Balance by Al
To me, balance means finding a way to have stable and equal footing in your body, mind, spirit, and emotions. In order to feel grounded in any of the four aspects, you need to feel stable in all of them. No matter how well you deal with your emotional self, it’s not possible to feel whole or at true peace unless your body, spirit and thoughts are equally as well cared-for.
This means that, in order to achieve balance, one has to holistically care for oneself. In order to promote balance from the physical aspect, exercising, avoiding illness, drinking water, and eating healthy food are all necessary components. In terms of mental balance, it’s important to engage in intellectually stimulating activities and to try to continue learning in everyday life in order to keep one’s mind strong and healthy. To care for one’s emotional
health, self-validation, being surrounded by loving and positive presences and emotional rest are good steps to take. The final equal component is spiritual balance, which can be promoted by meditation, mindfulness, artistic expression, traditional medicines, and engaging with nature. I’m still learning how to maintain balance in my day-to-day life, but I’m getting better at it.
The main aspect that i struggle the most with is physical self-care, which impacts the whole cycle. I used to be on a swim team for a long time, and was getting a good amount of exercise. However, at that point in time, my other aspects were lacking a LOT in terms of care, and it eventually spilled over and all of it got messed up. I’ve been rebuilding for the past few years, and I'm doing a lot better.
I make an active effort to learn at least one new fact a day and to use and expand my current academic skillset on a regular basis. I’ve gotten good at putting myself in situations that don’t dysregulate me emotionally, and I have a large set of tools that I can use if I happen to find myself in one anyways. I meditate, smudge and pray regularly, and do all that I can to connect with my environment and the people around me. I still need to take better care of my physical body. I’ve recently been trying to go for at least one walk a day, and to drink only water except on special occasions.
By Al
‘Balance’ is a youth essay series sponsored by the Clear Sky Youth Council in Seattle, WA
Seattle Clear Sky Native Youth Council is a program of Urban Native Education Alliance a 501c3 Native led non-profit. Clear Sky is a cultural and educational youth centered program designed to respond to our urban Native student needs academic, and cultural needs and interests. Our motto is ‘Thriving through culture, tradition and education’.
In light of our National upheaval related to the novel COVID19 pandemic, our program shifted to virtual remote gatherings and educational activities. We want to reach as many youth as possible and appeal to the variety of interests represented in our diverse student population, with that in mind we launched several culture based learning opportunities including; Photography ‘Indigenous hunt’, video lessons on traditional medicine , essay topics related to learning activities, fitness and nutrition challenges.
Most every activity involves gift card incentives for participation, we celebrate our students in supporting their art, poetry, essays, and ideas by showcasing their work on facebook, newsletters, website, honoring their unique individual and collective talents.
Ultimately our vision is for our urban youth to have a multitude of platforms for elevating their voice and strengthen their connections with their culture and traditions, academic success and socio-economic-political empowerment is the result.