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Vicky Heiler (@vickyheiler on Instagram) is a great role model for many of us on how to juggle a lot and still stay in a positive energy and not worry too much.

Mindful living is a fixed part of her life. In this interview she tells more about her personal strategies to manage it.

What do you personally understand by Mindful Living?

For me, Mindful Living always has to do with balance. And conscious decisions. 

Nobody can always be perfectly balanced. But it is important to have a sense for yourself, your environment and your personal well-being.

What breaks in your everyday life do you take to connect with your body?

Exercise is something that has become very important to me over the last few years. For various reasons.

Sports keep me fit and strong. It gives my mind a break. Strength gives me self-confidence. And it's time that I consciously take for myself.

Now, as a mom, that's not always easy. Weeks often go by without a "real" sports session. But rarely does a day go by without a walk.

What emergency tools do you choose when things get too much for you?

Lots of fresh air, a home-cooked meal including candles and cloth napkins, no (!!) screens before bedtime and beautiful flowers for the apartment.

Do you plan your day or your week and how much time is set aside for yourself?

As a self-employed person/entrepreneur and mom, it is incredibly important for me to plan my week (together with my partner). This way, everyone has time every day just for themselves, or for work. Time all alone, without work or child, is not so much available, but for me both work and family can be combined incredibly well with the things that make me happy.

Not so easy as a mom and a full time job. What strategy works for you to balance everything?

I'd be lying if I said I had a perfect strategy in store. Especially when it comes to work, it took many months for me, or rather us as parents, to develop a master plan. (Which of course is constantly going overboard due to unforeseen events...).

We are very fortunate that we are both self-employed and also split our time with the little one 50/50. For us, it works best when we go through the week together. We work in shifts. That is: 9-13 o'clock is a shift, then a common lunch and then 14-18 o'clock. For example, if I spend the morning with our son, then I have the afternoon slot to myself. And vice versa!

How do you always manage to stay positive?

I would describe myself as a very positive person (by nature). I am an optimist and sometimes maybe a little bit naive. I try not to plan too much in advance and take things as they are. Acceptance is one of the most important ways to happiness for me personally. I am not a "what if?" person. I deal with a situation when it is there.
Which doesn't mean I'm never stressed, sad, frustrated or at the end of my rope.

Do you sometimes have negative thoughts? And if so, how do you deal with them?

Of course I have negative thoughts from time to time. The more I have to do professionally, the more frequent the self-doubt becomes. When I'm stressed, I often have the feeling of losing the overview. Then the thoughts rattle before going to sleep. To bring order and structure back into the chaos, classic to-do lists help me. These do not always have to be worked off 100%. But just writing them down often helps to take some of the stress away. In addition, it helps me personally to talk to trusted people, to talk out my worries and to "share" them. That often takes the edge off them!

You are a particularly conscious gourmet when it comes to food - is that a part of your life that you perceive mindful?

For me, food has to do with Mindfulness on many levels.
First, food is associated with enjoyment. Doing something good for yourself.
Second, food is usually something that happens in combination with nice conversations or interesting conversations. Whether it's my son, my partner, or friends and family sitting across the table from me.
And third, there is something meditative about meal preparation for me. Since I learned about the holistic approach to wellbeing, mindful eating and stress release from Michi (Praxis Kainz), I've been focusing a lot on what not only tastes good but also does me good. Which foods make me feel good? Which ones rob me of energy? The quality of the ingredients is (as a mom more than ever) in the foreground. The arrangement is always important to me, because the eye definitely eats with you!

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