Balanced Beings - Self-Care in a Crazy World

BALANCED BEINGS is the culmination of several years of wanting to focus more on the meaning of play whilst needing to dig down into what that actually is - both for me and for those with whom I work. And balance - physical and emotional - has also been at the heart of my search for meaning and purpose.

The purpose of BALANCED BEINGS is to help you find physical and emotional balance through the art of play and self-experimentation – reconnecting with something that’s lost or forgotten, or maybe just a little shaky.

For me, being BALANCED means knowing where I am within my internal and external environment.

• Where and how am I most comfortable?

• How am I feeling (tired, energetic, distracted)?

• What are the best actions I can take to maintain or manage my state of BALANCE?

BALANCE

Noun:

Physical equilibrium; the ability to retain one’s balance; stability produced by even distribution of weight on each side of the vertical axis; equipoise between contrasting, opposing, or interacting elements

Verb:

To bring into harmony or proportion; to arrange so that one set of elements exactly equals another; to bring to a state or position of balance

As a parent or carer, employer or employee, partner or close friend, what can I do to facilitate the creation or maintenance of BALANCE for those around me – adults and children – whilst still holding onto my own?

Human beings have a natural desire for a BALANCED state, but it’s achievable only when the environment is right and when we are prepared to put in the work to keep hold of it and stay connected to it. It’s not simple, and even the most BALANCED individuals we know find themselves losing it from time to time. It’s also very personal.

In this context, BALANCE can be used as both a noun and a verb. It’s something we can have (noun) as well as something that we strive to do (verb). We hear of people searching for work/life BALANCE and wonder how we are meant to achieve it. But is that the right way to look at it or could we perhaps begin to understand that work and life are not separate – that if we consider all experience as life, we will have a better chance of BALANCING all the various elements of this life?

My aim, through BALANCED BEINGS, is to help you to reconnect to something inside or outside of yourself that will help you to restore your BALANCE.

My approach involves exploring how the physical, cognitive and emotional skills and behaviours involved in being more conscious of our individual balance can be applied across all aspects of our lives. And, if that sounds appealing, you will also understand that the benefits of doing so will be realised in the (re-)connections you make to those most important in your life.

Meanwhile, I will be continuing my work with parents and carers of little ones, from pregnancy and the early months, to educate and encourage the development and maintenance of BALANCE from the beginning.

Here’s the How

Workshops

How about a series of summer workshops? We’ve had to spend so much time at home this year – taking care of our homes and families while trying to create some sense of normality and maintain our mental health. Many have been worried about sick family members or fallen ill themselves, and there has been no escape from the stress of this unheard-of situation. But as lockdown measures begin to ease, and with summer upon us, perhaps now is the time to begin taking steps outside of our immediate family bubbles and to reconnect with the wider world. (Safely, and maintaining social distancing, of course.)

In an outdoor setting within a lovely country park, we’ll spend a few hours reconnecting with our inner child. If you’re a parent or an observer of children, you’ll understand that this doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll be ‘having fun’, although I think we will. Play is the work of the child and it is sometimes hard work. But it is also very rewarding when the work is about the activity and not the result, as it is for children. This will be our approach.

By using simple objects and equipment, we’ll rediscover things about ourselves that we’d forgotten. My work is informed and inspired by the Pikler approach and Sensory Awareness and my methods are based on my experience of working with great teachers – Hedie Meyling, Peggy Zeitler and Ute Strub – as well as working alongside colleagues and many parents of very young children, particularly over the last ten years.

Parent-Child Classes

I’ve been running parent-child classes for 14 years. Since 2011, these have developed from being a lovely but chaotic ‘mothers’ meeting’, with crafts, snacks and lots of chatting into a carefully crafted, peaceful environment where parents take the time to observe their children at play and look objectively at what they are already capable of. And it’s this play as well as the observation of it that are important keys to maintaining the BALANCE that we are born to.

If, from infancy, a child is allowed to experiment with movement and play at their own pace, this facilitates the formation of the sense of self which a human being needs in order to find - and consistently stay connected - to a BALANCED state. Through a little education and some discussion about how children might be allowed to develop naturally, parents can become confident about creating and maintaining an environment at home that will nurture the unfolding of each child’s unique capabilities.

I anticipate being unable to run classes in the same way that I have previously, due to the legacy of the COVID-19 coronavirus, so my initial aim is to work with small groups of parents with little ones who are not yet mobile in order to maintain social distancing and best practice during this period. Watch this space for details…

Courses

I’ve successfully run my How to Be a (Good Enough) Parent course in person and now I’m planning to run it online. It will be made up of five 60 to 90-minute sessions in the evening. As soon as I’ve worked out the details, I’ll be posting more about it. Do watch this space if you’re interested, or let me know by sending me an email or filling out my contact form online.

Being Balanced

The world around us has changed. Some of the changes are so marked that we may feel totally thrown off BALANCE and not be at all surprised. But there are many smaller, more subtle changes that will have come about too. Our relationships have shifted, our anxiety and fear levels may have increased, and we may have become more or less mindful, depending on how we are coping. Being self aware will help us discover where our BALANCE lies and give us some opportunity for change where change is needed – with benefits for ourselves and those around us.

Personally, I have been working on finding and maintaining a new kind of BALANCE in my life. The so-called work/life balance has become life balance and I’m learning to work and rest in proportionate and healthy measure in order to maintain a life that I love.

I still have a way to go! There are plenty of ways in which I still want to shift my BALANCE to create more equilibrium, for myself, my family and the world around me.

Balanced Beings is one way in which I hope to be able to support you and your family to do the same.

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