I’ve been thinking about balance recently. I’m feeling pretty balanced in my life these past few years but it hasn’t always been the case. I spent a long time working in a high-pressure, high-stress corporate environment. Work filled my head, day and night, all-consuming, almost becoming an obsession rather than a passion. There was no room for anything else. This lack of balance lead to a lot of stress, frustration, exhaustion and health issues. And I had no practices at the time to help me. If only I’d know about the benefits of yoga and meditation!
Now I know. And since then, I’ve worked hard to find and to maintain a state of balance.
What does balance mean for you?Balance will feel different for each of us, depending on what drives our passions, feeds our creativity, and makes us feel joyful. It depends on how we live our lives from day to day.
To me, balance means a comfortable mix of joy, harmony and serenity, a feeling of flowing creativity, a satisfying sense that I am doing exactly what I’m meant to be doing in that particular moment. Things just feel right. And I think balance means feeling grounded enough that you can have wings to soar as high as you want to go. Balance is not always easy to attain, and it’s fragile. Living out of balance is part of life, and it can be messy and chaotic. Feeling out of balance is actually useful so that you can contrast that feeling to the feeling you have when you are back in balance - and so you know how good balance feels.
And the good news is that we can always find our way back to balance. We each need to find our own practices and ways of doing things so that we can regain and maintain a beautiful state of balance, in body, mind and heart. I do believe that begins with awareness!
Here are my 10 personal tips (with links to more inspiration) to find your way back to balance and to make it a more constant state. I invite you to approach these ideas with a sense of play and a beginner's mind.
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Practice yoga!!! - I can’t say enough how beneficial yoga is for all aspects of your life. Yoga helped me to regain my balance both physical and mental. Start your daily home practice right now. Please! Here’s some help to get started.
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Meditate daily - Even if it’s just for 5 minutes a day. It can offer you a pathway to peace and harmony, to help you stay in balance every day.
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Breathe - Nothing fancy, just breathe. When something throws me off balance, I almost always stop and breathe, deeply at first to reconnect with my body to get grounded, and then I focus for a few moments on the gentle inhale and exhale. And there are simple pranayama breathing techniques you can learn to help you deal with any situation.
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Connect with nature - No matter what is happening, a walk in nature or just sitting admiring the earth’s beauty can ground you and bring you back to balance. It’s perhaps one of the best and easiest ways to get back to balance. For something fun and different, try making a natural mandala.
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Connect with your body - Body awareness will help you to recognize the signs of imbalance and the places you hold tension, and to work through them. Practices such as yoga, qi cong, tai chi and meditation can all help you to build body awareness. Or see how the feels through a walking meditation.
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Connect with loved ones - There’s nothing like community to find help or healing in any situation. A visit or a chat with an uplifting, supportive friend or family member will always raise your spirits and offer a sense of joy, and you may find the support you need to find a better sense of harmony and balance.
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Unitask - Multi-tasking is almost a religion in our society but I find it’s very destructive to mental balance and also to productivity. After being the world’s best multi-tasker, I now very strongly advise uni-tasking. Focusing on one thing at a time is far less stressful and brings better results and more satisfaction to everything you do. I guarantee you will still be able to get everything on your to do list done! Find some mindfulness tips to get more done and stress less at work.
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Declutter - Clutter to me is definitely a state of unbalance. Clearing it all out, creating some order out of the mess is a way to find clarity and calm in the midst of chaos and to find a way back to balance. And sometimes it’s a question of decluttering your life, letting go of certain things and even letting go of people. Give yourself permission.
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Set good boundaries - It’s very healthy to set boundaries around your time, your personal space, your personal and emotional energy, even your body. Clearly setting boundaries can help you avoid getting overwhelmed, feeling drained and used, and ultimately losing your balance. Just remember to be clear, straightforward and kind when you clarify your boundaries with those around you. The good people in your life will respect them.
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Be kind to yourself! - This is the single most important thing you can do to find and maintain your balance. Practice self-kindness by eating healthy food, getting enough sleep, exercising regularly, and by offering yourself the space and time to do the practices and rituals that keep you balanced.
