I fell down, hard. I didn’t like being there, on my hands and knees. I didn’t like the loud womp that my fall had made, sending my family running from all corners of the house. I didn’t like the pain in my left knee. I’d been stumbling alot recently, not picking up my feet. I was unbalanced, and yes, overweight. This was not a good way to be at mid-life.

I got up from the floor, resolved to make a change. So I began. I started getting up every morning and doing yoga on the Wii Fit. Mornings when I had more time, I added aerobics for an hour’s workout. I added a T’ai Chi class at my local dojo. I was determined to improve my balance, to improve my form. And yes, to lighten my load.

I’ve started exercise routines before, but somehow, this time seems different. I’m finding synergy between T’ai Chi and Wii Fit, and with the rest of my life, that I didn’t expect.

Wii Fit is surprisingly helpful in my T’ai Chi class. The muscle memory of the yoga forms is making it easier to learn the choreography of the T’ai Chi form and Chi Kung exercises. The weight transfer skills from the Wii Fit are used in T’ai Chi, too.

I can also use the Lotus “balance game” on the Wii Fit for a few minutes of silent prayer and meditation at the end of my workout. It makes a nice connection to my weekly meditative prayer group, and the mindfulness aspect of T’ai Chi, not to mention manifesting a long elusive time and place for prayer.

Working out in early mornings, and going to classes after supper, seemed impossible before, but now that I’m making them routine, they feel good. My work-life balance feels better. My wife-mom-me balance feels better. Even my spiritual balance feels better.

Perhaps landing on my knees that day was not so much falling down, as getting into starting position.