20 Sep Finding balance in your Daily Life

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BALANCE- “having the right amount — not too much or too little — of any quality, which leads to harmony or evenness.” (vocabulary.com).  In this crazy life, balance is hard to achieve.  It’s tough to manage life, work, self-care, fitness, family, wellness and everything in between. What are you doing to help the planet, while crushing your career?  How do you get everything done in a day and still have time for friends and family?  Here are a few tips that will help you to take a moment to find your balance in your day to day.

Meal Prep– As a person with a very busy work and social life, meal prep saves the day when it comes to eating a healthy diet on a regular basis.  I love to go to the Farmer’s Market on Saturdays to buy farm to table, locally grown organic fruits and vegetables.  The food is fresh and coming straight from the source, ensuring the highest nutrition. Buying from a farmers market and bringing your own bags also helps to cut out harmful plastic packaging that is rampant in grocery stores and take out.   I plan 4 or 5 meals for the week and spend an hour or two on Sunday in “prep mode”.  Cutting, Chopping, Pureeing, Baking…these are all ways to take a deep breath and lead to our goals of achieving balance.  Meal Prepping will help you to create healthy, nutritious meals that will also save money from needing to run to pick up something on the way home when there isn’t time to cook. It is also a great way to help with portion control.  I love to break out the crockpot on Sundays and create meals that are simple, delicious and ready to eat throughout the week.  Try this recipe for my favorite Homemade Shrimp, Veggie and Tofu curry.

My famous spicy shrimp and tofu vegetable curry!

Morning Asanas– Not everyone loves Yoga and Meditation, but in regard to finding true balance in life, yoga is key.  You may not have time for that 1.5-hour long class every day, but getting up a bit earlier in the morning and doing 10-15 minutes of meditation and stretching will truly help to set your intention for the day and help to find a focus for that day.  Morning yoga balances your hormones and regulates sleep rhythms as well as helping to accelerate your metabolism. For those of you with desk jobs, doing a few simple yoga poses will help to increase flexibility, posture and will counteract all of the hours that we spend in a sedentary position.  Best yet, morning yoga is a natural alternative to caffeine. We have recently discovered eco-friendly and sustainable yoga mats from Corc Yoga that make you feel even better about this feel good ritual.  Try this simple asana from Yoga Journal to start your day.  

Yoga is a miracle worker for finding balance

Make a Schedule-Most people have a schedule for all of their daily activities and work commitments, but why not add scheduled time for the things we quickly put to the side.  Often those things, such as exercise, date nights, self-care, coffee with a friend go to the wayside when our days become too packed.  Take a moment to schedule in time for friends and family (even a quick 45 minute catch up over lunch) or a date night with your partner and put it in your schedule for the week. Often if it’s written down, it won’t be forgotten. It’s also ok to be completely spontaneous in our quest for balance.  As a type-A personality who has some control issues, I found it very freeing when my husband came up with “No Plan Sunday”.  We have dedicated Sundays to doing whatever we want to do, when we want to do it, with whomever is free to do it and to just go with the flow. It has been completely freeing and allows me to simply let go and take a deep breath, knowing that I don’t have to be anywhere at a specific time.  We still do things, we just do them more spontaneously. 

Exercise, Exercise, Exercise:  Life is crazy, life is tough.  Getting those juices flowing and “sweating it out” does wonders for our mental and physical health.  I have seen my sister (a working mom with two little kids) go from the point of combustion to complete calm after a good sweat sesh at the gym.  A lot of gyms offer quick lunchtime classes as well as child care to help with our busy schedules.  If you don’t have a gym in your area that allows you to break away, try some of these great online exercise sites to try in the comfort of your own home. 

Nothing releases endorphins and helps to relieve stress than a great, sweaty, run!

Focus on building healthy relationships and do not feel bad about taking a step back from toxic ones.  If you don’t have a lot of free time in your week, you want to make sure that you are spending that time with the right people.  Surround yourself with givers, not takers.  Make sure to listen and be listened to.  Take the time to prioritize your friendships with people who help to build you up, not bring you down.  There is nothing more toxic than being around someone who constantly spreads negative energy by cutting down others or talking about people in a negative.  Negative energy begets negative energy. Positive energy begets positivity.  Balance yourself with people who exude positive energy and help you to stay calm, positive and focused.

Fill your free time with those who bring you up, not let you down.