I have written countless posts about balance. Many of those posts talked about scheduling, priorities, and work-life balance. Other posts compared balance to walking on a tightrope or trying to keep juggling balls up in the air. I have talked about it a lot!

So, when I came across a new idea related to balance, it made me stop and think.

“Balance is the core of health. We feel and function best when our body’s systems are in balance, and when we’re in balance with friends, family, community and nature.”

These are the words of Dr. Bruce Perry, from the book “What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience and Healing” which he co-authored with Oprah Winfrey.

​In all my writing, reading, and thinking about balance, I never really gave a lot of thought to balance in our physical body. I have been so focused on the outer balance of “life”, I overlooked the role our physical body (and mind) plays in all of this.

Dr. Perry explains physical balance starts in the womb while hearing the rhythmic sound of our mother’s heart. Once born, a baby cries when their environment slips out of balance. They are picked up, rocked, bounced, or cuddled. These rhythmic motions shift the baby back into balance. The discomfort and distress are relieved, calming the baby.

This explanation makes complete sense in terms of a baby. This level of care is expected, we know we must comfort the baby often in the early months of life. In turn, our attention helps teach them how to self-regulate. Once they reach the stage of self-regulation, do we pay less attention to inner balance? Sure, we still think about how sleep and food impact our moods, but do we downplay the impact our feelings and health have on our overall balance?

Dr. Perry also writes “Stress is what occurs when a demand or challenge takes us out of balance – away from our regulated ‘set points’. When we get out of balance, we become dysregulated and feel discomfort or distress. When we get back into balance, we feel better.”

How does that make you feel to read that? It made me pause. This definition of stress means we are taken out of balance multiple times a day. Not only that, but the most important thing is that getting back to balance helps us to feel better. Speaking from my own experience, relieving the stress does subconsciously feel better, but I do not take the time to acknowledge this relief. Usually, crossing off one stress means moving onto the next, which throws me back out of balance again. It’s no wonder the days can feel so chaotic, constantly shifting from balance to imbalance, distress to comfort.  This new perspective has given me more to think about and explore (and I’ll probably be writing more about it again in upcoming posts).

Speaking of exploring, I hope you will register for the Awakened Mother Series, launching tomorrow, June 21st. I have joined Isabelle Bridges for this practical interview series and am so pleased to be among this fantastic group of empowerment-experts including authors, coaches, postpartum specialists, trainers, and more!
 
If you’re ready to wake up to your life; if you’re ready to overcome the overwhelm and start living your dreams, this interview series is a must! Click on this free pass to participate in "The Awakened Mother."
 
Until next time, be aware of when you are in and out of balance. Acknowledge the impact it has on you. Identify the ways in which you can shift from distress and discomfort into balance and relief.

Heart-FULLy yours, 
Kacey

Don’t miss a post – sign up to receive the blog in your inbox every week.  Scroll to the top of the page and you’ll see a box to enter your email in the upper right side of the page.

Image by Emphyrio from Pixabay 

It appears things are getting back to normal – there are fewer masks at the local stores, restaurants are full and sporting events appear to be at capacity. The cost of flights is climbing, there are shortages with rental cars and pictures of summer vacations are starting to flood social media.

We deserve this, it has been a long haul.

It is a relief to move around freely and feel like we are putting this behind us.

But it is never quite that easy, is it?

We are only one positive test away from having all our perfect plans crumble.

My daughter was teasing my soon to be eighth grade son about going to high school in another year. He looked at her and said “who knows if I’ll even GO to high school”.

The seeds of doubt have been planted; nothing is ever truly guaranteed.

But as they say, “The show must go on!”

We must keep moving forward and transition to this next phase.                           
                                                         
Offices are starting to open back up again. Some people I’ve talked to are relieved to be back around their coworkers and feel the energy of an office. Others I talk to are figuring out how to rework their schedule to accommodate a commute, childcare and juggling responsibilities from outside the house.
​
It feels like we are going “back to normal” but it is different, we are different.

We have the opportunity to make a change.

We can take what we’ve learned over the last year and apply it to our daily lives, so we don’t slip back into old habits that weren’t working.

This week, I will be on the Brave Women at Work podcast, where we discuss the impacts the pandemic has had on working women and on the responsibility companies now face. Host Jen Pestikas and I are kindred spirits with a passion for empowering women. I loved this conversation and I think you will too.

Then, next week, I will be a featured speaker in the Awakened Mother Series, launching June 21st. First a little background: Some of the things I have found really support me during this time are self- awareness, self-love and self-acceptance. So, when one of my dear friends and colleagues, Isabelle Bridges, asked me to be in her Awakened Mother Series, I was an immediate yes! What I LOVE about this one is it's focused on supporting moms in loving THEMSELVES and in waking up to how much they matter. Sooo powerful!
 
Isabelle has brought together wonderful speakers to share their expertise, including my interview “How to Move from Work Life Balance to Work Life Flow.” This is just the support we need in this moment! And best of all, it is free! Just click on this free pass to participate in "The Awakened Mother."
 
This is how The Awakened Mother Series works:

• You sign up for FREE at the link below and you’ll receive a welcome video from Isabelle.
• You’ll receive recordings as they become available.
• Join the Facebook group for the mother's empowerment circle to catch the buzz.
• Immediately, you’ll start to notice how much more aligned and empowered you feel with these new, tangible tools at your fingertips. And you’ll feel the support of the mother's empowerment sisterhood to hold you high.

 
I am honored to have had the opportunity to talk with these two women. For me, this too feels like getting back to “normal”. The conversations are similar, I’m still talking about work life balance, flow and integration, but the context is different. I am different. To be honest, I still feel like I am figuring all this out on a daily basis.

If there is one thing we’ve learned – there is no normal. Life is a state of constant change. We can only do our best to adjust, grow and flow with what we are given. The best way to survive is to surround yourself with support, whether it be people, podcasts, books, or virtual communities, to affirm you are not alone and give you the tools you need to thrive. 

Heart-FULLy yours, 
Kacey

Don’t miss a post – sign up to receive the blog in your inbox every week.  Scroll to the top of the page and you’ll see a box to enter your email in the upper right side of the page.

Photo by Håkon Grimstad on Unsplash