How to bring yourself back into balance
These days, feeling overwhelmed has become a normality.It feels like if you aren’t stressed, in a rush, or trying to accomplish multiple tasks at once, something is wrong or you’re being lazy. Our world is full of endless to-do lists, sensory and information overload, tons of responsibilities, and things to do and accomplish. Amidst this chaos, it is easy to lose sight of your internal compass and your connection with the body, mind, and spirit. This can leave us feeling overwhelmed and can cause us to experience negative emotions more frequently. Does it sound familiar?
You are likely stuck on autopilot, ignoring life’s blessings and not appreciating your time on this earth as you should be. As you may have guessed, this isn’t how life should be lived. According to yoga, when you are truly relaxed and in a balanced state, you can access your internal wisdom which can guide you towards your true potential. As a result, when you take better care of yourself, you can take better care of others.
What does it mean to be in balance?
To be in balance means to feel grounded yet full of life simultaneously. You can experience emotions but not be overwhelmed by a whirlwind of chaos, even if a lot is going on in your life. When you are in tune with your body, you know when to rest and when to take action. Living in harmony with your body, mind, and energy means you can access your most significant potential by being more productive and creative, thus allowing yourself to thrive. Being in balance also allows you to be more present. By being present, you can have more of a purpose in the world by feeling an almost tangible connection with people and the earth you live on.
How do you know when you’re out of balance?
Here are some signs you might be out of balance. Can you relate to any?
● Your sleep rhythm is interrupted, you often wake up in the night and are tired during the day.
● You are easily irritable.
● Your to-do list seems impossible to manage.
● You lack time for cooking and you start eating unhealthy, processed foods too often.
● You don’t have time to take care of yourself. E.g. You don’t remember the last time you went for a massage, did your nails or hair.
● You long for a moment of stillness.
● You crave physical movement and stretches.
● You keep on postponing important things like taking care of yourself or seeing your family because there is not enough time.
How do you invite balance back into your life?
Let’s explore how to bring balance back into your life. There will be (one or two) journal questions at the end of each step, so if you wish, grab a pen and paper, and answer the questions in as much detail as you feel necessary.
1. Increase your Awareness
Change starts with awareness. Most people don’t even notice when they are out of balance.
Try this: pause for a moment and notice what your mind is thinking. Notice how you are feeling. If you could receive anything at this moment, what would it be? What do you need? What do you crave?
Remember that everyone is different and beautifully unique, so balance for you might not be balance for someone else.
This means that you’re the only one who will know what is truly good for you and what you need to live a fulfilling life.
Journal questions: In what ways do you feel out of balance? What elements in your life need changing?
2. Practice holistic Hatha Yoga
You may be aware that yoga is so much more than physical movement.
Complete yoga practice includes asana (posture), pranayama (breathwork), meditation, and other components such as self-study, contemplation and daily self-care habits.
Since you cover all bases in Hatha Yoga, you can experience an overall transformation in your personal life and your relationships with others.
If you’d like to learn in detail about the yogic techniques which will bring you back to balance
Journal questions: How do you feel after a well-balanced, complete hatha yoga practice?
3. Connect to your intuition and meditate
Something magical happens when you start to turn inwards and listen to the voice that lies underneath the usual mind chatter.
Through meditation, you can start to listen to your inner guide, which acts as a compass for a multitude of situations in your life.
You start listening to our inner compass, your inner guide, that knows what’s best for you in the exact moment or situation. You strengthen your intuition and start to follow it more often.
Journal questions: How does it feel to be connected to your inner guide?
4. Allow yourself to relax and nourish yourself
One of the main reasons you’re out of balance is because you forget to make sure your own needs are met first.
Once you’ve taken care of yourself, you can be an asset to others.
Some may argue that putting yourself first is selfish but here’s another way to look at it: once you are in the right frame of mind and feeling your best, you will be able to benefit others by being more relaxed, less reactive, happier, less angry, amongst other things.
You will help and guide people from a place of balance, authenticity, and inner wisdom, and notice that you have a lot more attention to give to people and the earth.
Now is your time to stop the endless cycle of stress and overwhelm. So how can you nourish and nurture yourself?
Firstly think about when in the day you can dedicate time to yourself. Perhaps you could wake up 20-30 minutes earlier and have some me-time or take an hour each evening just for yourself? It doesn’t have to just be yoga, you could take a bath, get a manicure, have a massage, or read your favorite book.
One thing you must remember is that you are responsible for your happiness.
Journal questions: How much resistance do you feel towards taking care of your own needs first? How can you put yourself first today?
5. Organize yourself
Is your to-do list endless? Do you constantly feel like there’s something you need to be doing and can’t ever truly relax?
Let’s start by setting some priorities. Organize your to-do list into levels of urgency. That way you can focus on the tasks that are most important to you and tick them off quicker!
If you feel completely overwhelmed, you could team up with someone and ask for help. You could even set some funds aside for a cleaner once a week or outsource some of your tasks, for example, if you run your own business.
The idea in life isn’t to be constantly busy and use up all of your energy on mundane tasks. The idea is to live.
Do you take issue with asking for help or feel guilty if you can’t cope with everything on your own?
As women, we have trouble asking for help since traditionally, women were expected to handle the to-do lists, and hold the fort, particularly by completing the domestic tasks.
But times are changing and there is no shame in taking care of yourself and admitting that some help could ease your stress.
Journal questions: Who can you ask for help? What resistance do you hold against asking for help?
6. Learn how to set boundaries and say no
Another reason why many women and also many of my clients don’t have time for themselves and feel out of balance, overwhelmed, and frustrated is that they find it difficult to say no.
They don’t hold clear boundaries and end up putting everyone else’s needs before their own. Consequently, they allow the energy of other people to influence their mood, decisions, actions.
When you finally learn how to set boundaries and say no without guilt, you can listen to what you truly need and free up space for your mind, body, and energy to come back to a state of balance and peace.
Journal questions: Who or in what situations is it most difficult for you to say no? How can you change that next time?
7. Follow the middle path
Balance is all about taking the middle path. What does this mean?
It’s not about being calm and relaxed all the time, avoiding all stress, always being indulgent, and not ticking off tasks. It’s, as you may have guessed, all about balance.
That means you can achieve a state of calm whilst also feeling full of life in your body, mind, and energy, thus being able to face up to challenges, progress in your life, and still take time out to relax.
It is about having tools that help you return to a state of equilibrium, when life throws you out of balance (it will, from time to time).
By using these tools, you can access internal strength and wisdom much more easily.
Journal questions: Do you feel like you’re following one of these extremes: either ‘all work and no play’ or all play and no work?’ How would it feel if you could both have fun and still progress in life?
8. Do things that bring you joy every day
Finally, something you forget so often when you are busy and overwhelmed with responsibilities is to simply enjoy life and do things that bring you joy!
Isn’t that why you live and work, why you choose to have families and relationships? To feel happy and fulfilled!
How can you bring more joy into your everyday life?
Journal question: Write down 20 things (or more) that bring you joy that you can start doing from today!
Remember you are unique. Balance means something different for everyone. So, why don’t you tune into your internal compass and listen to your inner guide, your intuition, to find out what your soul is craving?
What are your ways to come back to balance? I am curious to know, please share in the comments below!
