We recently started this fun blog series: “5 Things I Do to Stay Balanced”. Over the weeks, you will hear from each of us at Mindful Family Medicine – and get a peek inside our lives and get to know us all a little better!

If you missed Debbie’s 5, you can read them here.

Dr. Roy Steinbock is a father, husband, Pediatrician, musician (he plays and builds guitars!), and an avid mountain biker. Below he shares 5 of the things he does regularly to maintain balance in his busy life.

5 Things I Do To Stay Balanced: Dr. Roy Steinbock, MD

1. Get moving. My entire life I have been my happiest when I am moving my body. I especially crave difficult and vigorous exercise like biking, running and long hikes.  As I have gotten older, I’ve learned that I need to balance this hard exercise with more restorative activities like yoga and stretching.
2. Play. I’m a pretty serious person in general. I often joke that I was born a little adult. That being said, the little kid in me is still very alive and I indulge him often.  Nothing makes me happier than riding a bike – especially fast downhill.  My riding partners have told me I look like a silly giggling 12-year-old boy on a BMX bike and I’d say that pretty much sums up how I feel.  I also love playing music alone and with my band-mates.
3. Quiet time. Although I love being with my family, friends, employees and patients, I’m naturally an introvert. Because of my professional and personal responsibilities, time alone is my rarest commodity, but I need it to feel balanced. I often will stay up until everyone in my house is asleep to squeeze out an hour or two of solitude. That time alone allows my mind to become more still, amplifies my creativity, and charges me energetically.
4. Connecting with nature. I have a deep calling to nature, and the older I get the stronger it calls me. When I am in nature it calms my nervous system, I slow down and feel a grounding that brings me out of my busy mind and back down to Earth. I believe one of the main reasons we humans are struggling so much physically, psychologically and spiritually is our disconnection from the natural rhythms of nature. We are animals that have forgotten where we come from and are paying dearly for this.
5. Meditation & Mindfulness. My nervous system naturally runs at a very high setting. I work hard, play hard, and feel things intensely in general.  I have a big, exciting and often overstimulating life. In order to counterbalance this intensity, I try to actively slow down. Nothing has helped me more than a regular mediation practice. In addition, I set up “speed bumps” – such as typing and talking more slowly, closing my eyes while I wash my hands and just feeling the water and soap (which as a doc happens a lot), and consciously feeling the knife cut through veggies while cooking. These are mindfulness practices that slow me down. These simple daily activities are full of infinite opportunities to be awake.