Symmetrical, Not Symmetrical

Lately I've been a bit preoccupied with my eyebrows during my after-shower routine. I've never gotten them professionally groomed, which apparently goes beyond just waxing nowadays, but I did learn from my best friend in college how to pluck them and have been <somewhat> disciplined in doing so ever since.

Several years ago (and many moons since college), my mom bought me a magnifying mirror, which has aided both my plucking motivation and precision...but now I'm finding myself obsessing over how different my eyebrows are and trying to subtly trim and comb them to match each other. Methinks this is verging on the ridiculous. After all, how many people have perfectly symmetrical faces?

While our bodies have bilateral symmetry overall, there are many ways we are asymmetrical. Take for instance the anatomical positions of two major organs--the heart is on the left side of the chest, and the liver is lower in the body cavity on the right side.

Then there are physical differences that may or may not be the result of genetics. I personally know folks who were born with one leg slightly longer than the other, one foot larger than the other, one ear shaped differently than the other, and so forth. We can also be born with conditions like scoliosis that cause asymmetry.

Additionally, uneven changes occur in the body from simply living life. We tend to think about handedness when it comes to writing, eating and playing sports, but most of us favor our dominant side in everything we do. Think about which hand you use to brush your teeth and hair, hold the phone, wash your body. Think about which arm you use to hold the baby, carry the groceries, walk the dog. Think about which leg you tend to put weight on when standing, which foot you tend to step with first, which side of the mouth you tend to chew on.

The body responds to all of our behaviors and literally reshapes itself accordingly to meet these needs. For example, bone spurs result from too much pressure on a bone over time. Of course there are tremendous benefits to the body's intelligence, too, like building muscle and creating neural pathways; however, when the body receives strong input unevenly for too long, this leads to structural imbalances that can result in pain and even degenerative disease.

The good news is that yoga and mindfulness practice can help us become aware of postural and other imbalances, and with continued awareness and practice we can begin to change them.

This got me thinking--I wonder if yoga can fix my eyebrows. Just kidding! Let's forget the asymmetry that isn't hurting us and address what does or may hurt us eventually.