• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
GO TO EXPAT LIVING SINGAPORE
GET OUR NEWSLETTER

Expat Living Hong Kong HomepageExpat Living Hong Kong

Moving to Hong Kong and not sure where to start? Expat Living is the essential lifestyle guide to living in Hong Kong.

Login Pelcro Shop

Menu
  • Living In Hong Kong
      • Living Here
      • Where To Live
      • Schools
      • For Guys
        • What it’s like living on Peng Chau
        • Pets and Planes: 5 Things to Consider
        • City meets country in this residential development
        • Financial considerations for expats leaving Hong Kong for Australia - how a qualifying foreign superannuation fund can provide tax advantages - Northland GroupThings to consider when moving to Australia
      • View all
    Close
  • Things To Do
      • Things To Do
      • What’s On/Calendar
      • Competitions & Offers
        • W Hotel Hong Kong Poolside PartyTop 35 Best Things To Do In Hong Kong This Weekend
        • What to watch this month – Netflix & more!
        • Best museums in Hong Kong - The Palace Museum14 of the best museums in Hong Kong
        • Great podcasts we are listening to!
      • View all
    Close
  • Kids
      • Activities & Things To Do
      • Education & Enrichment
      • Health & Wellness
      • Mums & Babies
      • Podcasts
        • Choosing a university and finding the right fit
        • Pregancy in Hong Kong - maternity care at Matilda International HospitalPregnant in HK? What you need to know
        • A boarding school with wildlife on the doorstep!
        • A fun summer camp for teens in Cebu
      • View all
    Close
  • Homes
      • Home Décor
      • Readers Homes
        • Home design and décor tips - ginger jarsHow to bring your living room to life!
        • Rebecca, Brian and daughter Billie in their newly renovated Fortress Hill homeTransforming a Hidden Gem in Fortress Hill
        • Horizon Plaza stores - Indigo Living Boston Brownstone CollectionOur guide to furniture shopping at Horizon Plaza
        • See the Soho home of a professional organiser
      • View all
    Close
  • Travel
      • Short Breaks
      • Further Afield
        • Pets and Planes: 5 Things to Consider
        • Sri Lanka - Where to go for a girls tripWhere to go for a girls’ trip
        • Best Surf Breaks in Southeast Asia - padang padangBest Surf Breaks in Southeast Asia
        • Outdoor activities in Hong Kong - hikingOutdoor activities for all the family
      • View all
    Close
  • Wine & Dine
      • Recipes & Groceries
      • Bars & Restaurants
        • Seafood restaurant in Hong Kong - Lobster Shack4 restaurants to satisfy your cravings
        • Taste Test: Chinese Cuisine in HK
        • New bars and restaurants in Hong Kong - RositaNew nibbles: where to dine this May
        • Middle Eastern Restaurants and cuisine in Hong Kong - Mama MaloufTaste Test: Middle Eastern Eats
      • View all
    Close
  • Style & Beauty
      • Fashion
      • Hair & Beauty
        • Considering getting hair extensions?
        • Paraben-free skincare for men
        • Skincare anti-ageing products, overnight creams, face and eye serumsTried and Tested: Anti-ageing Products 
        • Sensitive skin moisturisers, serums & more!
      • View all
    Close
  • Health & Fitness
      • Medical & Dental
      • Fitness
      • Wellness
        • 11 great gyms & studios to keep in shape
        • recurrent miscarriages – causes, risk factors, ivf treatmentHealth help: A focus on recurrent miscarriage
        • lung cancer - symptoms and treatmentLung Cancer: 8 Common Myths
        • Osteopathy in Hong KongOsteopathy for Body Aches & Pains
      • View all
    Close
  • Shop
    • Magazine
    • Advertise With Us
    • Close

How to create balance in your life

19 June, 2018 by Expat Living 3 Min Read

https://expatliving.hk/how-create-balance-life-bupa-global/

Many of us could do with a bit of encouragement and support to build balanced, healthy lives. Here, Bupa Global teams with The School of Life to explore five aspects of this elusive ideal.

#1 Why does balance matter?

Juggling the pressures of work, home, social and family lives is no mean feat. And when you’re always busy, it’s hard to take stock of your situation, rethink your priorities or change your habits. It’s all too easy to sacrifice one aspect of your life while trying to fulfil another, which can lead to feelings of anxiety, failure or guilt. In turn, those feelings can affect your general wellbeing and your relationships. At its core, balance is about living a life that’s aligned with your capabilities and needs.

Image of woman finding balance

#2 Where does imbalance come from?

In our busy lives, imbalance can come about for admirable reasons – from career options, to where and how we live. Yet big ambitions can pull us in several directions, and achieving a sense of balance across these is an alluring thought. Perhaps you can get a bit of everything – if only you could adopt a balanced diet, develop balanced views and balance the books, all the while maintaining the perfect work-life balance.

Still, when you look around, very few people seem to really achieve this. Although it’s something we’ve only started to talk widely about quite recently, the ideal of balance has been around for a long time. The first Western thinker to get excited by it was the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle.

#3 How can you know what’s enough?

Nobel Prize-winning writer Thomas Mann learned an interesting lesson as a young boy. His father took him to a patisserie and gave him permission to eat as many cream cakes as he liked. At first, Thomas was delighted, then he was nauseous, and eventually surprised. What he’d imagined would be an endless day of eating, actually left him wishing he hadn’t indulged to such excess. He learned that often you need to go to excess – and become slightly unbalanced – to understand what the right amount of something is.

#4 Do you have too much of one thing?

Aristotle wanted to find out what makes us healthy in the broadest sense – he saw medicine and philosophy as deeply interconnected pursuits. He was also struck by the fact that people who were doing exceptionally well in an area of life – in politics, business, social life or sport – weren’t always the happiest.

Ironically, the dedication these people showed to one pursuit tended to squeeze out other things linked to happiness. Psychoanalysts have confirmed the relevance of Aristotle’s insights by observing that we often pursue one activity to excess when we feel frustrated or fearful about another area that’s not going well. Some things, it seems, never change – unless you change them yourself.

#5 How can you start to find balance?

Finding a sense of balance is especially tricky for successful, busy people. But there are things you can do to change this. First, ask yourself a few key questions:

  • What does balance mean to you?
  • Are there areas of your life where the balance feels about right?
  • Which areas would you like to give more to: home, family, work, fitness, pastimes, friends?

From there, it’s a matter of weighing up different aspects of your life, keeping in mind that your mental wellbeing is the foundation for everything else. Make time for exercise, for both its physical and emotional benefits. Eat well, stay hydrated and strive to get enough sleep. Use strategies to build your resilience to stress, and remember that anxiety is both common and treatable. And, if you feel that work is dominating your life, think about changing your approach to how you use technology.

For more information on health insurance and other health related topics, visit bupaglobal.com or contact the team at 2531 8562 or globalplanhk@bupa.com.

See more in our Health & Fitness section!

Your orthodontists questions answered

What does a slimming massage actually do?

This article first appeared in the April/May 2018 issue of Expat Living magazine. Subscribe now so you never miss an issue.

Categories: Health & Fitness Wellness Tags: BUPA Bupa Global Health Insurance Wellness

Get the latest events, stories and special offers sent to your inbox
Get the latest events, stories and special offers sent to your inbox

You May Also Like

image of mum and baby for article on postnatal depression by clinical psychologist Dr Zaidi of MindNlife Hong Kong

Baby blues or something more?

Balancing body and mind with yoga

The Benefits of Learning Martial Arts

Primary Sidebar

  • COMPETITIONS & OFFERS
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Subscribe

© 2023 Expat Living Hong Kong, All Rights Reserved.