This week and weekend I experienced the feeling of flow so many times that I felt as if I needed to pinch myself. But when you experience flow.. you go with it. C’mon we learned that when we were like ten.  While I was teaching on Monday, a few of my students seemed to be showing tremendous progress from where they started. I felt excited for them and so proud. Hearing and watching someone transform their language, communication skills and confidence is incredibly rewarding. Not only did I feel fulfilled in my teaching job but I had an awesome week with my coaching business as well. I started a new fitness challenge and have another engaged and fun group of women who are making positive, sustainable changes to their health and nutrition. Guiding people through the process of change and believing in the power of their body and especially their mind is so satisfying. I also experimented with going live and sharing some of my thoughts to inspire those who follow along with my journey. It is incredible what a difference it can make for people to hear your voice and feel connected. I am excited to have yet another medium in which I can express myself and impact the lives of others.

Balance is a continual struggle for me and I think it is the true elusive desire of most people. This week the weather has been getting very warm in Australia, which is the complete opposite of the other side of the world. Not only does this make the balancing act of work an play more difficult but this serves as my humbling reminder that we are not all there is. There is  a whole other hemispheres, planets, galaxies and who knows what out there and we are just a mere blip in the radar. But in our day to day life we often get trapped into narrow minded thinking. We get sucked into feeling like our problems are certainly the end of the world and our successes are something that must be celebrated by everyone who knows us.

But here is the thing, although we think we matter a lot, in the scheme of things we matter very little. Some people use this as an excuse to live on a small scale. I view it as the opposite. I use this fact to propel me forward into my future with as much passion, action, adventure and chutzpah as humanly possible. In the end, the only one who knows if you lived the life you are capable of is you.

 You answer to yourself.Personally, I am a very harsh critic. I will be massively successful in all areas of my life.  I refuse not to be. Being mediocre is the most terrifying fate in my book. Sometimes I let this drive me to be a workaholic but thank god I have learned to channel both my workaholic and my free spirit simultaneously. It’s not easy to do this. I continue to struggle with balancing work and play.

But I try to break my life into 1 hour increments. What can I do for the next hour that will be the most beneficial for me? Now, beneficial sometimes means for my business, my mental health, my relationship, my blog, my sanity, my teaching job. If I don’t have an hour-I break it down into half hour segments. It is amazing what you can do when you utilize the time in your day the way YOU want to.

My weekend was the perfect example. I have experienced some of the best Sydney has to offer. Fluro Friday, Yoga on Bondi Beach, a date night out at the Noodle Market, a sailing trip in Sydney Harbor, a hiking excursion in the Blue Mountains & Katoomba Falls and a very windy trip to Balmoral Beach. In between all of this I managed to complete a few hours each day for my coaching business. Sometimes it is very easy to believe we don’t have enough time, but realistically we don’t do enough with our time.

On the train ride out to the Blue Mountains my friend Hannah asked me, “What is your intention for the day? Ya, know like how we do in yoga..” This quote is much funnier in her adorable British accent. I said, “To be present, to totally absorb the experience and not feel guilty about enjoying myself. “ When you run your own business it is easy to feel like you always have to be working, available, checking in on people but the truth is when we take time to LIVE our work benefits much more than it suffers.

My experiences this weekend have been priceless. I have drank in the sweet sunshine and took Sydney for everything it’s worth. Did I have some treat foods? For sure. Wine? Yup. Chocolate? Yes. Am I participating in a fitness challenge? Why yes.. I am but the beauty of living a healthy lifestyle is the liberty to splurge when you feel like it. Not every time you feel like it. But learning how to have the power to say today, I’m eating what I want and I’m not feeling guilty about it, that is a wonderful feeling. The beauty of having a remote job you can work from anywhere is taking that iPhone and getting your booty to the beach, taking up your friend when they offer you a free sailing trip and answering messages on the train on your way to your hiking adventure.

The beauty of balance is the control that you learn. Sure, I can’t go sailing every Friday. I can’t take all of Friday to do what I want. But I am learning to make sacrifices while reminding myself to live.

There is a rhythm and a flow that is built into our universe and when we do things we are meant to do, we sink up in that flow. The feeling of flow is what I experience every time I write, do yoga or have meaningful conversations with people I care about or even strangers I vibe with. When is the last time you have felt the feeling of flow? Have you ever?

I can best describe it as an overwhelming sense of calm where you don’t question what you are doing or why you are doing. You know that you are exactly where you are meant to be doing exactly what you are supposed to be doing. I’m addicted to tapping into that flow and the way I achieve a balanced life is to feel as if I’m flowing more than I’m being pushed, pulled or dragged. I definitely don’t always feel the flow but when it’s missing I tap into my brain and figure out what is missing. Usually it’s the amount of self expression I have participated in lately. For me expressing myself in words, blogs, face to face conversations, live videos, poetry, or anything else I have up my sleeve is the most direct route to flow.

 

If you haven’t stopped and asked yourself these questions in a while (or maybe ever) please do it now. When do you feel the most like yourself? How often do you do that activity? Does your work incorporate what makes you feel flow? When is the last time you went for an adventure? What is the most beneficial thing you can do with the next hour of your time? Are you living a life that suits you ? Are you experiencing flow more than you are experiencing hardships and pain?  Please, sit down and ask yourself this. It may be an eyeopener.

Many people don’t take the time to figure out what they actually want, that’s why they never get it.

Balance is your ever elusive friend who you hang out with a lot and then BAM! They disappear.  Similar to being fit of finding happiness- you can’t conquer or accomplish balance as a one time destination. It is a continual process. Search for the things that bring you into a state of flow and start trusting your gut more. Unless of course your gut tells you to eat pizza four nights a week, then you put that gluttonous son of a bitch in time out. Find your flow and keep the momentum going. Don’t be scared to have some fun. Life is for living and you better be here to live it up.  Just go with the flow…the flow knows where to go.

 

 

***Photo credit to @picsbydb (his photos are watermarked) All other photos belong to me! 🙂