5 Ways to Experience Balanced Living Now

“In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you” – Deepak Chopra

Some people think experiencing balance is a myth. That’s true, if you really believe that. Do you really believe that? I know there’s a good number of us who don’t want to give up on living a balanced life. We want to experience balanced living. We consider a balanced lifestyle a life value.

Are you someone who knows balance exists, considers it a personal value and wants to continue embracing it in this crazy modern living? If you said yes then you’re going to want to read this. Here are 5 super important ways to experience balanced living right now.

When we experience balance we experience peace. In times like this, our life feels like it’s flowing and we’re humming. Yet at other times, let’s face it — experiencing balance in our crazy fast paced modern living is definitely not as easy as pie.

A crazy fast paced modern life is like the antithesis to a peaceful harmonious simple life.  What can we do to make sure that we’re never too far away from our center, our source of balance? Even when we feel ourselves tipping over?

But before that, let’s quickly check in. Picture your days. Is this you? You’re usually tending to other people in your life. You’re visiting your elderly parents a couple of times a week now and they’re needing help with grocery shopping, too. Your kid has regular weekly practice and so do you. Oh and this week your cat has a vet appointment. In the back of your mind you know that at some point you’ve got to sit down to do some bookkeeping and don’t forget the car needs gas. Plus there’s your employment, too! Relate?

In any given week you know it’s not limited to the stuff above. There’s always something… It’s life. It’s hectic. Before you know it your center is losing ground. You’re being pulled in different directions and your balance is tipping. In the next moment, you’ve lost connection with your center of gravity. Instead of flow there’s tension now. You feel less than satisfied. 

AARGH!

Now back to that earlier question. What can we do to make sure that we’re never too far away from our source of balance?

“Your body is your first home. Breathing in I arrive in my body. Breathing out I am home.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

1) First thing always is, BREATHE. When we feel tension, we’re either holding our breath or we’re taking very shallow breaths. That keeps us out of balance. As soon as we activate conscious breathing, shifting our attention to our center we experience a sense of being grounded again. Always focus first on your breathing. 

You can practice checking in with your breath, particularly at times when there’s lots going on. Are your holding your breath? Are you breathing fully? Use your breath like the life resource that it is. 

There are lots of different breathing techniques to practice and maybe that will be the topic of a post of its own, but at the very basic when you consciously breathe using your diaphragm, you are reducing the stress response and facilitating the relaxation response instead.

Mindful breathing at the very basic level is when you focus your attention on the inhalation and exhalation of your breath. By doing this, not only are you developing a skillful way to deal with stress and negative emotions, but you’re also shifting yourself back to center therefore getting back to a balanced state of being. 

Keep in mind that practice is everything. Be as consistent as you can be and expect yourself to commit.

Let’s do this. 🙂 

2) The second way to experience a balanced lifestyle is to keep your perspective handy. Keep in mind that “This Too Shall Pass”.

Even though many people think this quote is from the bible, it isn’t. Its origins aren’t totally clear. Although “This Too Shall Pass” isn’t specifically in the bible, it’s an idea found throughout the bible. This quote is always speaking about the condition of our humanity –that we’re human, we’re mortals. From cradle to grave, we live we die, beginnings and ends. But in between that lots happens. We all know there’s a season for everything. 

Herein lies the reliable level perspective of the words, “This Too Shall Pass”. 

Think back to a difficult challenge you’ve gone through. Now think back to a happy wonderful time in your life. Now think of yourself today. 

So much has passed, right? So many moments and experiences have come to pass. Your awesome amazing courageous self has passed through all of it.

Maybe you’re presently going through a difficult moment.  Pause. Rest your heart and mind on the words “this too shall pass”. 

Type the quote up with an affirming image and post it where you continually see it so you can give yourself the gift of this perspective.  

3) Remember to Find Your Joy. When we feel tight and stressed our egoic mind becomes overactive. When it’s overactive there’s a lot of commentary, conceptualizing and analyzing happening.  Our head gets loud and noisy with too much thinking. Too much thinking and letting yourself hang out too long “upstairs” will take us away from being balanced and centered.  This is exactly when you need to remember to find your joy because it will get you out of your head and into the joy of your present moment. 

When do you feel happy inside? What feels good? What are you doing?

When we’re connected to the energy of joy, not only are we being present we’re connecting to our heart space, the seat of love and compassion. Being in joy allows for the heart space to expand and take up more room in our experience. Worry, stressful thinking, fear can take a break. Allow your mind to rest and reset. Enjoying present moments is good for the whole you. It’s restorative and nourishing which naturally brings you back to balance. 

Remember to find your joy is taking a loving stand for yourself. Really try reaching out a hand to the ‘You’ who highly values living in balance, who values spiritual wellness, the whole ‘You’.  Purposely do what makes you smile on the inside. Let it effortlessly take your mind off things and experience balance now.  

4) The fourth way to experience balanced living is to Relax yourself. The idea here is that it begins with your body. For example, a mineral salt bath with aromatherapy makes a wonderful retreat or give yourself the gift of a massage. Those kinds of things give your body those happy physical sensations that spread to the mind. When this happens, both your body and mind have calmed down and have come to a rest stop. You experience body mind balance. 

Turning Aaargh into Aaahhhh …

Aaaahhhhh… 

You can start with a physical activity like martial arts or yoga. Meditation, too. Running, a walk in the rain or a long hike? Maybe for you taking a warm bath does wonders. 

What relaxes you? Your body and mind?

The fourth way to experience balance in life is to give yourself ways of relaxing, starting with the body first. When you do this you’re creating a positive pleasurable sensory experience and putting your body into the relaxation response. 

It’s the relaxation response that turns off the stress response. It activates the parasympathetic nervous system which controls reducing the heart rate, blood pressure, rate of breathing and sweat production. Physical sensory stuff.

You can feel really good about relaxing. It’s good for us. Be courageous in loving yourself and in your life values. Brush off any feelings of guilt you may have about relaxing. Be courageous in your life values. Relax yourself for your spiritual wellness — body mind spirit health. Relax yourself to experience a well balanced life and beyond!

Let’s do this 🙂

5) The fifth way to experience balanced living is … Are you ready? 

Ready to commit? 

Committing to things, let alone new things, I know isn’t easy for everyone. There’s the not-afraid-of-commitment-type people, but for those of us who love our freedom commitments aren’t always first priority. A casual flexible approach is more our style. But, if we want to experience a well balanced life because it’s a life value, we’ll need to commit to it.

The good thing is that this literally means committing to the practice of living in balance. “The practice” is the regular doing of the stuff which allows us to actually experience balance. We’re intentionally engaging in the practice of nourishing  inner peace and harmony.

Don’t give up on what you believe in. (That should include you, too). Each day and any given moment is an opportunity to re-commit to our spiritual wellness, the whole version of ourselves.

Are you in? 

Let’s do this. 

In the spirit of community we join together in our commitment to experiencing balance starting now.

Please share in the comments below about the wins and the challenges of this commitment. What does a balanced lifestyle mean to you? What’s it look like? We’re here to learn from one another! 🙂 

Be you & Be true, Courageous one.