Finding Balance

I love to walk.  Nothing calms me more than a long tromp.  Walking just to walk clears my head and has guided me through more than one emotional wrestling match.  I love to feel wind, rain, snow, sun against my skin.  I walk briskly, sure of myself, my footing.

Right now, it pays to proceed more mindfully.  I can be tearing along on dry pavement when the ground shifts from bare concrete to this:

Suddenly, dry land vanishes in a pack of ice and I move from grounded confidence to picking my way, one foot in front of the other.

In Tadasana/Mountain Pose, you ground your body, both feet planted firmly, toes spread widely, bringing strength and energy up the legs along the spine to the crown of your head.  You stand, lower body solid, upper body held lightly, lifting to the sky.  In Tadasana, you find balance and then you practise balancing, at first just standing to find stillness, then by carefully placing one foot in front of the other, seeking to remain balanced in the shift.  In a few moments, you move that forward foot behind and seek balance again.  The more you practise, the more you improve balance and focus.

I stand in Tadasana while spindle spinning and I slow my pace.  I roll my spindle along my thigh gently and release it quietly, so that energy is directed into the yarn, rather than into correcting the wobble sometimes caused by too aggressive a spin.  I spin cross-legged on the floor; I am grounded.  I sit in a firm chair at the wheel and my spine lifts, bringing energy into the body up into the crown of my head.  I am uplifted.

My spindle challenge progresses, although I'm having a tough time resisting the call of my other lonely spindles, especially this one:

It's a Bosworth Moosie, complete with a pink-tinged mouse nibble and a bloodwood shaft bought in a destash from a friend, along with another laceweight Bossie which needed a new home.  It's difficult to get a good photograph-the light bounces off the antler whorl.  Trust me, it's a beauty.