Imbalances Archives - Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Mind-Body Balance + Active Bridge Pose Metaphor

mind-body-balance

I just finished an Ayurvedic series and am starting a mind-body balance series TODAY.

This NEW series on Mind-Body Balance is I believe so important for our happiness. Because our mind-body’s off-ness or imbalance that we can restore, is the cause of why we’re feeling:

…misaligned with the natural season

…distant from our peaceful-joyful selves

…or, lack of clarity that’s different than uncertainty that’s part of this life.

And the good news is we’re able and empowered to restore what’s naturally meant to be ours… and mind-body balance is one of those life benefits.

One sign that we’re on a good track is when we feel mostly clarity…

Clarity defined as grounded in knowing who we are despite daily situations that change and shake us up.

Life situations play out and can put any of us in a funk. That’s a good reason to not take life situations so seriously… and instead, slip back to leaning into our naturally designed groove of being happy and living healthy.

Because if you’re not happy, those undertone feelings show up in and on your body… and preventing this is what mind-body balance is about on a practical level.

The below tips are to help you walk through imbalances and for the next time…

But, before jumping in, I just wanted to mention the next part will be about Mind tips as related to the mind-body equation. And then the last part will be on the Body in the mind-body that you may not have been informed of or thought about in those ways. So you can discover more about you and empowering better outcomes.

…Because you do have a choice in all three: your mind-body, mind, and body life.

If you believe that your happiness exists within you and not your situations, you can have your best season yet.

So clearing the mind is such an important tool to gain clarity on helpful beliefs, feeling better, and making better daily decisions.

Suggestion Reminder Steps to Feel Better

One good step and reminder is to take multiple deep breaths. Taking conscious breaths clears the air instantly…

You get a pause break from active thoughts, and you pump in life-giving new oxygen into your body, while pumping out old air. You get the chance to exhale bad energy and anxious thoughts not grounded in full reality.

You can realize in the moment that your thoughts are only part of the equation in any life situation.

And, maybe you take a few moments for a few deep breaths now to help you with your mind-body health.

Did you do that?

And, the second suggestion is to take a few minutes in silence by yourself every day where all you hear is the white noise in the background. You can do this in a quiet room with a door or at a quiet park. Listen to your mind-body…

Connect with your mind-body where you’re in tune with your heart’s whispers.

The mind-body is interconnected in a deeper way than the physical mind and body (e.g. organs like the brain and skin).

And connect the idea that symptoms on your body show up as outcomes from your carried thought-feelings.

That was revelatory for me years ago because that helped me to grasp how to change thoughts at any moment.

It’s a mental exercise that isn’t visible so it’s not as easy as say, picking up a ball where you don’t have to be as fully mind present.

And it’s one where we can have a block if we never embraced changing thoughts.

We can start by acknowledging that it’s healthy to agree to disagree with ourselves sometimes and exit out the negative thoughts. And we’re healthy wise to do so often!

But our ego tries to sabotage these efforts. And it takes mental power to fight our ego as it fights for us to be right with ourselves.

And most of us don’t have reinforcement backups, as we weren’t taught by our caretakers or teachers to debate ourselves. …Ah, but those old ways are old school.

…And I believe is the cause of us not living our best lives sooner. Until we can get to this more humble place of admitting our minds could be wrong, our outcomes are lesser than they could be.

Of course… this is by no fault of anyone as we were born into this mind and body… but now that we know better, we can do better.

We have to outsmart our programmed machinery.

And for me, that led to awareness, getting past my ego thoughts, and to the root of PTSD thoughts that I previously was oblivious to and then was one day aware (much like someone blindsided).

And you can too can uncover the wounds that need scar healing if you dial back your ego trying to mask imperfection… and if you tune into your deeper mind-body that’ll help reveal blind spots so you can get out of the lesser life and into your peaceful, whole, and abundant life. That’s why quiet time is super helpful.

And in busier moment times, emotional outbursts or displaced anger, irritation, anxiety, and withdrawal sub-feelings and undertones usually mean there are blind spots that need healing.

Blindly in our busy lives, any of us can carry around these past feelings and hurts, that are still presently heavy burdens that disturb our natural mind-body balance.

And if left unattended, they show up as accumulated body stressors that can lead to scientifically-known early aging and chronic diseases.

But you can claim back unnecessary unhappy years and seasons with a little effort on your part…

With humility, openness, and a desire to grow, you will save yourself and open yourself up to better opportunities.

Getting Mind-Body Balanced

1.Being and keeping aware is not overused. It’s imperative to bringing light out of darkness feelings… as is, connecting dots in your past to your present. And consistently flipping the negative thoughts to positives.

…Or said another way, gaining peace of mind, where you have less outbursts and negative reactions. And one day, no outbursts. That’s definitely possible! I’m living evidence 💕

And then, you enjoy more of your day. And you get more out of this life. You meet your higher potential that’s greater than what you originally thought was possible.

You don’t fear uncertainty as you’ve made peace with that, and you worry less (or not at all). You take moments in each day and use them as brand new chances to build off the days before.

And you use your past experiences in a beneficial way. And those new perspectives bring you better outcomes.

And when you believe deeply in your mind-body that all is possible, you speed up your growth and bypass ego’s tricks.

2. Uncover and replace mind-body blockage like that found in PTSD. This means confronting your feelings and questioning why those happen when you feel them. Make them visible.

And if you’re in a temporary funk, call that out. So you can figure it out. Exchange for a loving and life-giving belief.

And one great way to do that is to have a yoga pose that serves as a mind-body reminder.

And habit stack after walking around or whatever your favorite moving activity is. Or do it as a stretch before you get out of bed in the morning.

In the Blue Zones, the living 100 year olds in those concentrated zones do mostly natural activities that use their bodies and not machines for exercise.

And they also celebrate with yoga that’s a natural move in getting up and sitting down. In our younger, modern, and Western societies, we can do that too.

We optimize when we activate our mind-body and are aware that we’re naturally getting up and sitting down, using our body. And that awareness helps to calm us just like active breathwork.

Mind-Body Active Bridge Pose

A natural active bridge is an active body pose in motion. And you can combine with that your deep breaths.

Bridge pose is one you can make active and fun.

Here’s how:

You can use a yoga block to heighten your bridge. You can stack two blocks on the shorter height sides… or use the taller skyscraper building block side as your back support.

You want to place the edge of the block where the top of your tailbone meets your back (and the rest of the block or blocks are toward your buttocks and not your upper back).

Challenge yourself… reach to your outer edge limits!

It’s at that block meeting intersection where your legs take off, bend at the knees, and are grounded by your feet. And the fun comes in when you remove the block.

You can use this as a mind-body balance reminder: where you no longer need a crutch support like a block. And in awareness, you’re removing the yoga block and mental block that could be anything holding you back.

And when you release down, you let go of whatever that is… maybe it’s the how something turns out, control over someone else, past hurts, PTSD, etc. And that can start the process to heal.

And you maybe hold the block (or a dumbbell weight) close to your pelvic area and move your hips up and down.

Use the block as a peaceful symbol that you’re now aware of how what you let go of is easy now to see in front of you, and you know what to do.

…And the block whether it’s under your bridge or in your hands is in your control and helping to build strength in your life. In active moving bridge, you’ll also feel it in your buttocks and upper hind legs (hamstrings), so you have a full mind-body balance pose. 🧘🏻‍♀️

Ayurvedic Series:

Part 1 – Pitta/inflammation

Part 2 – Vata anxiety vs. nervous

Part 3 – Kapha awareness

For a mind-body balance recipe, you can make this star beet granola pan. Beets and cinnamon are good for Vata. Oatmeal is a good meal before practicing yoga. And this is a good snack to help tie you over 🌟

Star Beet Granola Pan

Equipment

plastic wrap

Ingredients

2-1/2 cups oatmeal
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
1/2 cup light olive oil
1/2 cup raw honey
chocolate, melted
beet powder
crushed red pepper flakes

Instructions

Combine dry ingredients and then mix in wet ingredients.
Bake granola for about 25-40 minutes at 325°F or until toasted.
To make chocolate topping. Prepare chocolate on display pan you will be using. Take a piece of plastic wrap and put on top. Add melted chocolate and pour onto plastic wrap. Refrigerate until chocolate is hard. After granola is baked and cooled, you can pour into the pan and then add the hardened chocolate ontop removing the plastic.
To make beet heart: take a star stencil or make a star cutout with cardboard. Add beet powder to create star shape. For fallen star effect, use tweezers to pull out the yellow pepper flakes (found in crushed red pepper flakes) to make a fallen line.

7 Best Habits For Forgetfulness Sometimes

Peach and cherries are summer fruits that pair well together in a bowl. 🍒

Do you experience forgetfulness regularly or daily? Before you start freaking out that you have cognitive decline or dementia running in your veins… or even brain fog that gets described as a common daily symptom… realize that if you worry about this often, then you’re panicking for no reason… as those who aren’t aware are the ones to be more concerned with.

There’s no person out there who has never experienced short-term memory loss or forgetfulness. That’s why we setup reminders so we don’t forget. And why we use calendars to write or type on.

So if you forget easily and often these days, most likely you’re busy, stressed, or not getting enough sleep. And maybe that’s your natural way, as is for Vatas who have this built-in DNA feature along with worry. 🧠

BTW, forgetfulness can sometimes work to your advantage as you recall the important things, and let go of the unimportant ones.

Lists help sometimes and have their place: e.g. grocery store lists, important to-do’s, and details. But lists can also be distractions from priorities.

And some priority items calling you today could lead you to your life of meaning, if that’s important to you. When you focus on the things that matter most in the moment, that’s when you get to experience the best use of your time. You don’t get mired down in what you ought-to-do minutiae that can often turn into negative moods as your good hearted spirit isn’t there.

In balance, daily re-routing your thoughts is healthy along with some planning.

If you’re in the balance flow already allowing in some daily breathing space changes, below are 7 good habits to intake so you never miss anything important!

Plus, the tips (below) can be practical prevention for forgetfulness. You don’t want to leave a bag of groceries or umbrella behind if you can avoid the inconvenience.

You probably don’t remember the first time you forgot something small, but you do remember some of the momentary forgetfulness you experienced in the past as long-term memory is different than short-term blips. It’s just part of the human quirks. None of us are perfect.

When we forget to do something, often the thoughts vanish into thin air or get lost. But instead of beating yourself up, it’s better to think it must not have been important. Because unless it’s a safety hazard, in the grand scheme of things, it’s not important and that helps us with daily contentment and joy.

And sometimes those thoughts reappear later when they are no longer needed. They can confirm how unimportant and no big deal the forgotten is or teach us a lesson to learn about how we can let it go.

Even better, is to set up consistent habits no matter how much you rely on your memory to serve and save you. Consistency will serve you will well in your life, where it’s more important than what you don’t say. And it helps with not forgetting.

Putting focus and energy on being consistent with healthy habits lead to your successful outcomes one (consistent) step at a time.

So here are some habit builds you can make for common important items.

Habit #1: Use a timer for the important items.

For a stove or oven, this can be a matter of safety. There are always interruptions, so setting a timer for your cooking not only gives you perfectly cooked meals, it can save you from burning up the kitchen. And if you’re a Great British Baking Show fan like me, ya know how critical that can be!

And for anything you want to be reminded of you can set a timer. It’s like the trick of tying a string around your finger that some did.

Habit #2: Use a timer when you have a 10-minute break.

Set an egg timer or the timer on your phone when you have minutes until the next activity. More likely than not you will distract yourself in those minutes on your phone or doing something that takes longer than a few minutes. So setting your timer on 9 minutes for a 10-minute break is a good idea to make use of that valuable time and keep track of the minutes. ⏲️

Habit #3: Reminders – write or type reminder notes that you check regularly.

Using the available reminder tools on your phone or tablet is a good habit. Let the reminder ping you on that date/time so you can be in the moment. And that can be a life saver for not missing important events and things to do.

Once you start, reminders are a hard habit to break. When you have a few minutes, you can go over your past and future reminders and sometimes you even pick up new ideas from old reminders. 💭

Habit #4: For your email inbox, use the snooze feature (on some programs, it is represented with a clock icon 🕓).

Snooze reminders are especially good for monthly reminders that are very easy to forget because the habit isn’t frequent enough for you to automatically do. And if forgetting calendar dates is one of your challenges, then this could be a life saver.

When you use a snooze feature, after you complete the task, set the snooze for the next month date. As a bonus, then you won’t doubly forget later whether you competed the task this month as you already set a new future date.

That’s genius… and an assistant assurance better than any AI tool can do! 😉

Habit #5: Have a backup calendar reminder.

Besides your natural memory, a backup reminder like a second calendar to rely on is a best bet, which btw… is s not askng another human to be the calendar. They can just as easily forget, get distracted, or never have prioritized you lists.

It’s a burden when you say: remind me to ______. Unless someone else asks to be used as a calendar or timer, don’t get in this old-fashioned habit that can be disappointing to you and annoying to others in this day and age.

Habit #6: Improve your memory with cardio exercise.

Getting oxygen to your brain helps energize your brain to function better. The more energy you have, the quicker your reaction time is, and sometimes that allows a little break for your brain (like witnessing a break in the clouds) to remember something important.

Plus, walking improves memory, but it won’t necessarily jog your memory. And lowering blood pressure is a good idea that taking a nature walk can help achieve.

Habit #7: Habit stack often.

When you do the activity that you already have a formed habit with and then add your new habit to, it’s proven to be a quicker way to form a habit. It works your automatic memory reflexes that takes less energy.

Animals in the wild do this well. They are natural habit stackers through instincts. They bypass forgetfulness, remembering to stick to what’s simple, natural and essential for survival and thriving in their habitat. Just a thought.

Hyper-Vata Mind Imbalance (vs. Balance)

Poached eggs are a great way to start the morning… like this spiced-up egg 🍳

For a natural Vata, it’s typical for the mind to be darting from task to task instead of laser focus, as a symptom diagnosis in the mind-body connection. But when your mind causes unfocus or worry-anxiety, that’s when you want to restore your hyper-Vata mind imbalance.

That’s completely in your healthy power. As is, the choice to make healthy meals.

…Or In a healthy way, multi-task. But when it’s distracting, unproductive, and leaning toward unfocused, that’s when the restoring balance is called for.

And if that’s tricky to pinpoint, you can make a tally sheet of how many times you switched tasks when your brain prompted you to in the moment (from what you had already planned to do in advance).

Sometimes you can observe the impulsive nature that the subconscious mind feeds.

Let that moment pass and help to give peace to the mind by writing down the thoughts or creating a list.

Or if it makes sense as a 5-minute task, just take care of it quickly, but don’t re-route your day over the impulses if you want to live a consistent calming life that you’re in charge of. …Because there’s enough chaos in the world that’ll shake off that piece and peace ✌️soon enough.

When we were kids, we didn’t have wisdom. Our moody feelings fed us and drove us to what we wanted to do. And while there’s still a time and place for that, as adults, you don’t want your emotions to steer and get the better of you.

You want to drive the bus.

If you feel strong feelings, they serve a purpose to bring joy or cleanse sadness. Or… to show you something bigger about your life where you can make a change — but you don’t want the feelings to turn into daily, unproductive moody symptoms such as anxiety, anger, and lethargy that each represent a dominant dosha.

Another form of Vata-hyper mind symptom is when it’s difficult to make decisions.

Because at the root of decision-making are your thoughts that drive what you do.

You don’t have control over your thoughts from entering, but you do have control over what you do with your thoughts.

The usual, natural Pitta and Kapha profile doesn’t have this symptom description UNLESS they have a Vata imbalance which can happen in any of us.

We all possess the 3 doshas to varying degrees even if it’s just a crumb.

For any of us, our imbalance is our Achilles Heel. Restoring our imbalances is in our power and sometimes is an easy fix.

Pittas have more hard-charging personalities like the hare on a competitive mission. Kaphas are more the slow and steady turtles that finish the race. But when you’re overrun with Vata, you can miss the goal entirely in distractions.

So something you can do if you’re hyper-Vata is to nail down a daily routine, so you can get back to being grounded and focused.

At least one or two healthy time slots that are non-negotiable, e.g. yoga or office hours during certain hours. You have boundaries with people about these non-negotiables.

I watch people on the sidelines who don’t have this in place. They schedule anything, anytime that seems urgent without consistency. And then wonder where the time went OR why they’re not happy.

And if you’re a hyper-Vata by nature with those emotions, this only makes your life more chaotic like the wind, where you get tossed to-and-from.

And not just Vatas or hyper-Vatas, most of us people-please too much when all we needed were the proper kind words to say. And this can be to our families and bosses that put the most pressure on us.

And they’re the ones you need to strike boundaries with the most to balance the relationships so you don’t burn out or feel guilt.

But that starts with knowing in advance what your non-negotiables are and what you will say if someone wants to encroach on those areas.

Often, this comes from those who live in chaos and impose their unstructured life on you. And when you’re with routine, they can’t spill over onto you.

And when you can learn the right skill, then you can actually spend more time in this short-lived life doing the things that really matter to you!

You can be in your sweet spot boost of daily energy, and stick with your ideas. And find a routine that you stay competitive with as things in life change. That will help tone down worry with purpose. And help wipe away the anxious bits that hyper-Vata often feel.

And when you’ve grounded your Vata with routine, you don’t have to stick to only boring routines.

I know how that can be, having worked over a couple decades in-and-out of corporate environments where it’s all about routine tasks, maintenance, performance, and people management.

And if you think about it, none of those areas have anything to do with expressing creativity in case that’s an area you want to explore and develop…

Vatas are naturally energetic and eager. Having an idea and then having to wait for management to approve if ever, is anything but encouraging. And then having people and all the chaos along the way change the dynamics. Well… all that can zap creativity.

And if you’re in flow or with daily creativity, then you’re in alignment with yourself.

And that means toward your life purpose and your authentic identity.

And if you want to get to (or closer to) your creative self, sign-up to get your personalized recipe based on a simple 5-10 minute online assessment revealing your intuitive mind-body wants.

If you’re a hyper-Vata, there’s definitely hope to change your unfocused or indecisive nature. It’s not a life sentence or identity you have to stick with.

The solution is finding calm and daily joy. Then, you’ll be on top of your moods and emotions.

If you’re curious about what your imbalances are in this season, take the free Body Balance Quiz.

4 Balance Poses and Your Practice

Gluten-free sunflower-inspired cupcake under 10 ingredients: nut and coconut flours, cocoa, banana, almond milk, egg, Greek yogurt, baking soda and powder (topped with toasted marshmallow and shredded coconut)… moist and delicious! 🌼

Balanced moves is often associated with ballet and impressive yoga poses, but we all need balance. And the sooner you develop a balance practice (or habit), the better off you’ll be!

Because when we grow older, we know Life speeds up after 30. Our muscles and bones weaken gradually unless we do something about it.

When I was in my early 30s, I sprained my ankle and that led me to get a bone scan. I learned my ankle was healing but my bones were aging (and that happens to all of us).

Before then, I didn’t catch onto the thinning bones effect, especially common with natural Vatas. And none of us know what we don’t know… and back then, I didn’t know what I didn’t know.

So from that point on, I started intaking more calcium. I added back the plant-based milk sources and selective dairy choices to my diet.

Just so you know what decade that was, soy was the up-and-comer. And seeds weren’t popular add-ons back then, but Chia-pet plants were 😉

Chia seeds today are everywhere and also are a good calcium source.

And you can make your own chia seed jam if you’re looking for easy (but effective) creative food inspo… especially if Overnight Oats is not your jam and you want to find other ways to add in your chia.

Most commercial or grocery store jams have added sugar when natural fruit juices are all you need to enjoy:

And since most of us don’t eat off the land like our ancestors, it’s a smart move to continue to look at packaged ingredient lists as formulas change (and even when the carton or outside appears to be the same as the one you ordered last time).

…Next time could be slightly different and missing the nutrients your body especially needs. Or the reason why you added those foods to your list.

So taking those extra seconds to glance at the nutritional profile is smart.

Our bodies thrive on nutrient balance and synergy. Examples: calcium complements magnesium… or all the B-vitamins work together.

…Pretty amazing how our bodies run if you think about it. We often don’t when it’s running optimally. So lifestyle prevention and protection are easy compared to the alternatives.

And living balanced is moving in the right direction.

When you start a balance (in everything) practice early on in your life that your body sings to in harmony, then your body adopts to those healthy habits.

One day can creep up on you, so you want to be protected to some degree. Plus, yoga balance is such a good metaphor for finding purposeful balance in our lives where our joy is.

One easy move you can practice is getting up from the floor in one fell swoop. In Japan’s Blue Zones (with the longest living people on the planet), they do this proudly as Centenarians.

…You could start with something as simple as that. We started as children sitting Indian-style in our classrooms, and we can use our youth as inspiration.

Also, an easier, no-struggle way if you can’t do it without hands is to take your closed fists and knuckles faced down to the floor, and push straight up. Using other parts of your body as tools does a body good!

And then when you’ve peeled yourself off the floor, then you can work on your balance yoga poses.

Four great ones that are top of mind are: Tree, Dancer, Warrior 3, and Bird of Paradise.

I’ll briefly describe each and you can check out older posts for more details in the poses that never get old…

Tree pose is the easiest to start with and if you want to be a bit more advanced… add prayer hands behind your back and bend backward a little.

We spend most of our day hunched forward in some way reaching for things or typing on the computer. It does your body good when you reverse your posture.

One balance trick to work on is developing your leg and quad muscle strength (that are part of your largest muscle groups). You can do that pretty quickly in a regular Chair pose. Not in your chair but with the invisible chair where you are the chair. If that’s too hard to do, you can use a wall to rest back on.

So then when you think you have Tree pose down (and up!), Dancer pose is another great balance practice. With Dancer, you may find one side is stronger or less wobbly than the other.

…When you fully tilt forward into your Dancer pose, you get a good head-to-toe stretch. And if that doesn’t put a smile on your face, I don’t know what will. 😊

For me, Dancer is a joy pose (…and maybe you too). A good day outlook could be the metaphor and mantra to strive for if you’re trying to make healthy changes in areas of your life.

From Dancer, you can easily flow into Warrior 3 (or you can go through the traditional Warrior 1, 2, 3 yoga pose sequence). I included this in my 100 Best Yoga Poses that I can’t believe I wrote around Easter a year ago!

Most things in this Life change, but gratefully yoga stays constant!

In Warrior 3, your neck is aligned with your back, so you’re looking slightly down and both arms are aimed parallel straight ahead, like you’re on a mission forward. …maybe you are?

Warrior 3 can represent a determined, protective strength pose that can be a good metaphor for warding off unproductive moods that don’t serve you.

And finally, if you really want to get your better balance practice-on, Bird of Paradise (B.O.P.) is a fun bird pose. Getting into the pose is like playing a game… and you’re the object.

If you’ve never tried (or it has been a while), I recommend B.O.P. in an open space as it’s a ‘lil more involved than some of the other poses. You want to feel free (to fly, lol).

When you’re standing up and your shoulder is underneath the same side leg, then clasp your hands together. From there, you have better control on your placements and can get into your showy Bird of Paradise that you fancy.

You can also use Bird of Paradise 🦩as a fun assessment of what areas of your beloved body need a ‘lil more TLC handle 😘 …but not love handles.

Or sometimes you can stumble on your imbalances and what life is trying to show you (like my sprained ankle that served as the canary in the coal mine).

Sometimes you can feel your joints and maybe hear a few snaps the first few times. Those will smooth out and you can stretch even more.

Yoga is I think the BEST and easiest way to open up the tightness and bring us back to balance (that again we need especially as we age).

So glad our modern, Western world has caught on… and in looking up and out, keep on keepin’ on! 🌱

4 Improve Consistent Ways for The Inconsistent Vata

Oat Pear Crumble dish with Vata happy balancing cinnamon and oranges!

If you’re a Vata, your middle name is “irregular.” The balancing remedy is consistent action.

And, today I share some better ways to get consistent so you’re in mind-body alignment. And if you’re in a season where you’re not in alignment (or have never been), you’ll have a hard time with the “A” word because you’re not there yet. But you can make that a mantra to get aligned!

And being in balance helps us get there …This time I’m focusing on Vatas, where every month looks different, like moon periods…

And every day of the month is inconsistent in some way… on top of the world around us is changing. The good news for all of us is, like plants, we’re growing just a bit daily. 🌱

And Vata patterns change more often than Pittas and Kaphas, even though those could be secondary dials that can ratcheted up.

For a Vata looking closely at her life, you’ll see how this affects your sleep, food, and play minute-by-minute… even what you reviewed in your productive time last time looks different.

And even though nothing about the work has changed. Because your last name is “change.”

Like the wind, Vatas by nature is changing all-the-time. Vata bodies don’t withstand temperature swings well… more like orchids than enduring palm trees.

So to balance and restore, doing the opposite helps. You want to be consistent and stay on task instead of letting the mind run you by sending a list of things you need to do this minute that aren’t urgent.

If you look at a tipping scale, the way to balance it is to add some weight to the opposite side. …makes sense, right? ⚖️

And if you’re feeling like you can’t sit still, or are going from task to task more than usual, you could be heavy on the Vata. And some daily tweaks could help you restore back to your usual ways pretty quickly.

For any of us, it doesn’t take much to get off balance in our Vata, Pitta, or Kapha.

For Vata, these are the balancing tricks you can help to tip the scales back to equilibrium:

1.Consistent sleep – just like you’ve been told is a good idea, keep the same schedule as much as possible. Even if you go to bed late, try to get up at the same AM time you normally do. You want to take advantage of circadian rhythms.

If you sleep in because your body has been tired for a season, you’ll be even more tired once your body gets a sleep dose. It’s part of the process of our bodies trying to restore balance.

Our one-and-only bodies send obvious signs and blaring warnings that we can still miss in our busy modern lives full of external noise. Alarms and coffee only go so far to help us awaken.

And while 8 hours of sleep is healthy and on average what most of us need, if you’ve had enough sleep, that’s all you need.

Worrying the Vata head is worse than not getting enough sleep in the mind-body connection, because then you add silent stress to your body. With a lack of sleep, your body will let you know by your tiredness, and other new symptoms over time.

Your body knows what it needs to reset and we’re not in charge of that. And if it’s running efficiently and you’ve been good to it by not overdoing yourself, then you may only need a few hours of sleep one night to be recharged.

The recommended 8 hours is just an average and works neatly for 1/3 of our 24-hour day.

But even if you have a perfect sleep record streak from measuring your sleep… at the end of the day, that just says you’re off to a good start with your daily health. It doesn’t indicate much else.

It’s more what you don’t do in sleep that shouldn’t be ignored. Any daily health telltale signs show up on the body and should be attended to quickly so they don’t become a new normal.

And getting the right dosage of sleep amount is individual as we all have different symptoms and bodies.

So… In short balance, the goal for each of us in sleep is getting enough. 💤

2.Consistent eating – and having regular eating patterns is good. I shared how time-restricted eating (or Intermittent Fasting) could help set a discipline, like it does with me for snacking and late-night eating.

And one thing I would steer more into the Vata ways is variety and diversity in healthy foods. Pittas and Kaphas tend to stick more to the same foods.

Different healthy foods offer different nutrients, vitamins, and minerals, and amounts. It’s also good to have macros: lean protein, healthy carbs, and healthy fats in the diet.

Muscle gradually declines as we age so we need more protein. Healthy carbs give us bursts of energy and keep us full enough while junk carbs rob us. And healthy fats help the body absorb foods and fat-soluble vitamins better this way.

3.Consistent Practices and Activities – keep you calm as you do your daily routines you enjoy.

That can include exercise, your craft, quiet time, reading, etc.

When you’re tired, try to plow through those moods and do at least a little bit of your routine or practice. This will teach you to keep at it, which helps with balancing inconsistency. And you’ll be working on a skill you can use the rest of your life.

And if you need ideas, you can find outlets like this one here that gives life advice on pillows:

LIFE IS GOOD…

And keeping it good is part of the balance. Because we all run into situations we’d rather not at some point. It can’t be all sunshine and roses (as part of the balance). 🥀

4.Consistent Behaviors with Other Influences

It’s important to stay consistent even when we don’t live in a bubble. We interact with people and society.

And you do this in work and life where you can get tested.

I’ve had many experiences starting something new with new people involved that can be a bit stressful… and sometimes throw the balance off. I’m sure you can relate.

And to make those times easier, what I do is I stick to my gut thoughts, feelings, and boundaries. It’s smart not to react as the air shifts around you and in you.

I know not everyone has offenders in their lives (living in a bubble, haha!)…

But kidding aside, in daily life, some people have no idea how they come across to others (in lack of self-awareness). And sadly, others knowing better let their bad sides run, trying to work (play) the systems. You just happen to be someone muddled in their system.

That’s just how it is in this imperfect life where we only control and manage ourselves.

…And that should be enough to keep us all busy!

We all come from different backgrounds. Sticking to our own values and not compromising is going to do you and the world a world of good (say that 10 tongue twister 10 times 😊).

You teach people how to treat you and how to behave toward others.

I know it’s not easy.

But always remember: your life is not a dress rehearsal. You will never get this year or today back.

And you don’t want to live in your own regrets if you need a motivator.

Usually, the people who want to test your buttons are the ones who aren’t doing the right things to begin with… and they’re not the ones that you want to follow anyway.

So with the troublemakers who aren’t considerate and are annoyingly kicking up your Pitta, initially it could seem like a good idea to follow along their ways or at least not create waves. But wise not to fall into this temptation.

…But the innocent often fall and don’t follow the good rules. They cave into the squeaky grease and play along on their blind path game that leads to nowhere.

And innocently that’s ’cause they don’t want to cause friction with themselves or other people. But you teach people how to treat you today and in the future.

If you let others step on you, then expect more of that when you allow it once. That’s how it is with children, and some adults haven’t grown up yet or figured out their ego sides.

And last tip on that note: never, never ever reward bad behavior unless you want more of the same behavior.

To be a productive leader, you want to create and forge your own path. Be considerate but stop caring so much. And think for yourself. You’ll be glad you did at the end of whatever you’re facing.

And be consistent where you tell your heavy anxious Vata mind to stop worrying about what will or won’t happen.

Because what will happen is you’ll get respected by the people you respect, and get to do more of what you want (and work with the people you want to work with).

And you’ll get to build the consistent, work-life balance that you really want!

Next time I’ll follow up with the 2^nd part of the self-awareness series I started a few weeks ago that you won’t want to miss! 🧡