Hello,
My name is Ivana.
Welcome to this brief audio on how to cultivate inner balance in challenging times.
If you're anything like me and many other people I know,
You've been puzzled by the concept of balance.
For many years,
I tried to add and subtract things from my life to attain true inner balance,
With little to no results.
I felt frustrated and even defeated by this concept.
I complained and blamed my external circumstances for my lack of balance,
Until one day I realized I was too focused on attempting to control things that were never within my area of influence.
My intention with this audio is to offer you a different perspective and meaning on the concept of balance.
What if I told you that inner balance is an experience you're capable of creating inside yourself?
Hmm,
I know what you're thinking.
That sounds pretty promising Ivana.
Don't get me wrong,
It might be true that you are indeed experiencing challenging and difficult times.
But it's also true that you already have resources available within you to achieve and restore your inner balance.
Let's briefly walk you through some strategies to use those resources and cultivate your inner balance.
Ready?
Here we go.
The number one barrier that gets in the way of your inner balance is your mind.
I bet you have wanted to manage your thoughts and attention more gracefully and resourcefully at times.
Our attention is easily pulled in many different directions on a daily basis.
If you're not aware of where your attention is resting and what kind of thoughts you are giving power to,
You could potentially be heading towards feelings of stress,
Anxiety and overwhelm.
That's why a good inner balance practice is to take charge of your attention and observe the content of your thoughts.
Every time you notice your mind has traveled into the future or back to the past,
Gently bring your attention to the present moment by connecting to your breath or simply bring your attention back to your senses.
When you notice your mind has wandered and you're sensing uncomfortable feelings creeping in,
You can redirect your mind by slowing down and taking five long deep breaths through your nose,
Allowing you to experience the feeling of breathing through your body.
Take a moment to notice how it feels to breathe fully and calmly.
You can also anchor your attention in the present moment by observing,
Smelling,
Feeling or even tasting things around you.
These actions will help you interrupt the pattern of rumination and can help you regulate yourself during moments of distress.
Now the second barrier to inner balance is your emotions.
We frequently think of emotions as things we need to fix or even get rid of.
This kind of thinking usually generates more damage in an already difficult situation because in my experience,
When it comes to emotions,
What you resist persists.
And when it comes to emotional agility,
The only way out is through.
Coping through avoidance,
Escape,
Denial and by pushing away your feelings can be mentally draining.
It's not hard to understand why we want to cope this way.
The human experience can be scary at times,
But not giving yourself permission to experience the full spectrum of your emotions can easily throw you out of balance.
If you accept and welcome gratifying feelings and emotions,
But push away the difficult and uncomfortable ones,
You are telling yourself that your relationship with yourself is conditional.
And that usually leads to inner conflict.
A good way to start processing your emotions more effectively is by naming them to tame them.
Research shows that if you allow yourself enough room to experience your emotions and label them without judgment,
You automatically become more aware of your inner experience.
And by becoming aware of your inner world,
You allow yourself the wisdom to devise a proper strategy to face,
Process and overcome your difficult emotions.
Remember you are not your emotions.
Your emotions are not your identity.
You are just the person experiencing emotions like any other human being.
So next time you notice an uncomfortable feeling knocking on your door,
Instead of denying and pretending it's not there,
Simply open the door.
Let the uncomfortable feeling in,
Validate it,
Nurture it and activate the friend within you as you go through your emotional experience.
Now let's talk about one major barrier to preserving our inner balance,
Especially at work.
Drama.
And by drama,
I mean people.
Because people are usually the source of drama in our lives.
According to research,
It turns out that we need people as much as we need food and water.
We put this to the test during the pandemic,
And we realized how important our social connections and relationships are to our well-being,
Happiness and even performance at work.
People and relationships in general are,
Without question,
A source of feeling whole.
But not all people are created equal and make us feel the same.
Some people can be very detrimental to our inner balance.
We become the average of the people we hang out with,
And emotions are contagious.
So you need to become very aware of the people that you invite into your life and develop new and healthy habits to keep people with certain behaviors at bay,
Without the guilt.
Complaining,
Gossiping and catastrophizing are a few of the behaviors that can have a negative effect on us.
If you happen to be around people that are unable to regulate these kinds of behaviors,
Then you need to accept that some things are outside of your control.
And for self-protection purposes,
You need to establish new interpersonal practices to help preserve your energy.
We need people,
But we need to invite the right kind of people into our lives.
Our relationships will define the quality of our lives and our happiness.
That's why it's essential to put intention and effort into creating meaningful relationships with people who support,
Mentor and guide you when you need improvement.
People who will hold your hand and help you accept your feelings even in your darkest moments.
People who will inspire you to step into greatness and celebrate your wins,
Big or small.
Stay close to people who provide a sense of inspiration,
Safety and belonging.
And if you can put this into practice along with the other tools you just have discovered,
You will find yourself cultivating that coveted inner balance,
Even in the most challenging times.
This is Ivana Casado again.
Thank you for listening.
