🎥 MATT'S BLUE ZONE VLOG
Join Matt as we delve further into the Blue Zone mountains, finding inspiration from nature and insight from stillness.
👁 TODAY'S INTENTION
Today, let's find balance in our lives, identify our imbalances, and take courageous steps toward healthy harmony.
Feeling out of balance can disrupt our peace and health. Recognizing where we need adjustments and making conscious changes can bring us back to our natural state of harmony. This practice will strengthen our physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being, guiding us to a more peaceful and fulfilling life.
Ready to tune into your balance and find harmony today?
🌎 BLUE ZONE INSPIRATION
For health's sake, balance.
Living to 100 doesn’t mean a strict regimen of joyless routines. In the Blue Zones, balance is key to longevity, where people enjoy happy hours, family time, and even the occasional glass of wine. In fact, four out of the five original Blue Zones drink alcohol moderately and regularly, showing that a balanced life includes moments of joy and relaxation.
The Sardinian greeting, a kent'annos, means health and life for 100 years, and doubles as a toast.
💬 QUOTE
“Balance is key. In everything you do.
Dance all night long and practice yoga the next day.
Eat chocolate when your heart wants it and kale salad when your body needs it.
Drink wine but don’t forget your green juice.
Wear high heels on Saturday and walk barefoot on Sunday.
Go shopping at the mall and then sit down and meditate in your bedroom.
Live high and low.
Move and stay still.
Embrace all sides of who you are and live your authentic truth!”
– Rachel Brathen, a yoga teacher (known as Yoga Girl) and author who inspires millions to find balance in their lives through yoga and mindfulness.
🧬 SCIENCE
The whole of human organization has its shape in a kind of rhythm.
Research shows, that to maintain balance, our bodies need to attune to natural rhythms—day and night, work and rest. Disruptions like workaholism, burnout, and insomnia can throw us off balance, leading to adverse health effects.
🧘 HEALTHY HABIT
Today, tend to a place of imbalance.
Everything in life strives for homeostasis. Acknowledge imbalances as part of life and use them to learn and grow. Find moments of silence to tune into your body and mind, making small adjustments as needed.
⚕️ MEDICINAL MOTTO
Life is a balancing act.
Notice how balance brings peace and harmony into your life. Repeat this motto throughout the day, and let it remind you to make mindful choices.
✍🏼 JOURNAL PROMPTS
Bring to mind a time when you were at a very low place in your life.
- How did that time help you find a healthier, more balanced lifestyle?
- What imbalances do you currently notice, and how can you address them?
📣 AFFIRMATION
I am balanced and in harmony with myself.
🙌 KUDOS
Congrats on finding your balance today! Keep nurturing this harmony throughout your day, and remember, it's okay to wobble sometimes. You've got this!
💬 COMMUNITY CONVERSATION
What small steps do you take to maintain balance in your life?
Share your thoughts in the comments and inspire others to find their balance too!
In a moment of my life, I was experiencing some hard changes internally and externally in the world I view myself in. I had trouble with many things, until someone reached out to me and i took a chance on their comments and took action that would enable me to receive help. =)
I have to say that the wonders of antidepressant drugs and therapy is what pulled me out of depression and anxiety at many different points in my life. Right now I am feeling balanced but this is due in part to the fact that I have medicine and weekly therapy.
The man I thought was the one, my soulmate, left me. It really turned my life upside down–depression, suicidaI, stopped eating, etc. Deep down I knew all along he wasn’t the Mr. Right but I didn’t want to lose what we had. With a lot of time and kissing a few toads, I started dating my future husband (he was patiently waiting). The time in between gave me the space and strength to decide what I really wanted out of life and the type of person I needed to share that with.
I learned to trust
I learned to Laugh with passion
It taught me to be fragile. To show that I am not superhuman, that I can’t do everything and to ask for help.
It allowed me to come back stronger and more ready than before!
I was probably the lowest I have ever been about 10 years ago. Life became overwhelming to me, so much so that it got to the point that I felt like I needed to retreat to my mothers. Believe it or not, I am actually grateful for that period of time. Of course it was incredibly tough, but what it showed me was my strength and resilience. That I could work through it. That by slowly starting to believe in myself, I could take those initials steps to build myself back up. That period of time showed me not only how bad things could be, but also the beauty in working through them and making it through to the other side.
The last five years I have lost a good part of my family. My parents, my husbands, Aunts, Uncles, cousins. I helped most of these people over the years and became them, I lost site of who I was other than a caregiver. I am now rebuilding who I am, what I want or do not want. I find it easier to know what it is I do not want. Finding what I want is a challenge. I continue to work on it daily.
I remember spending a week with people who were on a whole other level of healthy focus. So naturally, I joined them. We woke early every day to jog to the gym; we drank nutrient-dense concoctions, a Chinese herbalist even prescribed me roots to ingest after checked my tongue. Soon after, I got very sick. Little did I know it was my body detoxing itself. After the body had flushed some stuff out and I regained strength to another level, I had a strong desire never to need to go through such a drastic detoxing period. That week and following sickness radically change my values on health and ultimately led to adopting a different lifestyle entirely.
I absolutely love this! I have always been told… “You are the company you keep”. If you need to release people from your life, let them go along with the negativity. It is for your own benefit…
Prior to retiring, I was working all the time. I took care of everyone else but myself. Just before Christmas of that year I got into a pretty awful car wreck, getting on the highway, awful visibility and ran into the side of a truck. I was told that my car saved my life.
It was a heart wrenching decision because I was running a successful behavior program. My students were doing well, behaviorally and academically and I had good relationships with administration, co-workers and parents .But I had pretty bad PTSD about driving in bad weather and it was a long trek to work five days a week. And it was time to start doing some self-care.
Today I am meditating every day, being active, making time for creativity and living passionately. I have time for family and friends and traveling more.