Everything you need to know is right there inside, waiting for you to tap in and discover it, and then hopefully do something about it.

When your breathing is easy and deep, your body works efficiently, and your mind settles. That doesn't mean that your balance (in tree pose or anywhere else) will be perfect and your life will be seamless, but you'll be better equipped to deal with the wobbles and earthquakes that get thrown into the mix.

Our attention to each breath keeps us in the now.

When your life is not in balance and you're struggling to achieve stability, practicing observation without judgment gets really interesting, and very useful. How? Because you can learn to distance yourself from the roller coaster ride of your emotions and circumstances but still enjoy the ride of life.

Learning to savor the moment keeps us from living in constant worry and fear and tension over things that haven't happened yet and may never come to pass. Practicing yoga helps us to undo these bad mental habits and stress triggers that we often unknowingly pick up along the way.

A successful tree pose probably won't change your life. Learning how to keep your breath easy, long, and deep no matter what the circumstance? That absolutely will.

Why is balance important? From a life lesson standpoint, it's about learning to enjoy yourself without getting the ego involved.