Maintaining Balance through Shared Vision By Bethany Quillinan
Copyright 2005. May be copied for non-commercial educaitonal use only. All other rights reserved. For reprint permission contact Bethany Quillinan at bethanyq@earthlink.net.
This application of yoga techniques is an effective and fun kinesthetic way to demonstrate the power of flexibility, continuous adjustment, and a shared vision for helping maintain balance.
SAFETY NOTE: Tell participants that they may want to be within reach of something solid to lean on, and that it is a good idea to remove high heeled shoes. Ask those unable to stand or with vertigo/weak ankles to be observers.
LEVEL 1
Give the following instructions:
Stand up and transfer your weight to one leg.
Raise the other foot off the floor, bending the knee to raise it higher.
Hold it in place. (While holding, ask participants what it feels like, especially in their standing ankle. Participants should be able to feel their ankle working to balance them, with varying degrees of wobbliness.)
Now put your foot back down, but remain standing.
Teaching Point: In a family/classroom/organization (depending on your context) maintaining a shared vision is a real balancing act. Ask participants "What did you do to maintain balance?" (flexibility, continuous adjustment) "What factors need to be balanced in your setting?"
LEVEL 2
Give the next set of instructions:
Pick a focal point: something that is unmoving (not another person) that is just above eye level and at least 4 feet away, for example a clock, a mark on the wall, etc.
Look at your focal point, transfer your weight to one leg.
Raise the other leg.
Hold it in place while maintaining focus on your chosen point. (While holding, ask participants what this posture now feels like. It should feel more stable, since staring at a fixed point serves as a level for the brain and makes it easier to balance.)
Now put your foot back down, but remain standing. Teaching Point: A vision statement serves as a focal point, helping you to balance all the activities and behaviors going on in a family/classroom/organization.
Ask everyone to point to their focal point, hold it for a bit, and look around.
Teaching Point: People will be pointing to all different places in the room. In a family/classroom/organization we want to be aligned toward the same vision, so that we are not going off in different and/or competing directions. What is the value of a shared vision? A shared vision statement serves as a common focal point, helping us line up our individual behavior with the desired goal of the group.
LEVEL 3
Give the last set of instructions:
Stand up and transfer weight to one leg.
Raise the other foot off the floor, bending the knee to raise it higher.
Close your eyes.
Hold in place as long as possible.
Ask participants what that felt like. Of course, it is much more difficult to balance when we lose our external focal point. The goal of a yogi is to internalize the focal point.
Teaching Point: What can we learn from this about moderation, flexibility and balance in our lives? How does a personal vision of balance help us? How do things change when people internalize their shared vision?
The ultimate goal of a personal or shared vision is that people internalize it and are guided from within. The statement posted on the wall is not necessary anymore* because individuals have integrated it into their way of being.
*Note: Situations and changed circumstances can knock us out of balance; we need to keep the vision statement visible because progression through these three levels is not a linear one-time process.