Be Fit Physical Therapy & Pilates Ltd.

It’s all too easy to get caught up in one good part of life and lose focus on the other parts. It’s important to have balance in your life and spend enough time with each different aspect. You will be a lot less stressed, a lot more at peace, and much more happy if you live a balanced life.

The different things you do in your life fall into different categories. For example, exercising falls into physical while attending a church service falls into spiritual. The four categories of health are Physical, Mental, Emotional, and Spiritual. To be truly healthy, you must be paying enough time and attention to each of these categories in your life.

To break these areas down further and into more realistic ways of how we spend our time, we can use the Life Balance Wheel. This wheel is a variation of eight categories: Mental, Social, Spiritual, Physical, Family, Professional, Financial, and Community. You should spend adequate amounts of time in your life in each of these categories in order to be truly balanced.

• Evaluate. Get a weekly schedule and fill out exactly how you are spending your time for the whole week, hour by hour. Then, at the end of the week, categorize each of your activities and your time into one of the six categories. Add up the hours for each category and see how they stack up. Not every section requires the same amount of time, but make sure that you are spending at least some time in each. Sometimes it’s surprising to see how you’ve been spending (or wasting) your time, so it’s helpful to do this every few months or so.
• Meditate. Set aside part of each day (even if it is only a few minutes) to have some quiet time to think and meditate. Think about how you are spending your time. Take notes on what is going well in your life, and also take notes on what categories you haven’t been spending enough time in.
• Learn to say no. You aren’t magic—you won’t be able to take advantage of every opportunity and say yes to every request. Learn to say no, and realize that you don’t need to do everything—you just need to do your best.

By: Emily McBride http://health.tips.net/T007281_Finding_Balance_in_Life.html 

Take a jog. While just the act of being outside can boost your vitality, using that time to exercise can also do wonders to improve your health and boost your mood. Exercise creates the release of natural mood-enhancing chemicals and reduces your risk of many chronic diseases. But if you run outdoors this winter, be sure to heed these cold-weather running rules from the experts at Runner’s World magazine:

Stay dry. You risk hypothermia when your body loses more heat than it can produce, and moisture, including your own sweat, can increase that risk. To keep dry, opt for wicking clothing that pulls moisture from your body (just avoid anything advertised as MicroBan or antimicrobial—they contain harmful chemicals), and wear a waterproof and windproof jacket that you can take off if you become warm but slip back on when you slow down and cool down. If it’s below freezing, make sure you wear a hat, gloves, and a mask to protect your skin.

Don’t blow it. Avoid blowing on your hands to create warmth; the moisture will actually make you colder.

Figure in the chill factor. If the temperature reads 30 but there’s a 10-mph wind, it’s going to feel like 20 degrees. Run into the wind at the beginning of an out-and-back run so the tailwind will warm you on your return. Or, carry an extra layer to pile on when you head back.

Be well lit. Winter days are short, so make sure you’re visible if you’re running in the dark, using reflective gear or lights.

Befriend birds. Many people reserve bird-watching for the spring and summer months because family favorites like bluebirds and robins are in abundance. But winter is a great time to step outside with a pair of binoculars and scan the bare trees for life. On the East Coast, you’re likely to see bright red Northern cardinal, tufted titmouse, black-capped chickadee, and white-breasted nuthatch species. On the West Coast, you might spot Western Scrub-Jay, California Towhee, or Anna’s hummingbird species. Because many trees are bare in the winter, you can also look for last summer’s bird nests—many birds are creative in what they use to make them! If you put up a bird feeder, make sure it’s either within three feet of your window or 30 feet away, to lower the chance of window collisions. Buy reflective bird decals for the outside of your windows, and place them a hands-width apart to really reduce the chances of collisions. See our Backyard Birding Tips story for more.

Break out the pruners. Winter can be a real bummer for gardeners who miss getting their hands dirty. But not all outdoor plant projects should be put on hold during the cold. In fact, winter is the best time to prune deciduous trees and shrubs because their sap retreats as they go into a dormant state. For top-notch pruning advice, visit our pruning tips story.

Start a fight. A friendly snowball fight, that is. A playful 19-minute battle will help you burn 100 calories while enjoying the elements of the great outdoors. (Just make sure you don’t pack the snow so tightly that it forms into potentially painful ice balls.) If packing snowballs isn’t your thing, opt to build a snowman. You’ll burn a cool 100 calories during a 22-minute building session, and improve your mood in the process. And what the heck—make a snow angel while you’re at it!

Watch the sun set. This time of year, it’s not too often we take the time to go outside without a scheduled task to complete. But this winter, take some time to go out and just absorb the sounds and sights of nature, whether it’s in your backyard or at a local park. Watch the sun set. Listen to the birds. Collect pine-cones. Breathe.

Leah Zerbe, Rodale.com
Tue, Jan 18, 2011

You have 10 minutes  Warm up with one to two minutes of brisk walking, then alternate two minutes running with 30 seconds walking. If you feel good, gradually increase the speed of your run segments. Repeat three times. Jog easy for one minute to cool down. If you’re stuck in the house, walk briskly from room to room and up and down stairs. Every minute, jog in place for 20 steps.

You have 15 minutes  Walk gently up and down a flight of stairs two or three times to warm up. Then run up one flight and walk back down. Repeat four times, take a one-minute walk break on a flat surface, then continue the sequence as time allows. If you’re in a stairwell, run up two flights of stairs, walk down, repeat, and then take a walk break.

You have 20 minutes  On an out-and-back route, walk for one minute, then alternate 30 seconds walking with 30 seconds running for three minutes. For the next six minutes, run/walk using any ratio you wish. At the 10-minute mark, turn around. For the next nine minutes, run/walk whatever ratio you’d like, but pick up the pace during the run portion. Cool down for one minute.

You have 30 minutes  Walk for two minutes, then alternate 30 seconds walking with 30 seconds running for six minutes. For the next 20 minutes, alternate jogging for one minute, running a faster pace for one minute, jogging one minute, walking one minute. Repeat the sequence five times. Walk or jog two minutes to cool down.

*Jump rope as fast as you can: 68 calories* *Do walking lunges down the hallway: 45 calories* *Run around the block: 62 calories* *Shovel snow: 34 calories* *Switch on the Wii for some Zumba® action: 45 calories* *Pick up the pace while grabbing a few things at the grocery store: 22 calories* *Vacuum the biggest room in your house: 20 calories* *Rock out to your favorite song while waiting for the pasta water to boil: 26 calories* *Challenge your guy or kids to a snowball fight: 34 calories* *Power through a few sets of jumping jacks: 45 calories* *Walk up and down the stairs: 36 calories* *Speed clean your kitchen: 23 calories* *Jog in place while waiting for your nails to dry: 45 calories* *Go for a quick sled run down the nearest hill: 40 calories* *Bounce on a stability ball during the commercials: 58 calories* *Sample one of the free workouts on the New Pilates app you downloaded from iTunes: 20 calories* *Take on any challengers for a game of Ping-Pong: 23 calories* *Do as many push-ups as you can: 45 calories*

Health Magazine, December 2011