What would it look like to view falling as a part of balancing, mistakes as a part of learning and growing, and a necessary means to an end?

Photo by Caique Nascimento on Unsplash

Balancing is a series of falls. My yoga teacher said something about how balancing is just the process of falling in and out over and over again. While I wobbled slowly in tree pose, I had a light bulb moment. Balancing is just a series of falling in and out. Someone rarely balances right into a tree pose. You need to ground yourself, ready your limbs, fall in and out of balance, practice a lot, and reflect! 

When I taught at an independent school in Marin County California, there was a class called Energy Time, a sort of combo of meditation and Aikido. At that time, an experienced and skilled teacher taught us to fall and get back up.