How to Be Inspired to Live a Balanced Life

Posted on Balanced Mind and Soul | July 30, 2010 | 13 Comments

This post was written by Anastasiya. Follow me on Twitter or StumbleUpon and keep your life balanced!

Balanced living starts with a desire. A desire to live fully, a desire to fit everything into your schedule without feeling overwhelmed, a desire to enjoy your life without being selfish or forgetting about your loved one or a desire to be healthy without turning into a health-freak. What is a desire that has started your journey towards balance?

No matter how strong that desire for balance is sometimes all of us feel that we have lost the inspiration. Even though we have a desire we cannot find any practical ways to turn that desire into reality. No matter what we do we can’t find that inner balance that almost seems illusive and unreal. Have you been there? I have, and I want to share with you my way to get inspired for balanced living.

I find inspiration in people around me. Yes, it is that simple. There is no need to re-invent the wheel because there are always people around us who have managed to find balance in a particular area of their lives or who have already found the best solution for the predicament you are facing right now.

I do not know about you, but I often read about being mindful and finding miracles around me. It can be a new flower that has just started blooming in your yard, the mysterious way an ugly caterpillar (I am sorry, I have deep issues with crawling creatures) turns into a butterfly, a rainbow in the sky or any other natural miracle. However, I do not often hear about the miracle of people. Some people live such amazing lives that being around them is already a blessing and learning from them can be the biggest inspiration to live a balanced life. Balance it more »

Achieve Anything in Just One Year

Posted on Book Reviews/Interviews | July 21, 2010 | 6 Comments

This post was written by Anastasiya. Follow me on Twitter or StumbleUpon and keep your life balanced!

Do you have goals in life? Most people have a certain idea of what they want to achieve in life. It can be anything from starting a successful business to building a strong marriage or strong friendships. While we all have different goals a lot of times we have to take similar steps to reach those goals. The path of self improvement is what unites businessmen, housewives, teenagers and grandparents.

The process of growing as a person is fascinating and it does not matter how old you are to start this journey. I have started my journey when I was 22 and the changes that have happened in my life are tremendous! I think that the path of self improvement, spirituality and faith is what drives me through life and helps me be a better person.

OK, that was a long rant about the importance of self improvement (I am pretty sure that you agree with me if you like reading blogs ) Now, would you believe me if I said that there is a single resource that can help you achieve anything in life? This is a very strong claim! Actually when I got an email from Jason Harvey(do not forget to check out his blog) asking me if I was interested in reviewing his book Achieve Anything in Just One Year I was a little skeptical about it. I guess I agreed to look at the book more from curiosity rather than a belief that it could really do that much. Boy, was I wrong!

Even if you do not like book reviews, stick around and read Jason’s interview because he has really great tips to share with all of us. In the meantime I want to say a few words about the book. It is a really great one! The book is divided into 365 chapters (each chapter is page-long and it contains a motivational quote and a lesson). You can go day after day or you can open the book whenever you want to and read a few pages that will help you focus on important areas in your life.

I must say that I haven’t gone through 365 days yet (I am about 30 days into the book) and I am learning a lot. Jason’s approach is very balanced. You do not have to spend much time reading and you do not have to follow a particular plan. You just flow with it and incorporate his tips into your life naturally.

Who is this book good for? Balance it more »

Big Lifestyle Clean-Up: 5 Things You Absolutely Can Live Without

Posted on Balanced Lifestyle | July 17, 2010 | 8 Comments

This post was written by Anastasiya. Follow me on Twitter or StumbleUpon and keep your life balanced!

If you are striving for simplicity in life then you probably know everything there is to know about decluttering your work space, your house, your garage, your closet etc. However, one area that needs even more uncluttering efforts is your lifestyle.

All our possessions are just a reflection of our inner self. If you are simple and organized inside then you will not have any problems keeping your desk clutter-free or surviving with just half of your wardrobe. On the other hand, if your thoughts are a mess and your habits are as far from being healthy as a cow is from flying then your house will reflect the exact thing that is going on inside of you.

Cleaning up your lifestyle is an essential part of bringing your life in balance. Get rid of everything you do not need, add something that you are missing and here you go: a perfectly balanced life right in front of you!

1. Clean up your language. Every day we speak, communicate, sometimes yell, cry, whisper, joke, write, read and of course we use language for all these activities. Conversation is a huge part of our lives and while one conversation can cheer you up another one can totally bring you down.
   Our tongue has tremendous power to influence the way we feel, act and live. Pay attention to how you speak. Do you cuss often? Do you often say things you do not really mean? Do you hurt people with your words? Do you hurt yourself with your words?
   Simplify your language by saying only things that you mean and things that matter.
   It is amazing how much more balance you can bring into your life by watching your language: Balance it more »

Finding Your Life Balance with Yoga

Posted on Balanced Body, Book Reviews/Interviews | July 13, 2010 | 16 Comments

This post was written by Anastasiya. Follow me on Twitter or StumbleUpon and keep your life balanced!

If you’ve been following my blog for a while you probably know that I am passionate about healthy living and exercise. I am even more passionate about telling people around me how beneficial healthy lifestyle is and how easy it is to follow it.

One of the ways to bring balance into my lifestyle is Yoga. I’ve been practicing it for a few years now (though I am not a real Yogini) together with Pilates and running. This combination of activities has proved to be the most beneficial for my body because it connects mind and body and lets me find inner serenity while giving me the body that I love. I am a certified fitness and Pilates instructor but Yoga has always been just my hobby.

Recently I have found a new way of doing Yoga. I have started using Prasara Yoga Primer – an online course with 5 Yoga flows (each flow has 3 levels of difficulty and plenty of videos demonstrating transitions and movements.) At first I didn’t know what to expect from these flows, but now I absolutely love them!

Here are 5 things that I love about Prasara Yoga Primer:

1. It is not static. I love movement and Prasara Yoga gives me just that. Each asana flows gracefully into the next one creating a continuous flow that stretches and strengthens your body.
2. It is suitable for any level. The Advanced level is still beyond the horizon for me but I am comfortable with my Beginner level flows right now. If you decide to try Prasara Yoga I would recommend that you look through the manual and learn all the asanas (poses) before trying transitions. The first time I tried transitions I felt like a cow on the skating rink because flows require good coordination (that you will develop if you keep practicing Prasara Yoga).

Balance it more »

The Best Websites for Balanced Living (add yours!)

Posted on Balanced Lifestyle | July 7, 2010 | 33 Comments

This post was written by Anastasiya. Follow me on Twitter or StumbleUpon and keep your life balanced!

Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.
Albert Einstein

When you are moving through your life you often need more than one resource to keep you in balance. Actually most of the time you will have to change your resources (or tools) because your life keeps changing all the time.

I want to share with you my favorite websites (mostly blogs) that help me find balance and inspiration in life. I must admit that I came up with the idea of this post while I was cleaning my RSS subscriptions (a task that I try to tackle every month. There are so many interesting blogs to read and so little time to do that!)

If you know any websites that help you find your balance, please mention them in the comments below (don’t be shy, you can mention your own website too ) and give some reasons why those websites are so great.

I hope that you will enjoy my picks and find some new favorites among them:

Note: These websites are not in a particular order. Number 1 is equally important in my opinion as number 14 or 5.

1. Simple Marriage. I have just recently discovered this blog and I fell in love with it immediately. I think that it is a must-read resource for anyone who is in a serious relationship or is married. Corey Allan writes in a very down-to-earth manner about all building blocks of a strong marriage (and family). Any couple can benefit from Corey’s tips and I am sure that a lot of people can save their marriage by following his advice or going through the marriage counseling courses that Corey also offers on his website. Corey does not only put his life experience into his work, he is also a Marriage and Family Therapist with a Ph.D. in Family Therapy, so he knows what he is talking about. Don’t forget to subscribe for Corey’s FREE marriage courses. There is something for every couple!

Balance it more »