Restore body balance is the way to live a calm, more joyful, and less stressful daily life, while boosting longevity.
Over the past few decades, American culture is becoming more exposed and open to mind-body connection healthy revelations, where we know that our thoughts and mental health affect our bodies and physical health through the mind-body connection.
And that was the premise of the second part of this balance series and what I’m all about as a life balance seeker.
And, the reason why I’ve kept stress under control (and you should too!)… at least after the first 30 years when I started on this health-saving quest.
This has been a high priority for me ever since and I doubt I’m ever going back. I never say never because life is unpredictable, but when you’ve got a taste of the better life, why would you go backward in awareness?
…And I’m sure that’s how you feel.
In earlier years, I didn’t have the means for lower stress wisdom. I wasn’t ready and it probably would’ve hurt me, as I wouldn’t have stretched myself in work as much.
Plus, when you’ve suffered accumulated stress, then you know that you don’t want that life in your second and future acts. Your younger years are the best times to test out “what you don’t want” so life gets better and you grow.
When you’re younger, you’re more resilient and energetic. It’s a good time to develop habits that make you more adaptable and flexible.
And then you can look back and say, “I’m sooo glad I don’t have to do that again”!
And maybe that’s what you needed as encouragement to keep growing your mind-body balance in your life today and EVERY day moving forward.
Internal balance is not all about the better situations, like having work-life balance.
It’s influenced by how we process the situation and find new grounds like gratitude and attitude. Daily, we can choose to see something that appears negative to us (and our ego) and flip it into a positive like what we’re experiencing is needed to get us to where we want to go.
And when we get into the habit of doing this in the small life things like daily interrupts, then we get to feel more joy in this life and our energy comes across to others as approachable.
What people actually think about you (and don’t say to you) in all the important roles you play is one life success measurement that is underrated and often overlooked.
What you are trying to become can backfire if not careful (and I’m sure you’ve seen many examples of people saying they want to be more ____ and end up doing the opposite).
…So much of what happens is based on people’s subconscious reactions in the moment. And the only people you can control is you and your reactions!
So, flipping your script from what your subconscious ego wants to serve up daily as prickly and unattractive personality points is going to be one habit change that leads to your personal success.
At anytime, you can simply walk away from your moody self (and that’s healthy!) and reject the associated thoughts. That empowerment is 100% in your control.
…And you’re wise to do so, because when your mind takes on negative thoughts, then your body feels the effects from immediate feelings that get transferred in the mind-body connection. And over time, they often show up as delayed response symptoms on or in the body.
Body Imbalances
These unwanted body imbalances “show up” as events that often need to be prioritized and take you away from your busy, planned life. You take work effort to nurse yourself in the areas that need attention or take time out to see a doctor so that you get back to normal.
But the opposite is snowball-building body stressor events that lead to chronic inflammations and common diseases. And as mortals, heart-related (CVD) is still in the #1 spot (and in the top 5 list of mortality causes).
A quick, easy scan to know if you’re increasing your chances for body symptoms and illnesses is if you’re accumulating anxiety, anger, or depression. These are the extremes of Vata, Pitta, and Kapha doshas.
And if you have a natural mind-body accumulation for any one of those ways that align with your primary dosha body type, then you increase your chance of being in the hurricane-eye of accumulating body issues.
…So that’s especially why you want to pay attention to your body cues, prevent, and know your Vata, Pitta, and Kapha imbalances. And where we know most are life situation or lifestyle created.
And being conscious of this is a good thing because that means you can make changes that over time make an impact on your body.
Early on, I learned that if you’re sick or not physically well, you’re not helping anyone. And that thought stuck with me. Making impact in this world requires us to be healthy.
Restore Body Balance
Most of us want to restore body balance first (over mind body balance or mind-body connection balance that’s deeper to penetrate). One way to restore body balance is yoga, if you have a tightness.
You can restore your body symptoms and that can be healthy for your mind too as the mind-body and body-mind connection is bi-directional.
When you work to restore your body balance, you focus on doing everything you can to take care of your body so it gets well, and you gain new and better healthy knowledge.
And one piece of knowledge today that’s helpful is measuring body mass index (BMI). It’s still one of the medical relied-upon predictor tools to help determine body health outcomes.
BMI doesn’t measure a stress-free, joyful, purpose, relationship-filled life that contributes to longevity healthy outcomes, but it’s something we can impact and change.
We don’t have a say in our genetics, but we do decide how we take care of our bodies in our environment. We are empowered with lifestyle choices, even if we’re not living our dream life yet.
We can take daily small steps and make quality choices, like in moving daily and choosing quality calories. We know apple calories are more nutritious than cake calories. So balancing our nutritious food choices is in our control.
The point is, we don’t need to see signs of inflammation to know that we are making better or not-so-good choices. We don’t need to test how far our body limits are.
We want to show our bodies love as showing up for us rain or shine… so we can do what we want everyday.
And this love includes knowing that naturally our bodies are deteriorating slowly as we age and as we are exposed to daily pollutants. So better calories are feeding our compost growth, and not the gut weeds that can exponentially grow and leave a jungle path in our intestines.
When we adopt the healthy ways, we love ourselves and that adds a new happy to our lives. And we can show up to the world as our BEST selves that everyone on a similar mission is working toward.
We’re our best advocates. And that lets us live a more enriched life where we get to do more.
Restore Body Balance Healthy Lifestyle Leads to An Easier Life
And this makes our lives easier…
Like, when you eat the quality calories as your healthy habit, something great happens… you no longer have the same taste for the empty-quality calories that go down great, but leave you feeling and looking more full.
Similar to new habits, this takes a few weeks or longer for your body’s getting used to. But if you seesaw back and forth between old and new ways, you’ll not give the healthy way a real chance.
Healthy Mind For Body
To help your body out, start with the mind. If you want to be healthy eating, you want to tell your mind something that will choose the healthier option, especially in the beginning.
And when you do have a bite of the not-so-healthy, that’s okay too. Be okay with that. And actually DO that once a week, so you don’t cycle back to your old ways. That’s healthy wisdom. We’re not meant to be like sloths or koalas that eat leaves.
And every day, just keep on going without beating yourself up or going overboard because you didn’t meet an arbitrary goal.
Your healthy mind will show up on your body if you keep aiming for the healthy.
And eventually over time, the healthy will be your desired choice in every fiber of your being. And one day, fiber foods you didn’t consider before, will be something you reach for.
And I can use the analogy of intermittent fasting as something I do not do for losing weight reasons, but that would be my go-to if that was a goal.
Final Thoughts to Restore Your Body
Restore your body is like restoring your computer in many ways. Sometimes something breaks, like a part that needs to be put back together.
Body parts are resilient but when something breaks, then the area is fragile and open to damage. And that’s why physical therapy is so needed for sports injuries and the like.
And for disease-related problems, it’s the same. Once your body has a weakness, the wound is open and subsceptible to repeat chronic episodes.
If you look at football quarterbacks and how much they have to endure every play, they’ve made a career out of weekly restoration. They know how to bounce back with helpers trained to help them heal faster and to prevent injuries.
And they’re more appreciative to their bodies and how they perform like daily machines. We need that sometimes when we get used to something that we miss.
We need to see what we miss from a new perspective.
Prevention is the #1 defense. And that’s why having a healthy lifestyle is so important. 🌱