We’ve teamed up with Well.ca to bring you a 3-part blog and video series that’s not only going to get you looking your best but feeling your (absolute) best as well. We want to give you a game plan to make sure that your health and wellness goals become a reality. Are you ready? Be sure to also check out Part 1: NOURISH and stay tuned for Part 3: FLOW!

Part 2 is all about how we LIVE our daily lives. We are big believers that the choices we make throughout the year can either boost our overall health and happiness or diminish it. Life can get crazy and schedules can quickly become consumed – we get that! The trick is achieving balance throughout your busy lifestyle so you can ultimately become happier, restored and more fulfilled. It’s never too late to start to think about things with a fresh new outlook and look forward to re-prioritizing activity, health, and fun – what better time than the present to make some changes and take some steps toward a healthier and happier you?

For much of the year, many of us put our own self-care practices on the back burner and, instead, become overwhelmed with not only taking care of our own lives, but everyone else’s too. We spent many years doing just that, which left us both feeling out of balance and riddled with stress. We then decided to take baby steps toward creating a life with more balance. We started to put ourselves first once and a while, we made exercise and Yoga a priority in our lives, we put more love into our relationships and careers (from which our company, Nourish Live Flow was born!) and we created a meditation and mindfulness practice that helps keep us balanced.

Now, for us, it’s all about living and being grateful in the present moment, learning to let go of the past and releasing the yearning to control the future. One of our all-time favourite quotes is “Life is silly, life is messy, life is imperfect, and that’s okay”. We want to inspire you to create a magnificent vision for your life, while finding harmony and having fun with all of the things that you love.

Keep on reading for our top 5 tips on how you can add more wellness, fulfillment, and joy to your life at any time of year.

Begin a Meditation or Mindfulness Practice

We are huge fans of meditation. As busy working moms to young children, we have found a consistent meditation and mindfulness practice to be one of the most beneficial things we have done for our overall health and wellness. Even five minutes a day has been proven to have enormous health benefits including reduced stress and anxiety, increased mental clarity and focus and a boost in overall happiness and well-being. Simply find a quiet place to sit comfortably, close your eyes and let your body and mind unwind and let go. If you are new to meditation and not sure where to start, why not try a meditation app? There are several to choose from and you can pick a guided meditation that resonates with you!

Take time to feel grateful

We believe that being grateful is one of the most important components to creating a healthy and happy life. Being grateful for the things that we have in our life greatly enhances our feelings of happiness and joy, and we actually attract more of those things to us. So, take time (all you need is a couple of minutes) to be thankful and grateful for all the things in your life and all those moments you love. If you make this a regular part of your day, we promise you will start to see more and more of these moments that make you happy and satisfied at work come your way.

Learn some simple breathing techniques

We have all heard of the many benefits of breathing, but how often do we actually sit down and do the deed? Not only is calming our bodies down important for us physically but mentally as well. Daily breathing exercises can lead to a reduction in blood pressure, heart rate, stress, and anxiety. They can also promote feelings of relaxation, happiness, and well-being. Who couldn’t use a good dose of this each day? The best part? All we need is 5-10 minutes a day to reap the benefits of this easy to learn habit! A super simple breathing technique that can help us calm down is to inhale slowly and deeply for the count of 4, hold your breath for the count of 4 and then exhale slowly and deeply for the count of 8.

Boost your career happiness

“Do what you love. Love what you do”. Words to live by. Literally. Our work and our careers are an enormous part of our lives. We spend more hours doing our job than, well, pretty much anything. So why would we spend this precious time doing something that makes us unhappy, stressed or bored? If you are already happy at work, then you’ve got this one covered! But, if you’re like many others (who truly dislike what they do) perhaps it’s time to start considering a change? Take some time to start thinking of small steps that you can do to bring more satisfaction to your current work life. Or you can start thinking of ways that you can begin to look at making a change and follow your passion. Maybe it’s a coffee date with someone who you admire and have always dreamed of doing what they do. Or maybe it’s writing a list of the things that you are passionate about and see if any of these things align with your current work. There are many ways to find more balance and happiness in this area.

Give your relationships some LOVE

It’s a bit of a no-brainer that the quality of our relationships will have either a positive or negative impact on our lives. If our relationships are healthy and positive, then they will bring us happiness. However, if they are unhealthy we will feel unfulfilled and undernourished. Therefore, it’s essential to nurture your relationships, whether they are with your partner, your kids, your family or your friends so that you feel more fulfilled in this area of your life. A big factor in this tends to be time (or lack there of). We’re all busy, and finding time to spend quality time with family and friends can sometimes seem like an impossible task. Our advice is to plan ahead and put aside time for the relationships that bring you joy. Ask a friend to join you for a coffee or walk, or plan a date night with your partner. If you’ve got kids, organize a family activity out of the house (away from TV and iPads!) where you can spend quality time together. Even a few minutes of the week of nurturing your relationships can make your level of happiness and fulfillment rise to new heights.