What is Balance, Really?

Milissa Harding is a Certified Holistic Health Coach. She works with busy moms who require support to prioritize their self-care through improving nutrition, reducing stress, increasing energy and managing sugar cravings. Milissa coaches women individually to help them achieve their health goals. She is also a member of Entrepreneurial Moms of Toronto and she will be our monthly guest blogger on the topic of healthy living for busy moms. 

When you think of “balance”, what generally comes to mind? If you’re like most people, balance conjures thoughts of giving equal attention to every aspect of your life, like the pieces of a pie. This way of thinking leads people (especially busy moms!) to feel quite pressured, as they struggle to give everything a “little bit” of their time. It can be difficult to feel successful when we’re being pulled in so many different directions at once.

As a Health Coach, I teach my clients to view the concept of balance differently. I ask my clients to think about their level of satisfaction in various areas of their lives. When they think about this, they quickly realize that their idea of balance is different than another person’s, and that this is completely okay. What satisfies us as busy moms will look different than what satisfies another person, and we must look inside ourselves to discover a personal balance.

Of course, it’s important to look closely at different aspects of our entire lives and be honest about which of these areas need (and deserve) more of our attention. It’s not necessary to give
equal attention to everything in order to feel balanced. Sometimes, different areas of our lives intertwine (ex-quality time with our children, recreation and creativity), so then it becomes easier to address more than one area at the same time.

So, what’s the first step in identifying which areas you need to focus more on as a mom? I would suggest asking yourself some great questions, such as:

-What do I often struggle with?
-How would I like to feel?
-What might an ideal day in my life look like?

Taking the time to reflect on these questions would be a great place to begin assessing your satisfaction with your life, and begin to identify some areas that immediately stand out as needing more attention.

Our lives as moms aren’t supposed to be perfect, but we do deserve to feel a sense of purpose, meaning and energy in our lives, so giving ourselves the gift of time to reflect on our personal level of satisfaction and balance will reap great results.

If you would like to go a little deeper with this topic and take yourself through a more detailed process to help you experience a more joyful, balanced life as a mom, I would love for you to request my FREE E-book: Feeding the Busy Mom: Nourishing Yourself from the Inside Out. Visit my website at: www.healthystartcoaching.ca for more information.

Milissa Harding is a Member of the Entrepreneurial Moms of Toronto. From time to time Milissa will be running special programs to help you reach your health goals. Please check out her website www.healthystartcoaching.ca for the upcoming Group Coaching Program beginning in March of 2012 which consists of  sugar and coffee cravings, exercise, eating for energy and easy meal planning strategies to name a few. Contact Milissa to schedule your FREE Nutrition Breakthrough Session.