BALANCING act
When I say the word balance, do you immediately envision a gymnast on a balance beam, or does it make you question your own balance (in the mental, physical, and emotional aspect) or does it resonate with you? Does it make you feel judged for not necessarily being as balanced as you feel you should be, or do you feel at peace and in harmony with your perception of a balanced lifestyle? Full disclosure here, I’m not necessarily a fan of the word balance however, I use it quite often in the office, and in fact, it’s one of the key words on my website!
So, I thought for this month’s blog I’d do another 3-part series (like the last one on why I’m a chiropractor) only this time we’ll talk about the 3 key words that are on my website:
BALANCE
HEALTH
LIFESTYLE
When it comes to the concept of balance, I feel like there are several ways to think about it. On the grander scheme of things, there’s a balance to our ecosystem and to our world. A sort of yin and yang, an up and a down, and those counterparts are necessary for the function of our society. A little smaller scale and there’s a balance to us physically and emotionally. Our postural muscles have a certain tone and balance to them, and our work/life and play/life have a specific balance to them as well. There’s a little bit of give and take within each of these thoughts on balance – on the large and small scale. Even on the mathematical scale, we learn to balance equations, solve for x, and find statements that equal.
So, when I came across the statement that “balance doesn’t have to mean 50/50”………it made me pause for a bit. My first inclination was, “well how can that be”? I was of the mindset that there needs to be an equal part of give and take for things to be balanced, and that equal means exactly down the middle, perfectly symmetrical.
When I think of the word balance, I immediately go to the concept of work/life balance. Maybe that’s because I’m a female, a working mom, and so I feel that I’m constantly bombarded with the concept of work/life balance. However, when I applied this concept that balance doesn’t have to mean 50/50 to the phrase ‘work/life balance’, my take away was that balance can be 80/20 on some days and 60/40 on others. I can be all or nothing some days. It was a refreshing thought and somewhat of an ah-ha moment!
So, when thinking of this idea that balance doesn’t have to mean 50/50, there’s the underlying notion of a sort of flow to things.
When considering work/life concepts, it’s defining that flow/balance for you, and my flow/balance doesn’t look like yours. Where does that flow/balance come from…..saying yes to some things and saying no to others and confronting the concept of doing it all. Comparison is the thief of joy and can lead one down the slippery slope of working outside of one’s own flow causing feelings of being unbalanced. But that’s all because you were trying to balance my equation.
What happens when you multitask thinking you’re working within the realms of balance? This looks a little bit like answering emails, while helping the kids with homework. Balance doesn’t necessarily mean doing multiple things at the same time. The idea that I (mentally) can be in 2 places at once (not Harry Potter style), but to actually be doing 2 tasks at once doesn’t sound productive. How efficient is that? Is it best to focus on each individual task for a specific amount of time and then shift gears? Allowing us to give things the attention they deserve? Is it better to flow from one task to the other finding harmony and balance within that flow?
There’s no right or wrong here. What does your work/life flow look like?
What does it look like if our work/life flow is out of whack?
What do I mean when I say balance within the nervous system? There is an innate balance to the sympathetic and parasympathetic parts of the nervous system. Sometimes we’re running from a bear and sometimes we are in complete rest and healing. Our sympathetic nervous system helps us to handle the stressors in our lives while the parasympathetic nervous system helps us to heal and rest. There is a flow from sympathetic tone to parasympathetic tone thus creating that innate balance
The nervous system can have a hard time multitasking. Your body can’t grow and heal and digest if you’re racing to a deadline or stressed out about life. Sometimes, you might not even feel stressed, but your body is stuck in sympathetic mode, releasing cortisol, keeping that stress response firing, thus creating and continuing the unbalanced tone to the nervous system.
What does it look like if our nervous system flow is out of whack? Nervous system irritation or vertebral subluxations can be caused by thoughts, traumas, and toxins. When we have stinkin’ thinkin’, physical traumas, or bombard our body with chemicals, the nervous system can be disrupted, and the innate balance in our neurophysiology can be disrupted as well. When the body is unable to adapt to those stressors of thoughts, traumas, and toxins, we get stuck and can no longer find that balance.
Chiropractic care helps the nervous system get unstuck to find a better flow and ability to adapt to the stressors of life and find balance. This is why sometimes people report better sleep, getting sick fewer times, and better cognition while being under care. When the body has the time and the ability to heal, it will. Think about when you get a paper cut. The body heals it innately, on its own, in its own perfect way, when given the correct circumstances to heal. Our ability to adapt to our stressors, to find homeostasis and balance once again is an important part to our overall health and wellness.
Although I mentioned earlier that balance isn’t my favorite word, it has a space on my website, and it will remain. It will remind me to make sure I’m balancing my own equation. It will remind me to be graceful with myself and know that balance doesn’t always have to mean 50/50. It will remind me to make sure that I’m taking care of my nervous system and my innate balance by getting adjusted regularly.
What does balance mean to you?
~Dr. Shannon