Creating Balance

We've all heard the saying that there is give and take in life.

I've been seeing a chiropractor for probably the last 6 months or so. I found that when major events in my life take place - big stressful events - my body will take that event and store in various parts of my body. My neck and shoulders take the brunt of the day to day and what cannot remain there gets stored in my lower back and hips.

I've also recently started partaking in acupuncture to help manage stress and fortunate for me, this is part of his chiropractic practice as well. Almost every session, I get a bonus "wellness" needle and it is fantastic.

When I first walked into his office 6 months ago, I was in so much pain I couldn't even take pain medication correctly. Taking four 500mg pills thinking they were 250mg pills was an interesting experience. Within two sessions, he had me walking again with little to no discomfort. I've spent the last few months kind of stuck with this nagging pain in my right hip. I know what it's from and somehow I cannot prevent it from happening.

It's from sitting at a desk all day.

It's from standing at a desk all day.

It's from walking too much.

It's from running too much.

It's from working out too much.

It's from sleeping too much.

See, imbalance is created by doing too much of something whether it's good or bad stuff. There is no moderation in imbalance. Is there balance when you're minutes from getting a bid in on time? Is there balance trying to ramp up on a new project while working with an uncooperative owner? What about balance in our personal lives . . .

Sometimes trying to create balance creates imbalance and here's what I mean by that.

Having a full time day job, trying to pivot with this whole pandemic stuff and managing my gym, I needed to de-stress so naturally for me - that's working out. I've been very anxious about what's to come for small businesses like mine and since anxiety is a physical response, physical activity is a great way to counteract those feelings. What I neglected to do at the beginning of Shelter in Place was create opportunity for balance. Instead, I thought it was about creating more opportunity. Can you hear the difference? So I've been posting more on social media, I've been doing online workout videos for my clients on YouTube and I even started a Podcast.

Still seeing this chiropractor once a week with little to no progress and then I started asking myself - what was I doing differently before when everything 'fit' together. I was weight training 5 days a week, cardio 3 days a week with hot yoga 1 day in there to get a good stretch in. I was burning the candle at both ends every minute of every day and when my head hit the pillow each night, it felt damn good. But now, for some reason, even though I am working out less and sleeping more things with my hip were not getting better. I mean, shouldn't I be pain free by now? Instead, I'm stuck.

And then, it hit me. What was missing from my old routine in my new routine was the variety in my day. Although I had a lot going on, there was balance. I then realized that if I held my restorative classes on a Saturday morning instead of a Sunday morning, seeing the chiropractor afterwards might be more beneficial and it has been. I finally got some movement in my hips last week and then in my upper back this week.

So maybe, just maybe creating a little balance in your life doesn't mean giving something up, like most of us think, but rather repositioning it so that it supports the other things you want to do in life.