People have some feelings about balance. There’s talk about “work-life” balance. There’s talk about how balance doesn’t exist. There’s “chemical imbalance”. There’s finding your internal balance. Now, I’m saying our hips are teaching us about balance. Listen to my chat about this on IGTV.

I believe is that you can have balance in your health and in your life. I don’t believe that means you are never angry, sad or ill. When you are “out of balance”, you may have been doing a thing too much or too long or too hard. That means you might spend a few days or even a few weeks in a flurry of eating out, working intensely on a project or just feeling off. When you come back to "normal”, you balance that with some down time. Maybe you eat a week of salads and drink lots of water. Or maybe you start taking your herbs and supplements again. It can look many different ways.

One of my favorite things to share with clients and students is that we are looking to find our own sense of health. What works for our bodies. Each person has a different constellation of needs. Some people are natural vegetarians. Others need more dense protein sources from animals or fish. Some people naturally deplete iron more easily and others store it more readily.

We all have subtle ways our bodies were designed. Genetics, lifestyle, food choices, childhood illness or recent illness all contribute to the special balance of nutrients and activity your body needs.

Here are some questions to ask when our hips are in pain, injured or begging our attention:

• Have we been either over thinking or under thinking?

• Are we stuck on material concerns?

• Too busy with outward projects, not focused enough on our own needs, health or personal goals and heart’s desires?

• Where are you ignoring something? Avoiding?

• Are you continuing in one direction that you’re no longer truly feel interest or desire?

Hips can also tell us to get moving. Are you sitting still? Physically or emotionally? Finding a little balance in your day to day life will make a huge impact on your hips discomfort.

Of course, let's not forget that we can turn to our herbal allies to support this process. Drinking tea is a lovely way to use herbs, especially when you are looking to address some of the energetic components of health. For this particular reflection, I’m suggesting Red Clover. Red Clover blossoms are a gentle neutral tonic that has an affinity (meaning it has a tendency toward) to our hips and pelvic organs. It’s nourishing and clearing. It can help shift old stagnant energy. It’s general enough in action to be take regularly. I like to add it in with another nourishing herb like nettle or oat grass. This feeds our nervous system to help us connect in deeper with the plants and their effects.