Balancing can be like tap dancing on a 2x4

Ten years ago this month, I led a group of men from Seattle at a retreat on balancing their work-life and pending retirement. For one exercise, I put two 2X4s end-to-end, and asked the men to simply walk that length. It was harder than they expected!

That simple but difficult exercise led to some helpful discussion about how to balance their lives as they prepared for retirement — and their lives more generally. I’ve been thinking about that conversation as I watch, and experience, the shelter-in-place moment we all share to some degree or another in this imbalanced time of COVID-19.

Balance is one of those essentials that we don’t often think about, until we feel we’re losing it. Balance and its opposite, imbalance, show up these days in so many ways: physically, emotionally, financially, politically, religiously, domestically, etc.

Since this column is mostly for older adults, let’s begin with physical balance. One of aging’s challenges does include maintaining our balance. There are a number of reasons for balance problems, all of which should prompt us to seek medical advice.

Inner ear issues, like labrynthitis, can be caused by upper respiratory, viral or bacterial infections. Conditions of the circulatory system, like low or high blood pressure, head injury may create imbalance. Medications taken for any number of conditions can impact balance.

Visual issues, like impaired peripheral vision for one, may make you “fall off the 2X4.” Certainly neurological disorders, like multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s Disease, as well as an overall decline in general physical fitness, also are big factors in balance issue.

Now, we don’t need to be in the midst of this COVID-19 time to need good physical balance. It’s an ongoing challenge for many older adults. But if you can’t get out regularly for walking exercise, home exercises can be a big help for you to maintain, and even gain, on whatever physical balance challenges you might experiences.

If you do online research on a computer, consider looking for balance exercises there. Quite a few sites offer those exercises. Two I think are helpful are www.aginginplace.org/10-elderly-balance-exercises, and www.melioguide.com/health-guides/balance-exercises-for-seniors.

So how are you doing with your emotional balance? I hope that’s every bit as important to you as your physical balance. It you are being conscientious about sheltering in-place, it’s sometimes easy to get into a rut of isolation.

If that’s something you’re prone to do, challenge yourself to climb out of the rut! Call someone — a family member, a friend, someone who has a caring attitude. If you think that someone might be self-isolating, give him/her a call. Do you have a phone that uses FaceTime? Arrange with someone to visit on FaceTime. (We do that every weekend with our family in the Portland area and it boosts us for another week!)

Self-isolation is a form of emotional imbalance. To get re-balanced, you need to “lean the other way”. Lean toward other social connection.

Do you feel some imbalance in this weird time we’re living in? If so, what are you going to do about it? Some of that imbalance is in your control. Perhaps asking “Why is it important to me to remain imbalanced in this way?” will be enough to take charge of re-balancing your life.

Paul Graves, M.Div., is Lead Geezer-in-Charge of Elder Advocates, a consulting ministry on aging issues. Contact Paul at 208-610-4971 or elderadvocates@nctv.com.