One of the biggest challenges to maintaining balance is feeling powerless. Yogiraj Achala said, “I excite myself with my incompetencies.” With this attitude feelings of powerlessness become opportunities to become competent rather than violent —The Yamas and the Niyamas, Deborah Adele

Feeling powerless can leave us feeling trapped and often activates the the fight or flight response. It’s those times when we feel that we have run out of options and feel completely incompetent in our ability to handle the issue at hand the we feel powerless. Lately I have been struggling with chronic pain that not only saps my energy during activities of daily living but has also taken the joy out of one of my favorite activities, waking early and going for a long run before sunrise. Although some would probably feel relieved to have an excuse to sleep in, it has been a daily struggle for me. Over the past year, I have continually felt that my body was failing me and I was left feeling frustrated and depressed. A few months ago I happened to start reading the above quoted book one day and read a Section on powerlessness which suggests shifting your thinking towards practicing gratitude, trust in the moment and thinking of others. These practices are all geared towards creating balance in our lives. I was so focused on trying to
get back to comfort zone, I was missing out on opportunities to learn something new. So the next time you find yourself angry, frustrated, victimized etc by your own powerlessness ask yourself what do I need to do right now to feel competent in handling this situation?

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