Creating a Balance

I don't know about you guys, but it seems that I just can't do enough yoga lately.  The stress of the snow in the deep depths of winter has got be breathing my ocean breath constantly now. What with the freezing cold and piles of snow blocking my every turn, I am just one big bellows: "breathe! breathe!"  Being an ever so alert yogini, I have noticed that my neck and shoulders are stiff, my head hurts, and I can't shake off this feeling of stress.  Is it that I can't do everything I want to do or have I been trying to do more than that nasty mother nature is letting me?

David Sedaris, in his essay "On the Kookaburra," discusses the idea of the four burners. Think of your life as being like a stove top, says one of the people he encounters on a trip to Australia, where each burner represents a key component: family, friends, health, and work.

In her book enLIGHTened: How I Lost 40 Pounds with a Yoga Mat, Fresh Pineapples, and a Beagle Pointer, Jessica Berger Gross uses the 4 burner theory to explain our feelings of stress. Often we get stressed out because we feel inadequate - never doing enough. This theory popped into my head today after I was admonished for not doing something in a timely fashion, and I proceeded to beat myself up. "In order to be successful," she says, "you need to turn one of the burners off, and in order to be really successful, you can only have two burners on. Trying to do too much means you'll suffer in all areas."

 Yogis often define success as fulfillment and inner peace, as much as accomplishment. What would you do? Which burners would you turn off to achieve success? Rather, is there a way to just readjust our stove tops? Is it better--more yogic--to keep all the burners on a moderate flame? If one part of your life is turned on high, won't the other areas suffer?
 
Which burners do you have on high?  Which are you willing to shut off or readjust?