There were two frameworks put forth in this presentation as ways to conceptualize our lives and work towards better balance:
1. Think about your day-to-day life and your commitments as a tree. Which aspects of your life are the larger architectural portions of the tree, and which aspects of your life are smaller twigs? Do these proportions make sense, or has something that should be a smaller twig taken over more of the trunk of the tree? How can you prune that tree and reshape its various parts so that its proportions and anatomy provide you with a satisfying and balanced life?
2. Think about what it is like for you on various levels when you are in three states of being: (a) at your optimal state, (b) at your most extreme out-of-balance state, and (c) at the point where you are moving towards being out of balance. What do those three states look like and feel like for you –
-physically? How does your state of balance get reflected in your body and health?
-emotionally? How do your emotions get affected by your balance or lack thereof?
-relationally? How does the way that you relate to other people change in various states?
-sleep-wise? How is your sleep affected by your state?
-your ability to say no? How does saying no look and feel to you in these various states?
Since learning about these frameworks, I have done a great deal of reflecting on what life balance looks like and feels like to me, as well as on how to achieve and maintain that balance, and why that balance needs to be a higher priority for me than it usually is. This is, of course, an ongoing project with few “clear answers,” but it is one that I am pleased to have re-engaged in with these new frames.
