what does balance mean to you?

“You don’t know what your health is worth, until it’s gone”

HOW CAN YOU CREATE MORE BALANCE IN YOUR LIFE?

LET’S START WITH SOME WAYS TO DECREASE STRESS.  Stress can be physical and mental/emotional, so it’s important to consider both.  I often hear people say “no, I haven’t been stressed”,  only to find out that they are putting their bodies through so much stress but they haven’t associated the physical stress with their lives.  Conversely, some people have been going through some emotional matters at home, but have failed to recognise the toll it can take on the body physically.  Read below and hopefully you can find some methods to decrease stress in your life to help create more balance.

Take some time away to unplug, not to work with new scenery.

If you’re able to take a whole weekend, then do so.  Otherwise, take a day, a night, or just a few hours to unwind and unplug.  Yes, unplug… not to go and continuing working and stressing while staring at volcanos, beaches, or mountain tops.  U-N-P-L-U-G.   No emails.  No social media.  No internet unless it is to stream music and movies… Try to let your mind rest.  Nothing is wrong about spending time to recharge your batteries and to be completely unproductive.  How can you recharge the batteries if you aren’t letting them charge?

Book in for a 60-90 minute massage or a floatation session

These sessions will help you relax mentally because you cannot have your phone or computers with you, you are physically unable to “keep working”, and you will most likely be naked so you can’t run out!  I suggest a minimum of 60-minutes as it can take 30-40minutes to actually start relaxing (speaking from my own experience). I have to admit that when I had my first float session, it was the mental clarity and calmness that surprised me the most.  I had the most productive 2 days following my float I had ever had, it was so worth it!

 *Smart tip: make sure to plan NOTHING after a massage or float, go home to a warm cozy environment with nothing else on your agenda.  Have dinner already sorted, and be able to crawl under the covers with a book or movie.  Don’t pay for a treatment only to reverse the effects within 10-minutes of leaving the appointment by rushing around to grab groceries, pick up the kids, or go out for a social outing.  R-E-L-A-X.

Plan a monthly “YOU” day.

Plan one day off each month for YOU – preferably a weekday – to sleep in, have no commitment, no errands, nothing.  Just you.  Get a pedicure, read a book, watch GOT, bake muffins, and DO NO CHORES (chores should not be done on a “YOU” day).  Explain to friends and family that this day is for you (if you even need to tell them at all), and it’s not a day off work, it’s a day OFF.  If you had your own personal power switch, it will be turned off on this day.   We all know what happens when you take a day off work… all of a sudden it becomes the busiest most craziest day of your year and it would have been easier just to go to work.  So make sure this isn’t just a day off work, its a day COMPLETELY OFF.  Stay in bed all day and order takeaway.  Turn off your phone.  Do whatever you feel like with no commitment and no extra effort.

Take some rest… and rest from exercise.

We often put too much pressure on ourselves if we don’t get all the things on our checklists done.  Or if we haven’t exercised.  Or if we say no to events or social commitments.  It is okay to rest!  If some parts of your life are hectic and can’t really be avoided – such as your job or your kids and family… that is okay.  But it is important to find other areas in your life where you can just chill out.   It is also important to remember that exercise and physical exertion is another form of stress on your body.  Yes, that’s right, exercise can, in some instances, be more stressful and harmful to your wellbeing than we think.  If you train hard most weeks, make sure to plan some rest weeks.  If you are going through a super busy period at work, or a traumatic family event has occurred, your body is probably craving some rest.  Don’t be too hard on yourself if you don’t exercise during these busy stressful periods, just get back on track when you can.   This leads to my next tip:

Know the difference between “exercise to relax” vs “exercise that increases stress”.

Exercises that can help you relax might include walking, bike riding, yoga, canoeing, swimming, and whatever else is easy for you to do at a leisurely pace.   I wouldn’t recommend learning a new sport or anything that requires a lot of time and equipment, as this can add to the stress levels. If you haven’t rode a bike in 20 years, maybe opt for a walk.  You should be able to do these activities easily with minimal mental or physical prep.  They should be stress-free.  Exercises that increase stress to the body would be anything with impact (yes running, even for runners), high heart rate, high speeds, and heavy loads.  Cross-fit would be physically stressful to the body, as would a heavier strength training session – even if you participate in these activities regularly, they will still induce a stress response from the body.  I would recommend a light workout at 60% of the load you normally lift if you still hit the gym.  Exercise can help us relax mentally as well, so use your common sense when you stay active.  Some runners run every day, and although I don’t recommend it, I would suggest to lighten the distance and intensity of the runs and do a longer walking warm-up and cool-down (or walk the whole way instead of run).  One of my personal favourite ways to destress is to get a feel-good podcast and walk the coastline here in Perth.

Get support from family, friends, and work colleagues.

I don’t work in a corporate world, but from what I’ve been hearing in the media, many companies are being more sympathetic to staff taking mental health days.  Take one!  This doesn’t mean you are admitting to a mental illness or you are not coping.  It means you are being proactive to care of yourself, in order to be a better version of yourself.  In return, you can be more productive and a better worker, and everyone will benefit. Tell your friends and family you are taking positive steps to ensure that you are staying healthy.  If you take a day off to de-stress, make sure you do just that.  Don’t fill your day with chores and errands, do what is best for you to lower your stress levels.  As mentioned above, without your health, you are nothing.  Without your health, you won’t be able to be the best version of YOU in order to service your family, workplace, and keep up with your social circle.

Lay off the booze and sh*t food.

It has to be said.  I get really disappointed to hear that people regularly resort to alcohol at the end of their day.  What would happen if you didn’t have that glass of wine, or bottle of beer in the shower?  On occasion, this would be different.  But if you are using alcohol as a coping mechanism for a stressful day or work life, I suggest that a change is in order.  Could you go to the gym or a walk instead?  Bring your runners to work with you and have a walk date with a colleague?  Get off your train and walk the remaining 30-minutes in order to feel better before you walk in the door.  Or perhaps replace the alcoholic beverage with another healthy yummy beverage?  Some people make a nice cup of tea to comfort them before they get into dinner preparations and running around with weeknight chores.   In this same category comes junk food.  Quite often we have a crappy day so we indulge in chocolate and ice cream.  Again, on occasion this is okay.  But if it’s a frequent occurrence and you choosing junk food for your commute home from work, or constantly eating unhealthy foods in order to feel better, a change is in order.  When you cut out booze and junk food, you will probably sleep better, have better energy levels and less mood swings as well …. so this could be a big stress relief on its own.

We all have different ways we cope with stress, and we should be understanding of others.  Take notice of how you deal stressors in your life, and what steps you could take to help alleviate them and live a healthier lifestyle.  Discuss with others around you to gain support, and so you can support them as well.

Stay tuned for Creating Balance: Part 2, where we will discuss ways to balance out your activity levels, exercise and training schedule.

Better Posture. better Life.