Circle of Life #MiracleMonday

In order to live a balanced, happy, fulfilling life, we must look at all aspects. A lot of people think that being healthy only has to do with what you eat, but that COULDN’T be further from the truth!

 

Everything that we absorb is food. From the food we put into our mouth, to the energy we take in from other people, to the unsatisfying career, to the lack of creativity we have in life, to our spirituality –  All of it affects our body either in a positive or negative way.

 

There really are two types of food!

Primary Food – 

It’s easy to overlook all of the things that contribute to our sense of nourishment and fulfillment. It’s not just the food we eat, but all of the other factors present in our daily lives. Healthy relationships, a fulfilling career, regular physical activity and a spiritual awareness are essential forms of nourishment.

When these “primary foods” are balanced, what you eat becomes secondary. I will support you in achieving all of your goals, from eating the right foods for your body to living an inspired, fulfilling life.

 

Secondary Food – 

Kale, lettuce, tomatoes, soup, chicken, pizza, bread, pasta, alcohol, kool-aid, etc.

 

An exercise that I like to do with clients is called the Circle of Life. During this exercise you look at different aspects of your life and gauge whether you feel you’re fulfilled in that area or not.

 

Circle of Life:

This exercise will help you to discover which primary foods you are missing the most. The Circle of Life has 12 sections. Look at each section and place a dot on the line marking how satisfied you are with each area of your life. A dot placed at the center of the circle or close to the middle indicates dissatisfaction, while a dot placed on the periphery indicates ultimate happiness. When you have placed a dot on each of the lines, connect the dots to see your circle of life. You will have a clear visual of any imbalances in primary food and a starting point for determining where you may wish to spend more time and energy to create balance and joy in your life.

Click here for the PDF version of the Circle of Life so you can print it out!

 

Examples of completed Circle of Life’s:

Being able to see your life mapped out on this circle can give you wonderful insight into the areas of your life that you should focus on.

 

In in order to facilitate whole healing, we much try to bring our lives into balance. Use this exercise to pin point areas of your life that you need to put more energy into. For instance, maybe you scored low on ‘home cooking’. Start out slow! Make a commitment to yourself to cook 2 nights a week at home. Then gradually increase this. Spend sometime looking at Pinterest (or maybe even my Pinterest boards 😉 haha) and find some fun recipes! Host a dinner party if you’re worried about cooking for yourself.

 

Or maybe you scored low in the social life section. Push yourself out of your comfort zone and be the one to make plans! Or sign up for a new event to meet new people.

 

This exercise is great because it doesn’t take very much time, but can really give you a roadmap to help bring balance to your life. And! You can repeat the exercise periodically to see how your life expands and contracts. Whenever I do this exercise, my circles never look the same. Sometimes I’m at a point in my life where I’m really focusing on some sections and skimping out in others and the next time I’ll do the exercise it’ll be completely the other way around.

 

Try not to be judgmental to yourself when completing this exercise. It’s ok if you’re way out of balance! That’s the beauty of this exercise – you’re identifying areas to work on!! Take your time trying to make changes and remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day so you’re not going to balance out your entire life in a day either!

 

That’s one of the great things about working with a health coach. We don’t just focus on what you’re eating, but also the other food that you’re getting in your Iife! It alllllllll matters!! You could be eating the perfect diet, but if your job is sucking the life out of you, you’ll never be healthy. You’ll never lose that excess weight!

 

Emotions, energies, people, places, things – there are SO many things that come into play when it comes to our health. Remember that! That stomach ache may be from anxiety, that sore throat may be the result of not being able to speak your truth, your body may become sick because it’s so rundown from being stressed all the time . . . There really are so many factors and it can get overwhelming. But this exercise is a wonderful place to start to identify what you need to focus on in order to grow!

 

Wishing You A Pain Free Day!