The Healthy Balance. Is it possible to achieve it?
Being a mum of two, working as a Physiotherapist and running a local pilates business, teaching 10 classes a week and also being passionate about sport myself means life is a little on the busy side. This is true for many of us but it’s all about how to achieve the healthy balance.
After working as a Physiotherapist in New Zealand we returned to Poole with the hope that we could continue our kiwi lifestyle. Over there I guess we were living the dream. We worked hard providing physiotherapy for various ski, surf and rugby teams and were surrounded by motivated people who had a passion for an active outdoor life and who managed to achieve what we felt was the perfect balance
In Poole we live in a most fantastic area with beautiful beaches and there’s always people up and out enjoying the fresh air. This replicates our kiwi ethos but life is a bit different here in that we’ve got two young children, a dog, a mortgage, 30 emails a day, messages to reply to and all the social media updates and so achieving the balance that we had in New Zealand is certainly challenging - but is it really possible? Yes yes yes is the answer. I often get asked how I manage to fit it all in but keep a healthy balance. To be honest I don’t think there is any magic trick and I sometimes don’t quite manage it but I believe it’s just about some key principles….goals, priorities, teamwork and me-time.
Goals:
as a Physiotherapist and pilates instructor I’m always encouraging goals. Set them and strive for them. So whether that’s to walk to get the paper three times per week, only check Facebook or Instagram twice a day or smash your personal best in the Poole Park Run, they all have the same affect of keeping you focused, motivated and achieving. There’s nothing better than the feeling of achievement.
Priorities:
it’s easy to say ‘you don’t have time’ and I can totally understand that. You’re right, there isn’t time for it all but you have to decide what you do have time for and what your biggest priorities are. They will be different for us all but make sure some of your priorities are the things you enjoy most and have a passion for. I like to keep an active family life as one of my priorities so we’re always out and about either walking the dog, cycling, paddle-boarding or gardening.
Teamwork:
A healthy balance is not just the effort you put in but it’s about who you surround yourself with and whether you’re all working together. So whether that’s teams at work, teams at home with family and friends, if you’ve got the same passion for life, results will happen.
Me-time:
This is probably one of the hardest principles to achieve. It only needs to be a short amount of time to notice the benefits. I think that’s why so many people love coming to pilates as it gives them protected time to achieve a goal, have time to breathe (and that is a priority), surround themselves with a like minded team and they leave feeling ready to embrace the next challenge in a busy life.
So in short, yes it is possible to achieve a healthy balance. Take stock of your life right now and think about whether you’ve got some goals you’re working towards, have got your priorities in order, are surrounded by a motivated team and have a think about what you’re going to do for some much needed me-time.