I've been finding a lot on my plate lately.
Do you ever find yourself get home from chaos at work to just as much juggling at home? As one writer put it succinctly, "I give all my time, with love for my loved ones, but when will I feel balanced?"
This is a blog about
living the life you love. It is also about changing your space. Today instead of changing the
physical space, we focus on figuratively changing or slightly tweaking
the space (& time) between the hours we have in a day - to move towards the life you love
"Wellness: a complete state of physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity".
World Health Organization
So What Is This Wellness Wheel Anyway?
The wellness wheel is a model of 6 to 8 dimensions all interconnected and important to a well-rounded and balanced lifestyle.
Here is one with 8 dimensions that resonated with me.
Ok so I've figured out these 8 dimensions are important to me. How then do I go about rearranging my life, and already full schedule?
Some time back I discovered that its not really about time management, its about self-management.
How To Self-Manage?
Dr. Daniel Siegel, at the UCLA School of Medicine, suggests that we divide the hours in a day into time zones. In the allotted time, focus only on the activity allotted.
Hmm, sounds nice, but may be too idealist. With two little kids and full schedules, I don't see that happening here.
But wait a minute, by being a bit creative and including the children in the new routine maybe I can include at least a few elements.
So here we go ...
We divided our day into time zones
- Focused Work Time: I work from home, that means before the kids wake up. Divided this further to concentrate on (see above diagram for details)
By consciously dividing the time, I found I actually did concentrate on those areas
- Creative & Play Time (Emotional Well being) : This spans most of the day, the difference being, I am mindful to 'play' with the kids like a child instead of focusing on what needs to get done. Building with Lego is no longer just helping them unfix stuck blocks. It's being fully involved and building together.
- Meditation Time/Spiritual: with a conscious effort to get the children involved we incorporated meditation time into the bedtime routine. By playing a guided meditation, making it child friendly, and a game for everyone. This has helped the children calm down and get ready for bed.
- Relationship Time (Part of Social): Time after the kids sleep. No chores, no social media at this time. It's just time to be with your spouse. Reserving socializing to the weekends.
- Physical Exercise Time: This was difficult. So we began by including a short 15 - 20 minute walk around the neighborhood twice a week. Sometimes we switched the walk with a yoga for kids session at home. During the morning hours on some days while during the evenings on others.
- Environmental: We began paying close attention to the daily choices we were making. Beginning to choose and focus on the reuse, reduce, recycle framework.
I
have to admit, while not perfect, we are beginning to live the same 24
hours on a slightly deeper and more fulfilling level. Beginning with
baby steps down a path we want to go.
In our day to day rush we tend to neglect our spirit. From the 8 dimensions listed above, the spiritual dimension that powers our human spirit usually gets least attention.
Power Up The Spirit!
Yet, it is the one dimension that helps us survive and thrive with grace, even when life throws us a curve ball.
Follow along in this short 2 minute time-lapse video showing a group of Buddhist monks creating an exquisite, colored-sand mandala at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. It took them six days to create this masterpiece - only to take it down once its done - symbolizing the flow of life.
Mandalas
We witness and experience the beauty of a mandala everyday. Geometric shapes in all aspects of our lives are abundant in the circular mandala pattern.
The Sun in the sky, the nucleus of the cells in our bodies, flowers, and the snowflake are but just a few examples of mandalas around us. From vast galaxies to the cells in our bodies, we all have a silent core (the Brahmasthan) and all activity happens around it.
The ancient science of sacred geometry states that these mandalas are the patterns created by interlocking spheres that form the matrix of all of universal matter.
Color Like A Child
So what does that have to do with us , powering up our spirit, and balance? Amazing as it is simple, just the simple act of coloring a mandala can do the following
Whether it is the Native American medicine wheel or the simple rangoli of the traditional Indian home, the intricate geometric patterns on an Islamic Mosque, or the exquisite colored sand mandala's of Tibetan monks, indigenous cultures around the globe have incorporated the healing power of mandalas through practices.
Mandalas
We witness and experience the beauty of a mandala everyday. Geometric shapes in all aspects of our lives are abundant in the circular mandala pattern.
The Sun in the sky, the nucleus of the cells in our bodies, flowers, and the snowflake are but just a few examples of mandalas around us. From vast galaxies to the cells in our bodies, we all have a silent core (the Brahmasthan) and all activity happens around it.
The ancient science of sacred geometry states that these mandalas are the patterns created by interlocking spheres that form the matrix of all of universal matter.
Color Like A Child
So what does that have to do with us , powering up our spirit, and balance? Amazing as it is simple, just the simple act of coloring a mandala can do the following
- Relax you
- Balance your body, your mind, and your spirit
- Make a spiritual connection
- Expand creativity
- Increase self-awareness
- Power up your spirit
Dr. Bruce Lipton,
Cellular biologist states that 95% - 99% of our physical bodies and
experience is driven by our sub-conscious mind. While just having a
positive attitude is not enough, we need to affect change in our
subconscious patterns.
The act of coloring a mandala affects changes on the subconscious level. Intangible thoughts and feelings take on form and substance. You activate the healing power of the sacred circle.
Whether it is the Native American medicine wheel or the simple rangoli of the traditional Indian home, the intricate geometric patterns on an Islamic Mosque, or the exquisite colored sand mandala's of Tibetan monks, indigenous cultures around the globe have incorporated the healing power of mandalas through practices.
Download free mandala coloring pages from these sources
Color? Me? ... No Way
It was alright to read all this about the mandala. Something to do some other day when I have more time.
But then, I stopped to think. Wise Tibetan monks, spending 6 full days to work so diligently to create a beautiful sand mandala, and then just take it all down! Maybe there is something to this.
So I print me a free mandala, find my daughter's coloring pencils and begin to color away. 15 to 20 minutes later I am enthused like a child, spirit lifted, and happy. So far so good.
The rest of the day and the following few days I felt an immediate sense of calm. I handled conflict, stress, and chaos with the calmness of a saint(or a monk) if I may say so!
I also had this strange sense of connectedness. Felt all is right with the world.
Wow just coloring a mandala could do that? I have got myself a mandala coloring book. Its been a simple and amazing spirit boost. Not to mention that it has spilled into the other dimensions that I have been working to balance.
It's
interesting sometimes we just have to name it to claim it! Just by the
ordinary act of identifying the 8 dimensions that we want to include, it
wasn't too much of a change to bring those into our living experience.
Do you find your life is in balance? If so, what aspects have been working for you? If not, what from this post resonates with you that you can bring into your life today?
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