(7/2021) Balance is important in many different aspects of our lives. Of course balance is important for walking, climbing stairs and safety in our everyday activities. Learning to balance time, exercise, nutrition and our stress level is also part of overall healthy living.

Strengthening our legs and core are the keys to maintaining good balance. After the age of about thirty-five our balance starts to change and stability becomes less and less each year. I am not saying you will be staggering and falling around. You won't even notice the difference for years but one day when you step up on the curb or come down a flight of stairs you may feel a little shaky or unsteady sensations in your legs. Getting up from a chair or out of the car may become more challenging. If you are already seeing some of these changes, it's not too late to improve your strength.

Doing some simple leg exercises can bring back the muscle tone and strength you need to insure your balance stays it's best for as long as possible. Even if you haven't noticed any change in your balance, now is the time to start so that you keep the muscle you have and maintain its strength. Maintaining strength is important and not as hard as building it back after loosing it. Balance is important to us at all ages but we don't think about it until we see signs that we are having trouble with walking or falling. Start young and you may never have a problem as you age.

Another balance that is important to our overall health is a good balanced nutrition program. We tell our children to eat all their vegetables and not to eat so many sweets. If we can instill this healthy eating style in them when they are young hopefully they will carry it with them throughout their life. This advice is important for all of us to follow. Eating a balanced diet will help us maintain a healthy weight, help keep cholesterol and blood pressure at good levels and just make you feel good.

Balancing our time is as important as exercise and nutrition because we need to take time from our busy lives to take care of ourselves. I know you keep hearing that you need to take care of yourself before you can take care of your family and others. This is really a true statement. If you don't keep yourself healthy, happy and strong you won't have the energy or ability to care for others. In fact, they may have to care for you if you end up getting sick or injured. Making a schedule or setting aside time to relax and recharge yourself will give you the energy and assurance that you will be as healthy and strong as possible to keep doing whatever comes your way.

Stress is another challenging part of our lives that we need to balance. Because stress doesn't hurt like a bruise or a cut we don't think of it as damaging our body. We know when something hurts and we remember to work on it until it feels better. Stress is a problem that we can't see and don't always even feel. The doctor asks you if you are stressed and your answer may be, no more than usual. We don't feel stress like we feel pain so we don't think about addressing the problem.

Unfortunately, stress can cause or make existing problems worse. If you are a person that knows they are stressed, and even if you don't think you are, there are some good ways to de-stress and relax. Meditation, reading, taking walks or doing something you enjoy are great ways to unwind and find calm in your day. Find something that works for you and practice it, even if just five or ten minutes a day. You deserve a little time for yourself.

I have mentioned exercise, nutrition, time management and stress relief. These are only a few places that balance is important. Maybe you can pick one and incorporate it into your daily routine. I think you will find it helpful and hopefully you will be able to add the others in as time goes on. Remember to Keep Moving! Health and happiness is something we all deserve and we all need to practice to achieve.