As human beings, everything that makes us who we are is in a constant state of flux.

We’re creating and disposing of millions of cells each minute, our brains are processing more subconscious and conscious thoughts than we’d ever hope to track, and our individual needs are fluid and transforming due to a constantly changing external environment.

As a result, there is no one way to live, no one way to train, no one way to think, and no one way to eat that is ideal for all people, at all times.

We must find an overall balance that suits us as individuals.

The Physical

Here at Aspen, ‘Balance’ is the first of our pillars of training.

We teach balance in the physical sense; on hands, feet, rails, and more. This aspect of our movement practice harnesses a lot of potential wisdom, as it has a tendency to expose weaknesses in other areas of our practice, including strength and mobility.

For example, an over active muscle group, or an immobile hip, can cause a multitude of imbalances across the body as it attempts to adapt and compensate.

Many of our members have embarked on a journey of learning how to Handstand. A fun skill that many of us played with as kids. Learning to do this as an adult can be quite frustrating, but is peppered with fun, laughs, and breakthroughs.

To really work on achieving your handstand from scratch, we need to develop and balance many other qualities such as body awareness, stillness, control, length of hamstrings and hip flexors, opening through the shoulders and thoracic, and stability of the shoulder girdle. These are all opposites of what a typical desk job will garner, making it a perfect goal for counterbalancing a sedentary life.

With all this said, don’t underestimate the importance of simply balancing on your feet! Our body is incredible at coping and finding solutions. It adapts to gravity each and every day, slowly morphing and creating adaptations to the environment and positions you chose to put it in. Choose wisely.

The Mental

There is also the deeper conversation where we look at balance in our lives. For us, balance is not something to be achieved, but rather a constant consideration.

It’s being able to zoom out for just a moment and observe your life, make conscious choices, and take responsibility for choosing what we engage with and how much we engage with it.

It’s important that we do all of the above with our own interests in mind, rather than comparing ourselves to the person next to us and feeling the need to do what they’re doing.

This is where we explore balance as a concept, rather than a physical ability. Balancing the timeline for a goal, balancing expectations, balancing stress, balancing everything that’s intrinsic.

Balance is a huge portion of what we teach at Aspen, both conceptually and physically. We want you to more deeply understand yourself, and the forces you engage with. We want to help you balance all aspects of your life.