Balanced lifestyle. Some people might wonder if it is necessary, while some might think if it is possible at all. Important is: no one else is exactly in your shoes. You know your life and its style the best. If that little spark of happiness is there each day. Whether you can still find inside you that little kid who smiles with no major reason. If that little time aside is kept and protected by you. It is difficult to find a right definition or an answer. Or rather, don’t search for one. Simply, you know it best yourself!
Time and balance the two most difficult things to have control over, yet they are both the things that we do control.
Catherine Pulsifer
MY BALANCE
There are moments in my life that I feel all opposite. Balance? Which balance? World and everything around is just moving so fast, crazily running around or suddenly stopping. Million things to accomplish, never-ending changes and unlimited to-do’s. I can run too, pretty fast. So I often join this race. Get crazy inside me, with both little angel and little devil on both of my shoulders. Do I listen to them? Maybe. Do they have some good suggestions? Sometimes. To run and race more for sure. Or to calm down and bother less.
In fact, when I lose my balance, I start to feel very uneasy, kind of, out of my place. Some inner feeling, as if it was a danger coming my way, sends signals to my mind and body to watch out. To control it, at least a bit. I keep on repeating myself: more balance = more smiles. It works for me as I love to smile.
My days are more active as I am active. So if one would just look at me during the day, potentially could think I am totally out of the balance ? And as much as I love my running around, there are many moments in the day when I stop, maybe for few minutes only but that’s my time to calm down. Like after eating a meal, I just like to sit by the table for a moment, still with plate in front of me and just relax, or rather wait. Same happens with my first coffee in the morning. But the next one is already sipped in action! Just to balance ?
Yes, there are few things that we all can do to take us closer to more smiles status. Many of them will require, especially initially, a lot of self-motivation and overall awareness. With time, we all need to build some new habits, that’s also part of our internal growth and inner journey.
BALANCED LIFE – 5 steps
NUMBER 1: Find your own way to feel more balanced in life
No one should tell you the answer. Or rather, if they say – ignore the advise. ? If you feel that for you, one thing works magic – follow it or at least try it for some time. If some suggestion doesn’t work, don’t force it just because it works for someone else. Ask yourself. We do so little of it (or maybe I just don’t hear others’ thoughts ?) For this first point I won’t give you any suggestions. You will know it best!
What is balance to me?
6 years ago I wrote my own credo. A part of it was saying “Aim… at balance searching for my inner self”. That was my self-realization moment. That’s when I understood that balance is one of the key values in my life.
Balance for me is to find the right proportion, some sort of median. The one that will include all sort of emotions and feelings, always with 1% more on the ‘bright side’. It is awareness and conscious decisions on how to benefit from 24 hours that we have, making sure that work doesn’t take over, that we dedicate time for everyone who is important (including ourselves!), our daily duties and daily moments of joy. To balance well in life, just when I do the headstand, I use my core. Core values. What is meaningful for me – goes first.
Balance is achieved only when it is challenged.
Unknown
NUMBER 2: Balance time better
I like to repeat to myself: we all have 24 hours each day (and night!). There isn’t a concept of “I don’t have time”. You also won’t be able to get more time during the day or night. Simply impossible (yet!). So knowing we all have our lovely 24 hours, put a bit of effort to maximize available time. And this isn’t only about time allocation but also time intensity.
This one is absolutely me. Sometimes I find myself not spending enough time with my children, sometimes time is less with My Better Half and there are moments, not rare, that all I want is time for myself (Me time). So I go crazy inside me. Time is priceless so try to balance it well. Being present when spending time with others, doing things with heart, helps in extending what one can’t extend: time. This is also my homework.
Recommendation: challenge yourself and try to wake up earlier, maybe just 30 minutes, dedicating this time to yourself or maybe advancing some of your day plans. Also, try to see if there are any activities during your day that “steal” both your time and energy.
NUMBER 3: Find your inner strength
Inner strength is our core strength, that’s the one related to our soul. It can give us immense benefits. It is related to our patience, courage and self-confidence. Additionally, it gives us tolerance, determination and enthusiasm, all essential for living a quality life. It can help in finding peace of mind, so challenging and rare in this turbulent world. Inner force can also increase our sense of security and level of satisfaction. Finding your inner strength and increasing its potential, can enable us to face life’s challenges, accept ourselves and reality around us. Great inner strength is something we should definitely aim at.
Try to do pranayamas, to meditate or chant mantras, based on your preference. I love to do pranayamas, it gives me back new energy, relaxes my mind and guides emotions in positive direction. Both meditation and mantras chanting can help you connect with yourself, purify your mind and find back your spiritual force.
Recommendation: Book “Inner Engineering: A Yogi’s Guide to Joy” by Sadhguru
“In his revolutionary new book, visionary, mystic and yogi Sadhguru distils his own experiences with spirituality and yoga and introduces the transformational concept of Inner Engineering. Developed by him over several years, this powerful practice serves to align the mind and the body with energies around and within, creating a world of limitless power and possibilities. Inner Engineering is your own software for joy and well-being.”
Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.
A. Einstein
NUMBER 4: Stay fit
Staying fit helps in maintaining more balanced lifestyle, especially thanks to sport and good eating habits. Exercises impact positively not only our body but also mind, playing an important role in stress reduction. Whereas right diet will keep you body healthy and additionally give you new energy and boost your spirits. For more long term results and actual change in the lifestyle, it is essential to focus on staying fit on regular basis, not only on ad hoc basis.
Select exercises that you truly enjoy, something that relaxes you while being active. Maybe you are a great swimmer or runner. Maybe you enjoy team sport games with your friends, that’s extra fun for sure. And remember, you know your body the best, so also think what you can limit or eliminate from your diet – from today! Don’t wait for tomorrow. So what works for me? I know that yeast isn’t good for my body so I try to limit it, especially for dinner. And sports: I just love yoga and gym!
Recommendation: Try to follow the rule of “breakfast eat like a king and dinner eat like a begger”. It helps in providing body adequate quantity of calories for the right timings of the day & night. Also eat more fresh food, both referring to more fruits and vegetables and also freshly cooked dishes. Storing food for next days means you will enjoy only the taste, as most of the vitamins and nutrients will be lost.
NUMBER 5: Be positive
Positive thinking, positive outlook, positive assumptions, all focusing on the bright side of our life! Glass half empty or half full? My answer is always the same: it is always fully full – half is water and half is air. Just like there will be smiles and tears, ups and downs. We need all of these to understand and appreciate good moments. Also here, right balance is what we need to seek. Convert each tear into two smiles!
Recently, especially as these days are a bit more challenging, when I wake up in the morning I play one of my favorite songs. The one that adds me energy, positive vibes and hope. And when I feel a bit low, I talk to people close to my heart. I find it important: to have at your reach (physical or virtual) positive people, who will multiply your positive mood and lift you up when needed.
Recommendation: SMILE. Let the smile be your answer. When you struggle, smile. If you are confused, smile. When you are about to cry, smile. If you are feeling low, smile. To yourself. I learnt it recently from Our Little One. Often when she falls down – her first reaction are tears. And then we play her favorite song, and her tears mix with many beautiful smiles. Smiles win!
TAKE 21 DAYS CHALLENGE
Sometimes we all need an external motivation, a small push to take first step and to go into action mode. Where to start, what actually to change – there can be many questions. My suggestion: start today – no matter if steps are small or big. Important to go ahead! You have all my virtual support!
Suggestion is: download 21 Days Challenge App. Although I live in “apps country” (read: India ?) I am not a huge fan of apps. Maybe as usually, no matter how much memory I add to my phone: videos and photos take it all ? But believe me, this app is just fantastic! So let me tell you more!
This app is super interactive, designed in the way to keep users intrigued (I love this scratchy-scratchy part!) and involved. It is also flexible, for example now you can find new challenges applicable specially for the lock-down! You can select the challenge you want, or – like me – go for all of them at once! ? My Better Half was already notified that in the next 21 days I might be more busy. Busy for me means… finally I will find some time to watch my favorite TV show.
“It is estimated that it takes people 21 days to form a new habit. So it’s a perfect amount of time to change or introduce something new in your life. Choose the best challenge for you and do it for 21 days and you’re going to see how the habit becomes part of your lifestyle day by day.
Starting a healthy lifestyle, taking a break away from the internet, practicing gratitude, trying to be more productive, simple practices to find happiness, how to study effectively for all the students are some of the challenges that you can find on this app.
There’s also a new self-care quarantine challenge due to what it’s happening currently in the world.
In the gratitude challenge, you can write your thoughts and share them in the feed (you can leave anonymously too). Here you’re going to see all the community answers and you can also give it a like on your favorite ones.”
So don’t wait and at least give it a try! No matter if you are an App person or not. An external motivation can help all of us, especially during these days when we need more positive thinking and encouragement!
Moments that matter, no matter the lifestyle.
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