too large, and developed a population of obesity to show for it.
7. We’ve allowed companies to pollute our air leading to all forms of respiratory distress.
8. We’ve fallen victim to cancers, heart disease, diabetes, strokes etc. at epidemic proportions.
9. We’ve allowed pharmaceutical companies to tell us if their products are safe or not, and to set exorbitant prices on medications that take pennies to produce.
10. We’ve allowed the rich to get major tax breaks and the middle class and poor to bear the weight.
11. We expect Americans to be able to survive off minimum wage jobs.
12. We still see that, as a whole, men still out earn women.
13. We also see that, disproportionately, black and brown lives don’t seem to matter when it comes to drug sentencing, capital punishment convictions, housing loans, and too numerous to mention micro-aggressions happening throughout many different institutions.
14. We care more about what happens in the lives of pseudo-celebs and can’t tell you names of our Supreme Court Justices, Cabinet members, or state representatives; nor do we seem to know what’s happening in other parts of the world unless spoon-fed by the media.
15. We look at “other” with hate, fear, and contempt: Muslims, Christians, atheists, Jews, Buddhists, vegetarians, meat-eaters, LGBQT folks, rich, poor, immigrant, Native, black, white, Spanish-speaking, non-speaking/hearing, differently abled, obese, thin, famous for doing something great, famous for doing nothing at all.
16. We’re at war—within ourselves, our homes, communities, nation, world. Just a few examples: Flint, Michigan. Standing Rock. Black Lives Matter Movement. Syrian bombings. School, movie theater, night club shootings. Rapists getting off with minor sentences. Donald Trump for President, spewing hate all along the campaign trail. ETCETERA, ETCETERA, ETCETERA!

These are just a few of the issues that have reared up to show us that we have gotten out of balance. How do we restore balance to our world? I can’t answer for you—only myself. I will continue to do what I need to restore balance within my person and within my world, and I will also speak up and continue to serve as a healer/teacher/writer activist. This will look different on different days, depending on each issue. Let me share one powerful example that happened recently.

I was part of the leadership team for the 1000 Goddesses Gathering, held on Saturday October 22 at Constitution Gardens in Washington, DC. How amazing it was to take part at this Wisdom and Compassion Gathering to Invoke the Divine Feminine Deeply Throughout the Earth. We were present knowing that true balance requires us to allow the flow of yin and yang, feminine and masculine. This energy exists and is expressed
within each of us, and is expressed outwardly—in electrons, plants, minerals, magnetic poles and more.

In brief, feminine energy is receptive, collaborative, intuitive, creative, and feelings-oriented, whereas masculine energy is action-oriented, direct, risk-taking, left-brained, and cognitive. There is value in it all. Unfortunately, masculine energies have run amok for too many centuries, careening so out of balance that we have, consequently, experienced ways of living as mentioned in my list above. Enter state left my friend, healing sister, award-winning author, and a recent Mind, Body & Soul Food radio show guest, Mare Cromwell.

Mare channels messages from Earth Mother—even the Divine has feminine and masculine expressions. (FYI, I didn’t swallow the pill of God as an old white man with a long gray beard). Anyway, Mare received the guidance to hold a gathering of women, and invite men to attend as well as part of our Sacred Guardians. Hundreds of us gathered in prayer, meditation, chanting, singing, drumming, dancing, healing and other sacred ceremony. We planted “potent seeds to shift away from the destructive trajectory of our current socioeconomic systems” and bring sacred balance back to our earth.

The energy shifts and healing that took place on that day were tremendous! I am convinced that our efforts, along with that of the seventeen satellite gatherings held around the globe, were instrumental in creating a wave of restorative healing that we will see manifest in the coming weeks, months, and years. I am grateful to be doing my part.

We had a space for folks at the 1000GG to set their intentions. I am inviting you to piggy back off that powerful energy and do that now. How do you intend to restore balance in your life, and in your world? Take the time to really consider the question, develop a  vision for it, write it down, and speak prayer and/or send Reiki or other healing energy over it. If you have an altar, place it there, and call on your ancestors, angels, guides etc. to help you in the process of bringing it into fruition. I would love to hear your intentions, and your progress. I am sending you love and light as we all work (masculine) on being (feminine) in balance!

If you are interested in mind, body and spirit events in and near Laurel, MD, as well as other sacred events, go to http://www.meetup.com/Laurel-Mind-Body-Soul-Food-Meetup/ and http://www.sacredsojourns.space.  To listen to my podcast, Mind, Body & Soul Food, visit www.blogtalkradio.com/tonyaparker. Purchase a Kindle or audio version of Diary of a Witch’s Daughter, my young adult novel with holistic and metaphysical themes at http://tinyurl.com/diaryofawitchsdaughteronamazon.