How can we live a more balanced life?
When one thinks of achieving more balance in their life, we often think of having more time for our family, friends, and fun. We think to be balanced in life we must be able to juggle it all, have it all and at the same time… do it all.
When you realize that to be balanced you must look at the idea of the many components of your life. Let’s explore them:
1)Yourself/Self care
2)Your family/friends/intimate relationships
3)Your Career/work
4)Leisure/Fun
5)Health/Wellness
These 5 components, if paid attention to and nurtured, make for a balanced human being.
Self Care: When we pay attention to our inner voice or our truths, we nurture ourselves. This is a form of self care. It is not only the simple rituals of taking a bath that warrants self care, it’s turning inward. Meditation or journaling can help one tune inward.
Family/Friends/Relationship: Cultivating meaningful relationships is essential to all humans. When we make time to spend with our loved ones, we contribute to the meaning of our own existence. Whether it is family or friends or a significant other, showing up either in person or calling, strengthens those bonds.
Work: We all have to work to live. If you are lucky enough to work in alignment with your true core beliefs, work becomes easier. Even if it is just a job to pay your bills, how you show up every day contributes to being balanced in your life. It may not be the perfect job or a career but for now, remember, how you show up everyday in that job ultimately contributes to you being balanced in life.
Leisure/Fun: When you are feeling joy and your soul can actually light up with laughter, you are also contributing to being in balance with your life. Make time to find out what makes you feel joy and pleasure. One of the human needs that is most neglected according to a study from AARP is leisure time. People often wait to start enjoying life and pleasures until they retire. Don’t wait, incorporate fun now!
Health/Wellness: We all know that without paying attention to our overall health and wellness, we will be out of balance in life. Making movement and mindfulness a part of you, helps facilitate more balance in your life.
Which leads me to another area of balance to consider; let’s talk for a moment about Balance in the body and how to incorporate some strategies. Let’s just explore for a moment the human body. We are all born with muscular imbalances and sometimes structural deviations. How can someone then achieve balance in their bodies? First let’s explore where we should feel a sense of balance in the body:
1) On your feet
2) Your spine
3) Your Head
4) Nutrition
5) Fitness Regimen
Feet: Being a Barefoot Training Specialist, I know the importance of feet and the role it plays on the rest of the body, especially core training. We reference “from the ground up” in our trainings, because of the importance of the foot to core connection. Do you have feet that pronate, supinate, or are flat? Do you have any structural issues in the foot? All these variables will contribute to being balanced.
Spine: Do you know if your spine is straight? Do you have any structural deviations? If so, do you know how to find your center and facilitate a sense of balance. I have scoliosis and I am aware of my curves but through different modalities I am aware of when my spine feels a sense of balance. Perfecting posture is one the easiest ways to alleviate lower back or hip dysfunctions.
Head: In relation to the rest of your body, does your head feel evenly balanced? Ask a trained fitness professional, like myself, to access your head to toe alignment. You might be amazed. Most of us these days are tied to our smart devices and we are all in a “head hung” position which attributes to a kyphotic postural alignment. Lift your head and walk tall.
Nutrition: Food is essential to the body for life. Eating good food, not processed or loaded with preservatives or antibiotics, or added sugars will contribute to balance in the body. Gut health and brain health work hand in hand.
Fitness Regimen: Exercise has many components: Flexibility, Strength, Cardiovascular , Core and lastly BALANCE TRAINING. When your fitness regimen consists of all of these, you are considered FIT.
Here are some simple and easy to use techniques to help facilitate more balance in your life and your body from Maria the Life Coach and Maria the Fitness Professional.
Life Coaching Technique: Examine the 5 core essentials to achieve balance in your life. Grade each category (scale from 1 to 5 BEING where you feel fulfilled) in relation to your life. Ex: Self Care Do I feel I pay enough attention to my inner truth? Do I feel I trust my intuition? If you answered YES without hesitation, you would put a 5 . The lowest scored category is the one you will pay attention to. How can you improve your score? What steps or actions can improve your score starting right away? What score do I desire and why?
Health/Fitness Coaching Technique: You might think I would ask you to repeat the above, I’m not. I have a little activity to help you determine how balanced you are in your body.
Stand on one foot and brush your teeth with your non dominant hand for as long as you can. How did you do? Here are the metrics where you can compare your results. The below are the norms from a study that was recently published in the NY TIMES
20 to 49 years old 24 to 28 seconds
50-59 years 21 seconds
60-69 years 10 seconds
70-79 years 4 seconds
80+ most cannot do it at all.
There are a lot more benefits in this exercise then just improving balance. The one that intrigues me is that you grow brain cells by working with your non dominant side. Try to incorporate more balancing exercises using your non dominant side more and your cognitive brain function will improve as well. Win-Win!
Live a life in strength and balance inside out.
Maria