Finding My Way to Balance: Part 2

October 12, 2017 3 Comments

Category: My Story, Parenting
Tags: Exercise, Meditation, Vitamins, balance

In case you missed it, last week I posted an entry about how I am seeking to find better balance with everything going on in my life. Between my workload and personal life, I’ve been feeling a little run down lately and subsequently my MS has been acting up (you can read full entry here). I was looking for ways to improve my physical and mental health and requested any tips or tricks from readers and you all delivered! 

In short, you guys are just awesome – thanks for all of the suggestions and tips! After speaking / messaging with many of you, I thought it would be beneficial to share all of the suggestions with the larger group so others could benefit from your advice too.

Here’s a re-cap of the suggestions I received:

Vitamins

• B12 and D
• Probiotics
• Omega 3s
• Multi-vitamin
• DHA
• Grass fed non-denatured whey with sunflower letchin – helps repair myelin

Meditation Ideas

• Headspace app
• Calm app
• Stop Breath Think App – 5-minute guided meditations
• Buddhify app – Modern mindfulness for busy lives by Mindfulness – “I love this app- on the go meditation and you pick like what you’re doing/feeling at that moment and get a short mediation for that!”
• Insight app – Includes guided meditations and also a timer if you want to try 5 minutes of even start with 1 minutes. It is very helpful.
• Meditate with a prayer or poem – A dear friend of mine had a simple yet powerful alternative to standard meditation. Instead of following a script or app, she suggested closing your eyes and reciting a meaningful prayer or poem. Could be anything – your pick. But, the idea is that you stop what you’re doing and focus on the words and meaning behind something else – hence relaxing and calming your mind.

Exercise

• Yoga with Adrienne on YouTube – At home workout you could do easily
• Pilates – Flex and Chi50
• Beachbody Yoga (reach out to @excelwithmel if interested)

Other ideas:

Apple watch / Breath app– Reminds you to stop and do focused breathing throughout the day. It also tracks your activity and workouts

Acupuncture – This isn’t something that I thought of but I have heard this is great for stress reduction (and even MS symptoms). My friend recommended Modern Health – they have several locations including a place in Lakeview and Wicker Park

OK, so it’s great to have all of this info but how do you incorporate it into your daily life? Well, I know for me that unless I map out a schedule and plan, it won’t happen. I also know that I am deterred by activities or ideas that aren’t easy or convenient with my lifestyle. So, for working out, for example, I wanted to find something that’s close to my home that I could do after dropping Chloe off at daycare.

Here’s a look at my plan of action – incorporating both these ideas and what I included in my previous post.

6 – 6:30am    Wake up and shower before the baby is up

Make my bed and tidy up room

7 – 7:30am    Chloe wakes and get her ready for day, make breakfast

Take Vitamin D, B12 and Women’s One-a-Day with Probiotic

8:15am          Walk to daycare instead of driving – I calculated that this is 4,000 steps total (which will help me get to my goal of 10K/day)

8:30am         2 days during the work week (Tues/Thurs), I will do a pilates or yoga class that I can walk to after dropping off Chloe, and aim to do it again on Saturday mornings

12pm             Take 15 minutes out of everyday to practice meditation (or 5 minutes right when I’m feeling anxious). Some people like to do this in the morning, but because mornings are hectic, I know that I’ll want to tackle some of my to-do list before I focus on this.

4:00 – 4:30   Walk back to get Chloe from school / another 4,000 steps plus time to myself

5pm / 6pm   Cook 3 times during the week to ensure nutritious and healthy, eating (limited carb/GF diet)

I’ll report back once I’ve tested this out but to be honest, I am already feeling more relaxed just having this plan mapped out. It helps me feel more in control and capable of actually making it happen. Thanks again for your tips!