Understanding what balance truly means is the first step toward creating a balanced lifestyle. Life balance doesn’t necessarily mean giving equal amounts of time or attention to each part of your life. That’s the big myth!

Life balance is about knowing when to give a little more effort, when it’s time to call it quits, and when everything feels just right.

These six tips will help you strike a better balance in life:

1. Make time for you. Realize that you’re important and valuable. Taking care of your happiness (and sanity) is an essential part of creating a balanced life. Even if for just two hours each week, put everyone else’s needs aside and focus on you!

• Take a candlelit bubble bath while having a glass of wine and catching up on your favorite Hollywood gossip. Or, maybe just take your dog to the park on a sunny afternoon. Do whatever helps you unwind and enter a mindset of total relaxation.

2. Strive for a healthy lifestyle. Both exercise and a conscious diet are necessary in order to remain healthy and happy. Set aside 30-minutes each week to exercise. Your workout can be anything under the sun, as long as it keeps you active.

• If eating healthy is a challenge, avoid bringing unhealthy food into your home. You can’t be tempted if it isn’t around the house. Not only will it keep your heart healthy and your waistline under control, it’ll promote healthy eating habits in your children.

3. Leave work in the office. There’s a reason you have a work schedule: your employer is only willing to pay you for a specific amount of time each day. Do your family a favor and leave work at work. Avoid overworking yourself if there isn’t a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

• If you find that there aren’t enough hours in the workday to maintain your responsibilities, find a way to strengthen your productivity while at the office. If this proves to be fruitless, explain your situation to your employer. He may be willing to pay you for an extra hour each day or lessen your workload.

4. Make time for love. Rekindle the romance by making thoughtful gestures. Bring home a candle in her favorite scent, send roses to the workplace, or maybe even hire a maid so your wife can spend more time doing the things she loves. Spend quality, uninterrupted time with your spouse.

• Simply watching TV together isn’t enough. Send the kids over to grandma’s house for a weekend and plan a romantic getaway. If you’re on a budget, plan a romantic camping trip. Nothing says romance like 2-days in the wild.

5. Live within your means. If your finances are causing you stress, it’s time to reassess your budget. Make budget cuts in order to proactively work towards achieving your financial goals.

• Eliminate obvious splurges, such as cable television upgrades and pricey cell phone plans. Cut down on your energy bill by turning down the thermostat and doing laundry less frequently or during non-peak hours.

• As a final resort, you may need to sell your home or downgrade to a cheaper rental. Sure, it’s nice to have granite countertops and sprawling acreage, but can you go without? You sure can. Live within your means and feel the relief it brings!

6. Socialize. Hanging out with friends allows you to unwind and have a few laughs. Make it a point to meet up with friends at least once each month. Go out to dinner or host a get together in your home.

• If your spouse is jealous, double dating is a great opportunity to include him in your social life.

Leading an unbalanced lifestyle is one of the leading causes of stress for professionals. Inability to cope with stress can cause numerous health problems, such as weight gain, migraines and even heart complications. Fortunately, you can be the exception. You can ward off health problems by nipping stress in the bud.

You are now empowered, equipped, and ready to create balance in your life! Practice these strategies each day and, one day soon, you’ll feel the harmony of a balanced life.

Some people who suffer from mild depression and stress may want to include some activities in their day which will produce laughter as a means to reduce their depression and stress. Why laughter? There are many reasons.

Many mental health practitioners believe laughter to be a great stress reliever. Research also shows that it increases endorphins, chemicals in the brain which control the reward system. This means you begin to feel good or feel pleasure when you laugh, similar to the effect you get when using drugs.

Laughter can also lower the hormone levels which may cause stress or a weakened immune state. It moves your body, both internally and externally, increases blood flow, and gives you an energy boost. Your lungs, liver, pancreas, intestines, heart, and brain are all beneficially affected by it. All-in-all, you simply feel better when you laugh and for some time afterwards.

Here are some of the physical ways your body is affected by a good belly laugh:

* It relaxes your muscles for as much as 45 minutes after a good laugh
* It boosts immunity which may reduce your chances of getting sick
* It lowers your stress hormones which makes it easier to relax
* It decreases pain which may enable people to sleep or rest
* It helps prevent heart disease by increasing blood circulation
* It improves your mood which is a benefit to those suffering from mild depression

Laughter can also improve the social aspect of our life. If we laugh easily, people are more likely to want to be around us because we’re fun. Being able to laugh freely may also strengthen our relationships, help diffuse conflict, and enhance our ability to work in a team.

Laughter is something most children enjoy without reserve. Unfortunately, as we get older that tendency to find humor in daily situations wanes and we begin to feel stress. Maybe it’s time to laugh your blues away as a means to reduce symptoms of depression and stress. Since laughter is seen as medicine, is anyone up for a comedy movie?

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* Set aside some time where you can be by yourself. Send the children off to grandma and grandpas or get a babysitter. Turn the telephone and cell phone off. Don’t turn on the television; in fact the only thing electronic you might want going is soothing music playing in the background.

* Place scented candles around your bathroom to create a relaxing ambiance. If you have bubble bath, bath salts, or essential oil in the same fragrance, that would be even better. You would be surrounded by a scent you love.

* While you’re soaking in the bathtub, use a facial mask which you can make from items found in your kitchen. Mix together 2 tablespoons of ground oatmeal, 2 tablespoons plain yogurt, and 5 drops liquid honey in a bowl. Apply to your face and allow it to sit for at least 10 minutes. Finish off by rinsing with warm water followed by a moisturizer.

* Give yourself a manicure and pedicure while your finger and toe nails are pliable. Rub moisturizer into your cuticles and trim them. When you’re ready to exit the tub, don’t forget to slather peppermint food cream on your feet. They’ll feel energized and smell great!

What are some other things you can do while you’re treating yourself to a frugal spa day at home? You can also take time to stretch or exercise which will invigorate your mind and give you energy to spare. Meditating can also be relaxing and rejuvenating.

Spend a little bit of your spa day journaling. Nothing makes us feel better about our lives than thinking about the good things. What are you thankful for? Who makes your day brighter by being in it? Think about things and people who make you smile.

Use any of these tips to create a professional spa atmosphere to help you relax. Taking time regularly is important, not only for physical reasons but also for peace of mind. You deserve to take time out for yourself, so what are you waiting for?

Aromatherapy can do wondrous things to energize, calm, or help beat the winter blues. Essential oils stimulate the sense of smell and can stimulate our memories, emotions, and instincts. The aromas can affect our entire being and psyche. However, it is not a substitute for proper medical care and should not be used as such. It can, however, be a complement to traditional medicine as well as being used in a non-medical way.

One of the most common herbs used by people with mild depression or winter blues is Lavender Officinalis. It has a calming effect on emotions as well as helping to bring clarity of thought. Lavender essential oil is considered to be one of the safest oils used for aromatherapy and can reduce tension, hysteria, and help you sleep. You might notice that lavender is used in some children’s bath wash or powder products as a means to help children relax so they, and their parents, can get some rest.

To make your own aromatherapy oil blends, you’ll want to have an unscented lotion or carrier oil as a base, such as olive oil, almond oil, or jojoba oil. Add a few drops of one or two essential oils to the carrier oil. You can also prepare larger quantities by adding a total of five or ten drops of essential oil to eight ounces of carrier oil. These oils can also be added to shampoo, conditioner, bubble baths, and Epsom salt.

Petitgrain, bergamot, lavender, and lemon are used to help brighten your mood and calm you. Mix together:

25 drops of petitgrain
30 drops of bergamot
20 drops of lavender
25 drops of lemon

This mixture can be stored in a 5 milliliter bottle. Put five to eight drops on a room diffuser, breathe from the bottle, add it to carrier oil, or add it to bath salts.

Citrus blends like the one above are particularly effective for brightening a person’s moods. Here are a few other blends you may want to try.

* For emotional wellbeing: 2 drops Clary sage, 2 drops Frankincense, and 1 drop Sandalwood. Blend this with one tablespoon almond oil and use it for a relaxing massage.

* To beat the winter blues: 4 drops Bergamot, 4 drops Lemon, and 2 drops Ylang-ylang. Can be added directly to bath water or mixed with unscented bubble bath.

These aromatherapy oil blends may not bring people with severe depression out of it, but they can do wonders for those who are mildly depressed or simply have the blues. Give them a try; you may have found an easy method for brightening your mood during the long and cold winter months.

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This is a simple progressive relaxation exercise that can help with insomnia sufferers. You can either practice this by yourself, or have someone else read it to you. If you have someone else read it to you, make sure that they keep a low, even and relaxed voice tone.

Induction Begins

Lay down or sit in a comfortable position. Make sure that your legs and arms are uncrossed. If you are lying down place your arms by your side. If you are sitting, place your feet on the floor and your arms laying on your lap or on the armrests.

Now, go ahead and take a deep deep breath. Hold that breath for the mental count of three. As you allow the breath to leave your lungs, let your consciousness slide down the center line of your body. You may close your eyes now if you haven’t done so already. Know that your unconscious is making the necessary connection to allow you to become completely relaxed. Know that as you go into trance, you are always in total control and if you need to come back to reality for any reason, you only have to say in your mind the number one and move your fingers.

As you go deep into trance now, your mind can drift into a dreamy, drowsy state, right on the threshold of sleep. On the threshold all you will need to see, hear and experience will come to your unconscious mind. Notice how your body has already become more relaxed than at the beginning of this process. Every outside sound and noise will increase your ability to focus on your relaxation and you will go deeper and deeper into trance. You will begin a process of systematically relaxing you body, as you count from 1 to 10, you will relax your body from feet to head.

1- Relax your feet and ankles. Feel them turning off and becoming limp.

2- Relax your calves. Allow them to become heavy…so heavy.

3- Move the relaxation through your knees and into your thighs. Feel your thigh become so relaxed, so loose, so heavy.

4- Relax your hips and allow them to sink in. Notice now how very relaxed and very heavy your legs are. They are so heavy that you don’t want to move them anymore.

5- Move the relaxation into your abdomen now. Feel it go through you, into you and relax all the internal organs, relax your back, relax your abdominals.

6- Relax your chest now. Relax your heart and lung. Feel how deep and steady your breathing is now. Notice how your heartbeat has slowed down to allow you to become fully relaxed.

7- Move the relaxation into you shoulders and upper back now. Down into the arms, through your elbows and forearms and into you hand. Allow your hands to become so relaxed, notice how all your fingers are relaxing.

8- Move the relaxation up through your neck and into your face. Let all the small muscles around your mouth, nose and eyes to become completely loose now. Feel you forehead relaxing now. Notice how your eyelids have become so heavy that you couldn’t even open them if you tried in vain.

9- Relax your scalp now. Feel it becoming smooth… so very relaxed.

10- Let the relaxation move into your brain now. Relax your brain and allow it to become so very loose. Allow your consciousness to move about freely.

Every time you go through this process, it will become easier and easier and you will go deeper into trance than the time before. Every time you hear you count from 1 to 10, you will naturally drift into and easy and comfortable trance like the one you are in now. Every time you want to return to this state, you only have to repeat the trigger “10″. Every time you repeat the trigger “10″ you will come back to this nice relax state of trance.

Now you can begin a process of deepening your trance. Know that there is no limit to how deep you can go. With every breath you take, you will go deeper and deeper inside yourself. With every easy beat of your heart, your unconscious is coming to the surface of your being. Your subconscious is close enough to listen closely to what you have to tell it. This is so because you deeply desire to acquire this ability to become lucid now. Deep inside your mind, there is a special place very near to the essence of who you are. This special place is a place where everything is true. A place where you can store this and other information that you deeply desire.

At this point, you can either stay in this wonderful relaxed state for as long as you want, you can choose to communicate with your subconscious, you can let yourself slip into sleep or you can come back to normality and notice how relaxed you are now.

This progressive relaxation technique is great to help alleviate sleeping problem.

Jennifer Keightly is into holistic healing and invites you to visit her All Natural Cures blog

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