Find Balance with Ballet Beautiful! Balance is one of the keys to happiness, inner beauty and health!  And in today’s hectic world where demands from work, school and home are literally non-stop, it’s harder than ever to achieve. And once you manage to find balance in your life, how do you keep it?  It’s a constant juggle. I am always thinking about how to achieve better balance because it’s something that I work on daily.  My struggles probably are no different than yours – balancing the pressures of work and family with health when there just don’t seem to be enough hours in the day.  So how do we find better health and happiness through balance?  We set priorities and compromise. The truth is that you just can’t do it all.  You cannot make every meal from scratch, exercise for an hour or more each day, keep the laundry clean and the fridge stocked with fresh fruit and veggies, tend to your family, study, work, have the perfect outfit, makeup, hair and have any time left over to sleep at night.  This isn’t a personal failing, it’s reality!  Something has to give and this is where balance comes in. Let’s start by looking at your health and how diet and fitness can make a positive impact on everything you do.  When you make time for exercise and eating well you generally end up sleeping better and feeling more confident, energized and strong.  This is a key to better productivity – it will also help you create balance in your life!  I talk about this in my upcoming book so more on this topic soon!  Flexibility is key here.  If you are really busy and stressed, don’t beat yourself up if you can’t make it to the gym.  Instead do what you can to exercise for one hour three days/wk from home and squeeze in one or two of my Blasts on days when time is tight.  If you can’t swing a vacation to recharge, pamper yourself with at home treatments and rent a movie or spend a Saturday afternoon watching Downtown Abbey or a favorite show!  Carve out a few minutes at night or in the afternoon to read a great novel or a few lines of poetry over a cup of tea and just give yourself time to pause. Taking a little bit of time each day for you means that ultimately, there is more of you to give.  Indulge in these moments and enjoy.  And don’t forget to make time to connect with the people that you love!  There are so many ways to stay connected these days – even if you can’t get enough time together face to face make a date to skype, trade texts or a call.  Prefer a live workout to a video?  Try my online class.  You’ll be amazed by how easy and fun it is to connect and how much time you save too! Finding balance is all about making time for yourself and for the people that you care about.  Remember to treat yourself with love and make health a priority every day – the rest will fall into place.  Try it and let me know how you feel! Sending love as always!  xoxoMary Helen