Work-Life ~ Yin Yang balance in 6 steps

CREATING THE IDEAL WORK-LIFE BALANCE WITH YIN & YANG

Have you experienced an inability to relax and let go, quick to anger and feel frustrated, find the need for constant stimulation and can’t sit still? Struggle with sleep or feel restless? This blog could answer why and provide some solutions.

To live a harmonised life, we need a balance of yin and yang energy. But before you freak out thinking this is some WOO WOO blog, it is not. Yin and yang is simply an analogy to illustrate the extreme spectrum of elements in our life and how we find a way to move in between them and we can call this ‘balance’ ~ I prefer to see it as mastering ‘choosing’ between my Yin & Yang depending on what I need in the moment.

If your job is very demanding, busy and full on, including juggling parenting, there may well be an overdrive of yang energy in your life and therefore throwing you into disharmony. To combat this, we need to nurture ourselves by bringing in more yin activities and way of life.

On the flip side if life has thrown you a few curve balls and you have recently felt a bit stuck, difficult in finding motivation and making decisions, feeling lethargic and that everything is feeling like too much effort this can be a sign there is too much yin energy and we need to commit to bringing more yang into our ways. If either of these feel like you, read on, there’s a way.

WHEN WE ARE BALANCED WE CAN GET A HECK OF LOT DONE WITH CALM AND EASE. THAT’S THE DREAM RIGHT?

The basis behind this statement of ‘balancing our Yin and Yang’ is developing the ability to either choose to be active or choose to be passive whilst maintaining complete clarity, stillness and calm.  To still get all your stuff done in a productive way yet flow through it with ease and less stress. You can achieve a work-life balance and manage your emotional wellbeing through the concept of the yin and yang analogy. Let’s first have a look at what yin and yang is.

WHAT IS YIN & YANG

The symbol of the two curved teardrops, one white, one black, with an inner circle in each with the opposite colour – the infamous yin-yang symbol symbolising the ‘way of life’.

Think of yin and yang as two independent, yet complementary energies. In the symbol, yin (the black) contains a seed of yang (the white dot), and vice versa – demonstrating that there can’t be one without the other. Yin and yang can be applied to many of life’s dualities like our work and life balance, our femininity and masculinity and our constant need for action verse our need for down time.

THE YIN WAY OF LIVING

When we live in our yin, we tap into our inner introvert, creativity, peacefulness and wisdom. We use our imagination and intuition. We become passive, process-oriented, collaborative and we focus on being as opposed to doing. We feel relaxed and we embrace our femininity.

When we live too much in our yin, we start to become sluggish, lazy, overly introverted and we overthink. We are crippled by inaction and lack the motivation to get things done!

WHEN WE LIVE IN THE YANG

We are always in the doing. We are ambitious and courageous as we embrace our extroversion and get things done with excitement and logic! We are directive, goal-orientated and masculine.

When we are living in too much yang, we experience anger, frustration, the inability to relax and let go as we need constant stimulation and can’t sit still. We can’t sleep and feel restless. It is quite common for a working professional, busy parent or carer to feel depleted. Taking the time to nurture yourself, invites more yin back into your life and gives a sense of fulfilment rather than depletion. 

SO WHAT CAN WE DO TO BALANCE OUT THE YIN AND THE YANG? 

A balance of yin and yang offers you plenty of benefits including reduced anxiety, a stronger sense of identity, elevated creativity, enhanced intuition, and a profound sense of fulfilment, clarity in your choices and peace in your life. You CAN carry your busy life BUT WITH ZEN. The above is not gender specific. It is not that if you are a female then you should thrive in your yin and that we expect men to be all yang. That is not the case. Gender does not mean that we need more of either energies in our life, in fact men and women would be ideal to strive to have a balance of both.

Take a minute to focus on the characteristics listed above, which energy do you think you spend the most time in? 

HERE ARE SOME WAYS TO ACHIEVE WORK-LIFE BALANCE:

1. BREATHE

If you want to invite more yin on the spot. You can focus on your breath. Slow down and deepen your inhale and exhale, track where your oxygen flows. Breathing deep into your belly, you feel it rise, then your chest rises, breathe that bit extra into your head and casually release. Repeat.  Try my Meditation on the Breath 8mins (free trial in my online studio)

One of my old statements in my Yoga classes was ‘the only difference between an irrational response and a rational one, is just one more breath’. Learning how to manage your state of being by manipulating your breath is life changeing!

2. GET OUT IN NATURE

Take a walk or just sit and be, allow yourself to be in the moment instead of checking your phone every 5 minutes – being present to the sounds, animals, landscape. 

3. GET TO BED EARLY

Allow your body to regenerate, regulate hormones and create a good balance between yin and yang. If you struggle to fall asleep, try my Meditation on the Breath 8min practice (free trial in my online studio) or 20+ on my Improve My Sleep playlist. If you have gotten to the end of your day and have not yet enjoyed any peace, put your headphones on to enjoy relaxing music to quieten and still your mind - I like the YOGA SANCTUARY playlist or my Inspya Me Yin Playlist on Spotify.

4. STRETCH MOVE + RELEASE YOUR BODY

Your fascia, muscles and joints hold ‘stuff’ and we feel stiff and fatigued when the nervous system is wired. If you feel you have too much Yang try Yin or Restorative Yoga, such as my Yoga for Improved Sleep (free trial) or any of the practices in my Inspya Me Online Yoga + Meditation studio 18+ playlist ‘Yin Me Out!’ If you feel you are lethargic and have too much Yin try a more flowing Yoga, Tai Chi or Qi Goong, or my Yin Yang Flow (free trial) or any of the practices in my Inspya Me Online Yoga + Meditation studio 49+ playlist ‘Boost Your Mood’.

5. AVOID RUSHING

This will involve being more organised, leaving earlier to get places, having things planned the day before and being more realistic with how much you take on during your day so you are not rushing like a mad person between appointments. I have even taken to lining up on my desk what I need ready for my day….especially so I don’t miss the ‘me time’ and get caught up in all the rest, when I am planning on swimming my flippers are ready in my face ;-)

6. MAKE THE ‘TO DO’ LIST SECOND, TO YOU

Instead of stressing over the little things – everything that hasn’t been done in the house like the dishes, clothes or the mess hasn’t been cleaned or your work in tray is not emptied …give yourself permission to go without considering those things. You want to let go of that negative tension and return to these things with a fresh mind. This is about just being instead of always doing. As difficult as it may seem the first time, do something just for you, only you for just 10 minutes. Perhaps it is just to sit and do one of the above, or move and be.

COMMITMENT

It takes a lot of time and dedication to create good habits and find that work-life balance. The end result is totally WORTH IT! I truly wish you all the best on your journey. Having personally gone through this, I know that these practices will change your life as they did mine. If you would like a more personalised approach to practices you could be doing please do not hesitate to book in with me for a private session (online + in-person) CLICK HERE

Enjoy the process of harmonsing your life.

Namaste

Nic Whiteman xx