Life in Balance

In today's episode, Stef and Nicole talk about the mysterious conundrum of feeling like there's never enough time for our yoga or meditation practice when in reality, we can easily spend plenty of time doing other things like our jobs, taking care of our families, or taking on all the other responsibilities of modern life.

If you've ever felt like you don't have the time to dedicate to a yoga or meditation practice, this episode is for you! 

Using an excerpt from the book Radiant Rest by Tracee Stanley as a starting point (see below), Stef and Nicole discuss the pressure of what it means to be disciplined, the guilt and shame around not doing enough, and the murky grey zone of finding the balance between quality versus quantity of practice. They also explore what it means to have a yoga practice or a meditation practice, and letting go of the expectations around what a practice has to look like or how much time is required.

This episode mentions a previous Life in Balance podcast episode titled "Letting Go of Expectations" https://anchor.fm/dashboard/episode/eho14r

We hope you love this episode as much as we loved recording it! Want more balance in your life? Subscribe to our podcast to automatically receive new episodes, share the love by giving us a 5-star review, and follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/lifeinbalance_project/.

The excerpt from Radiant Rest: Yoga Nidra for Deep Relaxation & Awakened Clarity can be found on page 78: "Usually when we think of dedicated yoga practitioners, we visualize people who have many hours a day to meditate, study, and practice. We see them as very disciplined. They always seem to be reading the scriptures, discovering new teachers, trying new modalities, and going to workshops or on spiritual pilgrimages. This kind of time is a luxury and a privilege and not the case for most of us. We consider ourselves lucky if we can eke out time for a class once or twice a week. Somehow, we have gotten the idea that spiritual fruits are only delivered to those who have a lot of time, resources, and discipline to dedicate to practice. We decide that if we can't do a full hour of practice, it's not worth even bothering. But who said that a "practice" needed to be an hour or 90 minutes to be valid? That comes from the commercialization of yoga as a wellness product to be sold and not as a lifelong practice that can lead to spiritual freedom." 

In the Season 3 premiere, Stephanie Stanfield and Nicole Catenazzi talk about how living with the seasons can help you find balance in your life.

Seasons exist in nature both externally, and internally. It's empowering to be aware of your own internal seasons and be aware of how you're feeling so that you can live in harmony with your own seasonality. They touch briefly on Ayurveda, the sister science of yoga, and what it can teach us about finding balance within by working in alignment with our elemental nature. Stef and Nicole also share the behaviours and practices that help them live with the seasons.

This episode mentions a previous Life in Balance podcast episode titled "Who Do You Think You Are": https://anchor.fm/lifeinbalance/episodes/Who-Do-You-Think-You-Are-enjntj

This episode contains explicit content (foul language). Listener discretion is advised!

We hope you love this episode as much as we loved recording it! Want more balance in your life? Subscribe to our podcast to automatically receive new episodes, share the love by giving us a 5-star review, and follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/lifeinbalance_project/.

Do you know your purpose in life? Do you believe you need to have one? Does it stress you out just thinking about it!? 

In our Season 2 finale episode, Stef and Nicole talk about how one can navigate big existential questions such as this in a way that takes some of the pressure off and allows for more kindness and understanding towards yourself, understanding that these are difficult questions to navigate.

Tune in to hear what we think makes a purposeful life, how yoga and spirituality have a role to play, and ways in which an individual's purpose can have a far-reaching impact on the greater collective.

We mentioned a few resources in this episode, including:

• Previous Life in Balance podcast episodes (Being with Uncertainty, How to Tap Into Your Intution and Who Do You Think You Are?)
• The Fearless Heart Method program with Nicole Catenazzi: https://www.nicolecatenazzi.com/fearless-heart-method
• The Bhagavad Gita
• Hali Schwartz, yoga philosophy educator: https://www.yogahali.com/ 

Season 3 of the Life in Balance podcast comes out in Spring/Summer 2021!

We hope you love this episode as much as we loved recording it! Want more balance in your life? Subscribe to our podcast to automatically receive new episodes, share the love by giving us a 5-star review, and follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/lifeinbalance_project/.

Do you want to be better at listening to your gut, developing more self-trust, and strengthening your connection with your intuition? If so, you're in luck because this Life in Balance podcast episode is just for you! Your intuition is like an inner voice or guide that provides you with a sense of direction based more on a feeling than on requiring much intellectual thought. Unfortunately, in modern society intuition is typically a highly undervalued and under-utilized resource. 

Tune in to hear Stef and Nicole talk about how tapping into intuition can be helpful in business, social and personal relationships, how to develop awareness around the signals your intuition is offering you, and why listening to and leading from your heart might sound cliché but is anything but. 

We hope you love this episode as much as we loved recording it! Want more balance in your life? Subscribe to our podcast to automatically receive new episodes, share the love by giving us a 5-star review, and follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/lifeinbalance_project/.

How are the spaces where you spend most of your time? Do they give you a sense of calm and connection, or do they overwhelm you? In today's episode, Stef and Nicole talk about how to create and nurture spaces that you enjoy being in. They talk about their experiences with creating home-like environments, how to take pride in the space that you're in – especially during confinement or lockdown – how to feel at home when your living situation feels temporary or in limbo, and the connection between physical space and mental space.

We hope you love this episode as much as we loved recording it! Want more balance in your life? Subscribe to our podcast to automatically receive new episodes, share the love by giving us a 5-star review, and follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/lifeinbalance_project/.

2020 was significant for many unexpected reasons – but isn't that what life is all about? In many ways, 2020 encompasses why we practice yoga: to try and find balance amongst the craziness that comes from living in this world. In this episode, Stef and Nicole take a personal and reflective look back at the past 12 months to uncover the good, the bad and the funny! From big life lessons to epiphanies about the meaning behind our favourite TV shows, we lay everything out on the virtual table. If you'd also like to reflect on the past year, here are the questions they cover: 

• What was your biggest challenge?
• What realizations or discoveries did you have about yourself?
• What did you learn, or how did you grow (wisdom, knowledge or skills)?
• What was your happiest moment? 
• What was your favourite TV show? …bonus points if you can figure out what it reveals about you!
• What surprised you about 2020?

We hope you love this episode as much as we loved recording it! Want more balance in your life? Subscribe to our podcast to automatically receive new episodes, share the love by giving us a 5-star review, and follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/lifeinbalance_project/.

Does gratitude feel sticky or icky to you? You're not alone. We all know the pressure that comes from feeling like we *should* be grateful for what we have, yet gratitude can feel especially out of reach when you're struggling or life feels challenging. A great place to start is by cultivating an understanding of what gratitude feels like to you. In this episode, Stef and Nicole talk about practicing gratitude – what does a gratitude practice look like, why it can be beneficial and how to weave gratitude more into your daily life without bypassing difficult emotions.

We hope you love this episode as much as we loved recording it! Want more balance in your life? Subscribe to our podcast to automatically receive new epsidoes, share the love by giving us a 5-star review, and follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/lifeinbalance_project/.

Boundaries are an important part of living a balanced life, so why are boundaries so hard to set? In this episode, Stef and Nicole talk about what boundaries are, why they’re important to have, and ways to set boundaries that honour our needs rather than thinking of them as walls that isolate us. They explore the many ways in which boundaries can exist in a physical, emotional, mental and energetic sense.

Tune in to learn some tips for how to cultivate more self-awareness around your needs, wants, desires and how to set boundaries that enable you to do what you love to do and have the quality of relationships that you want to have without compromising who you are. And of course, how yoga and meditation can help you get to a place where you can feel empowered to set boundaries.

We hope you love this episode as much as we loved recording it! Want more balance in your life? Subscribe to our podcast to automatically receive new episodes, share the love by giving us a 5-star review, and follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/lifeinbalance_project/.

It's a question that could put anyone into a headspin: who are you, really? In this episode, Stef and Nicole take inspiration from a TED talk by Caroline McHugh called "The Art of Being Yourself." Who are you without saying what you do for a living? Can you define yourself based on your most authentic self? What would that look like to show up more fully as yourself? 

They discuss the different ways yoga and meditation can help you get to know yourself, ways in which you can follow your curiosity to find your true self and how to honour that amongst friends, family, co-workers or your community. Because the more we can figure out about ourselves, the better we can show up in the world.

Watch Caroline McHugh's TED Talk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veEQQ-N9xWU&t=8s

We hope you love this episode as much as we loved recording it! Want more balance in your life? Subscribe to our podcast to automatically receive new episodes, share the love by giving us a 5-star review, and follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/lifeinbalance_project/.

Ah, change. If there's one thing that's certain in life, it's that nothing ever stays the same. In today's episode, Stef and Nicole take on the mighty topic of change, and given that we are all navigating it right now during the global pandemic, this couldn't come at a better time. Tune in to hear their thoughts on how to best navigate change, what meditation and mindfulness can teach us about change, how to practice non-attachment in a way that doesn't deny the reality of your experience, and more. 

We hope you love this episode as much as we loved recording it! Want more balance in your life? Subscribe to our podcast to automatically receive new episodes, share the love by giving us a 5-star review, and follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/lifeinbalance_project/.