“You won’t be able to tell a client to ____ (eat healthy, exercise, meditate, get enough sleep) if you’re not doing so yourself.”

These words have been ringing in my ears since my last Fundamentals of Chinese Medicine lecture last semester. So simple, yet so true, and something all of the Chinese medicine students (and practitioners) need to be thinking about. If I’m not able to set aside time to meditate and exercise, and if I don’t invest time and energy in making and eating delicious and healthy food, I won’t be able to encourage my patients to do that with integrity.
And they’ll know. Because of how you say it and because of how you hold yourself, they’ll know whether you’re hypocritically dishing out advice.

There’s a positive side to this as well though.

You can be honest about your own personal challenges and recognize that it’s not an all-or-nothing-game. You can share your own personal ways of fitting in a short meditation session or a quick exercise jaunt. And you can share how you let your slide sometimes and go for the occasional doughnut when you really want it.
Balance is important.
Honesty is important.
Integrity is important,
in life in general, but especially when communicating with patients.

So, how do you manage to juggle your multitude of obligations?