10 Best Exercises to Relieve Stubborn Low Back Pain

Posted on Balanced Body, Video | April 5, 2012 | 17 Comments

By Anastasiya Goers

Did you ever get up in the morning with stiffness or pain in your low back? Or maybe you woke up and found out that you can’t straighten up because of the acute pain in your back?

What does low back pain have to do with life balance? If you have ever experienced this type of pain then you know that there are very few things that will make you feel good or balanced when you are suffering from pain.

Last year I had a horrible experience (you can read about it here.) One morning I woke up with piercing pain in my lower back area that was so excruciating that it was difficult to stand up. I couldn’t straighten up and I couldn’t bend down. I was stuck in one position and I thought that something was terribly wrong with me. And to make matters only worse, I was only 26 so I didn’t think that I was in the “back-pain” age yet.

Thankfully I was able to get through this bout of pain by moving and doing gentle exercise. However, I never want to experience that feeling again.
A lot of you might know already that I am also a Pilates instructor. One of the main reasons why people turn to Pilates is because they are suffering from some sort of back pain. Lately I was spending a lot of time at the studio while still thinking about our community here on BalanceInMe.

“Why not create a simple workout for low back pain relief for the wonderful balance-seekers on BalanceInMe?” I thought to myself. Balance it more »

An Essentail Guide to Dealing with Anxiety in 8 Steps

Posted on Real People, Real Balance | March 30, 2012 | 13 Comments

By guest author Sandra Weismann

Note: This post is part of the new series on BalanceInMe called Real People, Real Balance. If you would like to share your story of finding life balance while dealing everyday struggles and challenges please contact Anastasiya. Each one of us has a story to share and Your experience will help another member of our community reclaim their balance. BalanceInMe is all about supporting our community on the journey towards balanced and happy living. Let’s embark on this journey together!

Anxiety affects many of us; nearly everybody experiences it at some level. While some people experience it mildly others suffer from it significantly.
High levels of anxiety can be quite an overwhelming and fearful thing to go through. After experiencing both low and high levels of anxiety and developing some practical tools that have helped me manage it I wanted to share these with other sufferers.

I was 35 years old when I realized that my anxiety levels had finally out-run me. The last straw which made me finally see more clearly what was going on in my life was a full blown panic attack. It was then that I finally realized I was going to need to make some changes and find some tools to help me live with and manage my anxiety. Balance it more »

Sleep, Motherhood and One Step Which Can Transform It All

Posted on Balanced Mind and Soul, Balanced Parenting | March 27, 2012 | 6 Comments

By contributor Samantha Nolan-Smith

Three months ago I was blessed with the arrival of a beautiful, healthy baby girl.  She is my first child and the learning curve for a new parent is steep.

The world is filled with advice on how to get your baby into a routine, how to settle her, when and what to feed her, and how to wrap her properly in order to get her to sleep.

Over the years I’ve seen mothers drive themselves crazy trying to absorb and adopt the overwhelming amount of advice coming from midwives, doctors, grandparents, parenting websites, friends and other mothers.

As a new mum myself, trusting my instincts and watching and learning from my child have been the guiding principles which have served me best. 

Equally important has been my willingness to drop my stories.

What do I mean by dropping my stories?

I mean that throughout my life I’ve amassed innumerable ideas, notions and beliefs about what is right and wrong, good and bad, healthy and harmful.

Through this collation process we call ‘life’, I stumbled across an idea which I came to view to as patently true.  The idea was this; that people need approximately 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night in order to function well during the day.

During my pregnancy, I was encouraged by almost everyone I came across to add another ‘truth’ to this; parenthood = tiredness. Balance it more »

The Idea Factory: Book Review and Giveaway

Posted on Book Reviews/Interviews | March 23, 2012 | 5 Comments

By Anastasiya Goers

Important Note: This giveaway is over. Please subscribe to the newsletter to make sure that you don’t miss the next one.

One of the biggest propellers of any thriving economy is innovation. If you look back at the history than any blooming economical epoch is associated with inventions, revolutions of some sorts and change.

Today most innovations seem to live in Silicon Valley. Best professionals in all technological fields work over there to bring us the coolest smartphones, best search results on the web and fastest computers. A friend of mine from Ukraine has moved to Silicon Valley just a few months ago when he was invited to work for one of the leading companies.

However, long before Silicon Valley, there was another place in the United States that brewed invention beyond imagination. It was located in New Jersey and it was called Bell Laboratories. Bell labs were the great AT&T research institution where the transistor, the laser and the first solar cell were invented.

“How does the story of Bell Labs apply to life balance?” you will ask. Balance it more »

The Down-to-Earth Approach to Life Balance

Posted on Balanced Lifestyle, Balanced Mind and Soul | March 21, 2012 | 18 Comments

By Anastasiya Goers

Do you remember yourself as a child? What was your favorite thing to do in spring and summer?

I loved playing outside and especially playing with dirt: making “yummy” mud pies, fixing weed soups and going on a fearless adventure through the jungle (which were just a couple of bushes in my Grandma’s yard.)

Today I look at my girls (who just turned 4) and see how they enjoy playing outside and doing the same things that I did as a kid. These are timeless joys that require no money or expensive vacations.

As adults we often forget about simple life joys that bring the most balance into our lives. A brand new car or a new dress won’t make you feel more balanced. But creating something, enjoying time with the family and spending time outside marveling at the beauty of creation will.

This year I want to challenge you to try gardening as your special life balance exercise. If you are already an avid gardener – please stick around and share your tips with the rest of us. If you always thought that gardening was not your thing (I am the first one to raise my hand here) then let’s try it together. I focus on vegetable gardens since they offer more benefits of all sorts but feel free to grow flowers if you like them better. Balance it more »