The Importance of Work, Play, and Passion

One thing I’ve learned in my coaching and life experience is the importance of work, play and passion, and in order to lead a full and satisfying life, we need all three. We need work so that we can sustain ourselves, pay for healthy food and afford time for rest and relaxation. Play is so essential to mental health and wellbeing as well as to productivity. This is a focus in my cultivating joy group as well as in my yoga dance classes. Passion is an essential component in cultivating more energy. When we are passionate about our work, when we are in our groove, we can work long hours and feel like we are hardly working.

Today is a good day to reassess how we are doing in each of these categories. Does your work provide adequate income? Do you have scheduled time for self, renewal and play? Do you have vacation time planned and scheduled and budgeted for? Are you fueling a passion?

If we are lucky we have found something that delivers all three that best utilizes our God-Given talents. Finding the right balance between what our ego and our subconscious needs is important. If we have health challenges related to our parasympathetic nervous system (such as insomnia, heart disease or GI issues like irritable bowel) then we may be suffering from an incongruence that health coaching may help uncover.

According to my Strength Finders test - one of the tools that I use in my practice - I am a natural networker, with a love for learning and who is also high achieving, competitive and strategic. This is why I excel in sales and business development. I love people and business and I am energized by the hunt for new business opportunities and the close of a sale. This has paid my bills, put my children through private schools and college and afforded my husband and I to buy our home in Great Falls, VA

What I realized in my sales career is that this drive and ambition also fueled my high blood pressure, high cholesterol and high stress.  During this time, Yoga, nutrition, meditation and coaching have become my anchors and also my passion. Yoga dance is my playtime. For years I relied on cds and tapes to practice my yoga in my bedroom or hotel rooms before and after hours. Because of this experience, I hope to produce a quality yoga dance  video so that I can share this experience with my fellow workaholics who need to find their own reprieve; a physical and emotional sanctuary. This practice allows us time to get out of our head and into our bodies.

Do you, like me, often suffer from sore neck, back, shoulder, wrists and arm from too much typing and sitting?  Where does your stress show up in your body?

Today, lets be grateful for our work and also take time for our play and passions. Where do you feel most creative? This is often where our passions lie. 

I love so many things and often struggle with finding the balance and focus required to accomplish my goals while not burning out. Work for me offers focus, discipline and structure as well as a livelihood. Play is my time with family, friends and yoga dance. My passion is inspiring wellness and I can do that through just being the best version of myself as possible, which means using my innate talents and skills to serve others.

What are your passions and what is your mission in life? Do you know your passions and do you have a plan for work and play balance?  Does your work support your passions or does it provide financial freedom to allow you to follow your passions? Do you allow yourself permission and time for exploration and self-discovery? Contact me if you would like support and guidance to do so.

I have struggled to find this balance in work, play and the pursuit of my many passions, which is not uncommon if you are a natural caregiver.  Personally, I am working on multiple revenue streams so that I can continue to inspire wellness in multiple ways, by promoting green solutions, sharing my online nutritional resources through my soon-to-be-new website, speaking engagements, weekend classes, retreats and workshops as well as a limited exclusive coaching practice. 

How do you balance between your work, play and passions?

Carpe Diem,
Lisa