How to cultivate work life balance

The concept of work life balance has shot to glory in recent years, as society moves away from hustle-at-all-costs culture and closer towards something resembling the hallowed concept of balance.

While work life balance is an idyllic goal, we like to keep things realistic and dedicate ourselves towards life juggling—meaning we keep track of what balls we have in the air at once, what ones we can afford to drop and what ones need particular attention.

Here are our top tips to help you juggle it all.

GLASS VS RUBBER BALLS

On the subject of balls in the air, it might be construed as slightly cliché to talk about ex Coca Cola CEO Brian Dyson’s infamous speech on glass vs rubber balls in this context—but we reckon it’s exactly how the ever-important words were intended to be received, and absolutely fundamental to the work-life juggle.

He very famously said “Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them – work, family, health, friends and spirit – and you’re keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls – family, health, friends and spirit – are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life.”

So, on that note, perhaps the first question to ask yourself when striving for more balance in your life is, do you treat work as a rubber ball? Or do you treat it as a glass one? We’ll leave that with you…

HAVE DEDICATED TIME OFF

It becomes all-too easy when you’re committed to your career to set flexible boundaries that quickly give way to answering the odd email here, or taking a phone call during family time there.

Having non-negotiable time off is one of the most important ways to juggle work with life, as it keeps work from controlling (read: consuming) your schedule. At Gill & Hooper, we enforce a ‘no emails from 7pm until 7am and on weekends’ rule, where we silence the app from our phones. That means we have to be super intentional if we want to check in on anything. This prevents it becoming habitual and a major drain on our time and energy.

MAKE TIME FOR THINGS THAT FILL YOUR CUP

Whether it’s yoga, a standing coffee date with friends, a gym class or swimming lessons with your little one, it’s so important to set aside plenty of times that refresh and revive you—and bring you back to who you are as a person. Not as a Property Manager, or Sales Associate, or whatever your job is, but as a human with a family and interests and goals that extend beyond the day-to-day workings of your career.

You’ll undoubtedly have heard the saying “you can’t pour from an empty cup”—and understanding this is central to carving out balance in your life. Schedule these cup-filling joys as you would a work meeting, and notice how you begin to feel less overwhelmed as a result.

DEFINE WHAT “ENOUGH” LOOKS LIKE FOR YOU

One of the major realisations that hits when you reach adulthood is that there is always more that can be done. Whether it’s work emails, housework, planning for your side hustle or life admin, the list really, truly never ends.

So getting clear on what constitutes “good enough” for you will help you spend your time wisely—leaving you with more time for variety and balance in your day-to-day. Adding a “must-do” section to your to-do list is a great way of implementing this on a granular level; as it defines your non-negotiable and maps out what your “enough” looks like for that day.

What tips and tricks do you use to juggle the many balls that are life—work, family, friends, interests, hobbies and the rest? Let us know in the comments below!

5 Ways Meditation Makes Us Better at Yoga

Meditation. Yoga. The two go together like Batman & Robin (though with less capes… usually).

As spiritual health practices that have both found popularity in the West over the past 50 years, we tend to lump yoga and meditation together. Whenever we read of one, the other usually isn’t far behind. And when we’re shopping for yoga pants it’s no surprise to see a meditation mala in the vicinity. 

Yet despite the obvious correlation between yoga and meditation, there are still countless people who do one or the other and not both.

Big mistake. 

Yoga makes you better at meditation because it creates a relaxed body that is conducive to a relaxed mind. Not to mention, it also makes it far easier to get into lotus position without feeling like your legs are going to snap in two. And meditation makes us better at yoga in five key ways. Let’s take a look.

How meditation makes us better at yoga

1. Meditation helps us focus on asanas

When we’re practicing yoga, we are, of course, exercising the body. But we ought to be exercising the mind at the same time.

Every time we place the body in an asana (pose), we should be focusing on that pose. By focusing the mind on the body while in a pose, we experience the asana in full. Yoga asanas offer many mental health benefits, but in order to glean those benefits, we have to actually focus on what we are doing. 

Sadly, many people don’t leave their thoughts and distractions at the yoga studio door. And so they are not able to focus on the yoga.  Meditation is well known to improve focus and concentration. And because of this, it makes it easier to focus the mind on the body when we enter a yoga pose. The result is complete mind-body immersion in the asana.

2. Meditation lowers oxygen consumption

One of the lesser-known benefits of meditation is that it changes the way the body uses oxygen.

Scientific research shows that meditation lowers oxygen consumption rate by 10%. This means that we are more able to control the breath during and after meditation. This is a game-changer for anyone who gets short of breath when practicing yoga. If that’s you, try meditating before doing yoga, and during your yoga session, take a few moments here and there to practice mindful breathing. This will help regulate the breath.

Not only does this help us practice yoga for longer, it also gives us more control of pranayama. 

3. Meditation helps you to discover the philosophical aspects of yoga

While most yoga studios these days are more concerned with physical exercise than philosophy, historically yoga has been about both. If you want to truly embrace the yogic lifestyle, you have to get in touch with the philosophical side. Meditation can help.

The yogic system itself includes many meditations, such as Trataka (Still Gazing), chakra meditations mantras, and sound meditations (Nada Yoga). Not only do these meditation techniques help train the mind, they also prepare the mind-body for more advanced stages of yoga. After all, it’s hard to truly experience Pungu Mayurasana  (Wounded Peacock Posture) while you’re worrying about that business meeting.

4. Get too sweaty doing hot yoga? Meditation will help

Anyone who practices Bikram (hot yoga) knows what it’s like to sweat a little too much. But meditation can change that.

We get sweaty when our body temperature rises. But meditation reduces heart rate and blood pressure, and this cools down the body and thereby reduces sweating.So if you’re worried you might be a little hot, sweaty and, yes, smelly when you’re doing hot yoga, try meditating.

5. Meditation improves balance 

Feel a little wobbly in Warrior III? Meditation will change that, at least according to one scientific study. 

Ying Kee, PhD, and his colleagues at the Nanyang Technological University’s National Institute of Education took 32 men and split them into two groups. Kee made both groups stand on one leg while holding a basin of water.   While they were doing this, Kee asked one group to be mindful of their hands, while the other group were allowed to think of anything they liked. Kee then tested the balance of members of both groups.

The results showed that being mindful of the body increases balance, where thinking about something other than what we’re doing will actually lower our balance.

So, if you want to stay in an asana for longer, be mindful of your body while you’re in the pose.

Anyone who is serious about getting better at yoga should embrace both the physical and the mental exercises. And of the latter, meditation is the most important.

By practicing meditation not only do we embrace more of the yogic lifestyle, we also prepare the mind for success in the yoga studio. The benefits of meditation are significant, and they are invaluable when it comes to improving our yoga practice.

If you’ve been doing the physical side of yoga without practicing meditation, perhaps it’s time for that to change.

STAYING BALANCED IN THE HOT SUMMER MONTHS

As the seasons shift, our bodies cycle through an organic ebb and flow of change that serves to harmonise and create balance within us. These changes are usually influenced by the seasons themselves: hours of daylight, foods that are abundant at particular times of the year, weather patterns, and seasonally inspired activities.

Although your body will adjust to these changes naturally, it never hurts to integrate some simple tweaks into your routine to aid in the transition and link yourself more intimately with the season that is upon you.

AN AYURVEDIC APPROACH TO INNER-BODY BALANCE

The summer months are a time of light and warmth, and the energy of summer radiates at a high vibration. To balance the heat and energy of the summer season, aim to cultivate the opposite environment on the inside of the body — cool and calm.

According to Ayurveda, the science of health native to India, summer inspires the pitta dosha. The doshas are the bodily humors that help to create one’s individual constitution, and there are three different doshas: vata, pitta, kapha.

Pitta is driven predominately by the solar force, so when the natural cycle of the seasons brings us to the sunny summer months, it is important to pacify the natural pitta inside our bodies so that we aren’t meeting the hot, fiery external climate with a similar internal energy. In doing so, we allow ourselves to enjoy the full excitement and thrill that summer brings, without being flooded by too much of one energetic force.

But how do we balance that pitta energy? During this time of year, a good counter for the sunny weather would be to create a lunar current within the body by focusing on activities and foods that are cooling. This approach will nourish your system and help increase your energy levels.

COOLING SUMMER YOGA POSES

One of the best ways to encourage equilibrium in your body is through your yoga practice. Here are a few cooling yoga poses you can include in your daily routine:

1. Moon Salutations: These are a variation of your Sun Salutes. If you want to do regular Sun Salutations, try to walk forward rather than jump forward to maintain the low vibratory feeling.

2. Supported Backbends: Try Bridge Pose with a yoga block beneath the low back.

3. Legs Up the Wall: Remember to keep your tailbone flush against the wall and your legs straight up.

4. Supported Shoulder Stand: Place a blanket or towel under the shoulders, letting your neck dip off the edge.

5. Forward Folds: Try Seated Forward Fold or Wide-Legged Forward Fold.

6. Floor Twists: You can do these seated or lying on your back.

All of these poses send a calming wave through the nervous system and serve the body’s attempts to self-regulate.

BREATH WORK: COOLING PRANAYAMA

After you complete your asanas, weave in one or both of the following cooling pranayama (breath work):

• Shitali Pranayama: This technique is done by curling the sides of your tongue towards one another and sticking your tongue out through your lips. Inhale through your rolled tongue and exhale out through the nose. Repeat 5-20 times. If you have difficultly curling your tongue, try making a donut shape with your lips instead; inhale through the lips, exhale through the nose.

• Single-Nostril Breathing: This technique isolates one nostril. For the summer months we are targeting the left nostril, which is called the Ida Nadi (“subtle channel”), which is the body’s cooling channel and is located on the lunar side of the body. Plug the right side of the nostril and breathe in and out through the left nostril for 5-20 breaths.

COOLING FOODS, HERBS AND SPICES

Food is another essential component to balance the body, as it metabolises your efforts from the inside, out. Here are a few simple guidelines to follow that will align your eating with the summer season:

• Eat vegetables and fruits that have a high water content: melons, cucumbers, and leafy greens.

• Keep things light and cool — enjoy foods that aren’t dense and heavy, and ones that you don’t need to cook for very long; perhaps even things you don’t have to heat up at all before eating.

• It’s easier to get dehydrated during the summer months. Try drinking electrolyte-enhanced water. If you ever feel like you are over-heating, coconut water is very cooling to the body. (Just be mindful of how much you drink as it is a natural laxative!)

• Incorporate herbs and spices that reduce the pitta dosha, including mint, fennel, cilantro, cumin, and coriander.

Although your body will instinctively crave balance as the seasons shift, it is always a beneficial practice to offer a little assistance. Trust your instincts on these recommendations and always do what feels right for you.

Happy summer!

Article Author: Nichole Golden

Article Source: https://www.gaiam.com/blogs/discover/yoga-for-all-seasons-summer