Balanced Living - is it REALLY possible?

Do you struggle to find balance in your life?  I know I have.  In the past, I have found myself busy from morning until night rushing from here to there, “getting stuff done”, crossing off items off my “to do” list, yet not really feeling like I was living the vibrant and balanced life I wanted to be living.  It hasn't always been easy to balance my responsibilities of raising and educating my kids, teaching yoga and wellness, engaging in community activities and finding time for myself. Despite my many years of being a yogi (25 +) and despite all the practices I know and teach, I have struggled a lot in life to feel balanced.

My days involve household work (cooking, meeting the kids' needs, car-pooling), my wrok (teaching, administrative tasks, and personal studies) and personal practices.  It's a lot, andI'm sure you can relate to your own circumstances.  There are more times than I’d like to admit that in trying to do it all, I have worked too hard, stayed up too late, slept poorly, consumed too many crunchy salty snacks or sweets, wasted time on low-level activities, suffered from poor digestion and neglected my own self-care and fun!  Being in peri-menopause doesn’t help either!  Ask my husband and kids.  They’ll tell you a stressed-out, cranky yoga mom is not a fun person to have around!

For a long time I didn’t know what to do to make my life feel balanced.  I wasn’t about to give up my family duties and dedication to raising my kids in the way that I most believed.  I wasn’t going to give up the work I love.  And, I certainly wasn’t going to give up my yoga!

A couple years ago, I got serious about making some real changes.  I knew my yoga and meditation habits were good, but I knew I needed to develop some other body and self-care habits..  So, I dived into the study of Ayurveda, joined a health coaching program, got myself a coach and learned key daily habits and routines for right nourishment, good rest and self-care. I made some changes that gave me big results.

This is what I changed:

• I cut out evening work.  Besides my yoga teaching evenings, I quit work by 4:30 PM and get into the kitchen early enough to prepare a nourishing dinner for my family.  We eat early and then enjoy the evening together.
• I developed a healthier bedtime routine for myself that includes a strict screen time curfew, a foot massage, and lights out by 10 PM.
  
• I got more serious and regular with my movement practices.  I made my morning yoga practice or walk every day before breakfast non-negotiable and I began to incorporate other movement practices throughout my day.
• I made changes to my nourishment and eating routines which include a green smoothie every morning for breakfast, a satisfying and larger meal for lunch, an earlier, lighter dinner, and no snacking between meals.  This translates into more nutrients, better digestion, better energy and the feeling of being both grounded yet light in my body.
• I got serious about organizing and streamlining my work day with scheduled time blocks for work, family and self care.  I now manage my calendar and projects for both home and work with greater efficiency and calm.
• I put into my calendar daily time slots for self-care practices like meditation and self massage and I scheduled times for family activities.
  
• I reached out and got help from friends, coaches, and wellness practitioners.
  

All of this has made a HUGE difference.  Not only for me, but for my whole family.  Now, I’m no longer stressed out and over-worked.  I’m calmer and I'm happier.  I am better rested and I’m more fun to be around!  It’s not to say I don’t ever have moments of overwhelm and irritation.  I still do.  I’m human!  But, the daily habits I have adopted have made my life remarkably more sane, and I am continuing to refine these habits each day.

I wouldn’t have been able to achieve this without the tremendous help of my coach, the support of family, and the encouragement of the other thrive seekers in my wellness community!  They held me accountable for making these changes. To pass it on,  I decided to become a yoga health coach myself, and I’m pleased to now be able to help others on their wellness journey!

Knowing what to do and actually doing it are different.  I bet you already know much of WHAT you should be doing to improve your life?  What’s holding you back?

Humans evolve best with support and guidance.  If you really want to up-level your life, you need to find other folks who are on the same path.  You need them to encourage you and hold you accountable for making the changes you want to make.  Lasting changes don't happen overnight.  Real change in life happens when you apply small, do-able changes with consistency over time with accountability.

What needs to change in your life in order for your to experience more balance and vitality?

If you are ready to up-level your health, let’s make a time to talk.  I offer complimentary strategy sessions to give people like you a chance to talk about their wellness journey.  I’d love to talk to you about what’s going on in your life and find out what's holding you back from feeling your most vibrant self.  In a strategy session we can shine a light on the the issues that need attention and identify a path for creating higher health and balance.  Your health evolution can start right now.  Schedule a strategy session with me here.

With love,
Annie