Is your life feeling out of balance?
No matter what we use as criteria when it comes to experiencing balance in our lives, we have certain needs that need to be filled throughout our lives and the more balanced our fulfillment of these needs, the smoother our boat will sail and the closer to balance we will get.
IIN calls it primary foods
Maslow called it a hierarchy of needs
Anthony Robbins called it a wheel
I call it a bliss.
Whatever we call it, it all comes down to balance.
If our life is not in balance then we are in trouble.
- Self Actualization (morality, creativity, problem solving, learning, lack of prejudice, acceptance of facts)
- Esteem (self esteem, confidence, respect)
- Love and Belonging (friendship, family and intimacy)
- Safety (security of body, health, family, property, employment, resources and morality)
- Physiological (breathing, food, water, sex, sleep, homeostasis, excretion)
Everyone can rank these in a different order of importance. At the same time, we may each rank them differently at different times in our lives. What is certain? If one of the above is lacking and another is over emphasized, then we are out of balance.
Anthony Robbins does an exercise with a wheel representing career, physical, spiritual and financial. We have to rank each by “how it is going.” Visually we are able to see, for example, that we are doing great financially and physically, but perhaps not spiritually or career-wise. If we are out of balance, our wheel will not roll.
The Institute for Integrative Nutrition calls it “primary foods.” Outside our triangle of nutrition is a circle that consists of relationship, spirituality, career and physical activity.
The truth is, we can fix what we eat. We can eat more greens and get rid of processed foods, but if we don’t take care of the other areas of our life, we will still not experience balanced health and happiness. You can be completely healthy with your diet yet still feel imbalanced.
To help you see the topics more clearly, take a look at the following basic needs and ways of fulfillment.
Self Actualization (morality, creativity, problem solving, learning, lack of prejudice, an acceptance of facts)
Prayer, Thoughtfulness, Meditation
Journaling
Fun
Study
Spirituality
Contribution
Esteem (self esteem, confidence, and respect)
Gratitude
Feelings
Love and Belonging (friendship, family and intimacy)
Relationship building
Care giving
Forgiveness
Intimacy
Safety (security of body, health, family, property, employment, resources and morality)
Environmental safety
Health & well being
Job Security
Career growth
Financial empowerment
Environmental preservation
Ethics and morality
Physiological (breathing, environmental, food, water, sex, sleep, homeostasis, excretion)
Clean air, meditation, breathing exercise
Environmental impact on health and well being through design (ex. bringing nature into the home, healthy light, smart space)
Nutrition
PH Balance
Probiotics
Losing weight
Better Digestion
Super foods
- Acai
- Algae
- Aloe Vera
- Bee Products
- Cacao
- Camu Camu Berry
- Chlorella
- Coconut
- Goji Berries
- Hempseed
- Incan Berries
- Kelp
- Maca
- Marine Phytoplankton
- Noni
- Yacon
Raw Nutrition
- Juicing vs. Blending
- Nuts and Seeds
- Sprouts
- Grasses
- Seaweed
- Roots
- Mushrooms
- Recipes
Exercise and Fitness
Water, the amount and cleanliness
Intimacy as a physical need
Amount and quality of sleep
Digestion
Bodily function, sight, hearing, pain
Cleansing
Illness and healing
We will be adding to this and focusing on each topic as total wellness.
Look forward to future blogs on each line item and broken down even further for more tips on how to improve the quality of our lives.
If anyone has any categories they would add to each need, please comment below.
