Engage the Power of Practice for a Balanced Life
Contributed by Sylvia Warren of SimplytheBestCoaching.com
According to award-winning author David Shenk, “The glut of information no longer adds to our quality of life, but instead begins to cultivate stress, confusion, and even ignorance.” When the overwhelming pressures of work and life accelerate faster than you can deal with them, does it feel like you don’t have space to breathe? If so, what you’re experiencing may be normal. Super-achieving women in business, finance and law often challenge themselves to the max and then wonder how they are going to cope with it all. As the song goes, it just takes your breath away.
Time to let yourself breathe! This easy 1-minute exercise brings your mind, body and spirit back into dynamic balance. It centers you. It reconnects you to your authentic voice.
Practice it and pay attention to what it does for you.
- Stand up straight with your feet firmly on the ground and shoulder width apart, your knees slightly bent, and your arms relaxed down at your sides.
- Blow the air out of your lungs through your mouth in one quick exhale.
- Breathe through your mouth with a width yawn.
- Hold air in your lungs and abdomen for a few seconds.
- Then breathe out slowly through pursed lips.
- Feel your feet become more rooted to the earth.
- Repeat two more times: Breathing in air through your mouth with a wide yawn, holding air in your lungs and abdomen for a few seconds, then slowly breathing out through pursed lips, and feeling your feet rooted to earth.
- Notice the difference.
Allow this simple 1-minute Life Balance Practice to become part of your daily routine.
Use it before engaging in challenging conversations, leading productive meetings, or delivering wow presentations. Playfully practice letting yourself breath in this and other energizing ways. Notice how letting yourself breath gives you a sense of balance – helping you to think more clearly, prioritize more effectively, and get the results you want with less effort.