Saturday, September 28, 2013

Three Ways to Slow down, De-stress and Create Balance Your Life

By Chelsea Grace


When your life appears beyond control and you have got never-ending demands tugging at you from all directions, it isn't difficult to feel overpowered, fatigued - and just plain stressed. Believe it or not, balancing your life doesn't require huge changes. You do not have to quit your job, abandon your family and escape to a remote retreat in order to feel peaceful and content. In fact , true balance is something that starts within you above all - regardless of what else is happening in your outer life circumstances.

Below you will find three easy methods to begin building a larger sense of inner peace and harmony:

1) Quiet time.

One of the first things we have a tendency to sacrifice when we're busy is our personal time. Instead we devote all our energy and attention to caring for others, multi-tasking, meeting responsibilities and "being productive." Over a period of time this exhausts our energy and we begin to feel more and more weighed down by our responsibilities.

To live a balanced life, quiet time to you is vital. You may accept that you do not have any time available for yourself, but something dazzling happens when you consistently make time; you find yourself feeling happier and more energetic, your focus improves - and you still get lots done. Just one or two minutes spent sitting silently in meditation or reading a book can do wonders in transforming stress into peace and contentment.

2) Self-care.

Beyond making time for things you enjoy, there are more paths to nurture and love yourself on a day-to-day basis. Getting a full 8 hours of sleeping (or as much as you need) is a good start, as well as eating nutritious food, exercising daily and speaking kindly to oneself.

Ever realized that when you are really knackered or stressed, even the littlest problem can seem just like a nightmare? From another viewpoint, when you're feeling well-rested and centered, you're miles better ready to handle upsets. Caring for yourself is one sure way to solidly replace your energy, inner peace and joy - which means you may have the power to handle whatever comes your way.

3) Suppleness.

Did you know that one of the most important causes of stress is stiff expectations ? We all do it occasionally; get a psychological image of how our lives "should be" - and get extremely annoyed when our outer circumstances don't cooperate. One of the most important gifts you can give yourself is a flexible state of mind. Put simply, discover the best way to detach from unachievable expectations and follow the flow.

When you have a flexible mind-set, you're able to deal with crises and issues much more easily because you're not working against a predetermined concept of how things "should be". You're able to hook directly into your creative problem-solving abilities and move through challenges without all the drama and frustration. Be like the tree that bends with the breeze - and you are much less likely to start to break.

These inner changes can make a dramatic difference in your state of contentment, but you may additionally want to look at your outer life circumstances and see if there are other tiny changes you can make to help to support your inner work.

For example, you could choose to let go of certain requirements that are no longer significant or enjoyable to you. Just because you agreed to host weekly meetings for a support group 3 years back doesn't mean you have to continue to do it forever - especially if it's become a drain on your resources. Be content to let go of activities that no longer enhance the lifestyle you wish, and you'll create space for larger accomplishment, joy and peace.




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