Last year, I channeled a workbook concept that I call The Wheel of Life. It was my first experience “downloading” an entire book in this manner. It was an idea that was tap-tap-tapping on my consciousness all weekend, and wouldn’t let up until I leapt out of bed on Sunday morning determined to get it out of my head and onto paper. I wasn’t able to stop typing until I had it all down, 12 hours later, still in my pajamas, having barely eaten more than a few snacks all day.
The Wheel of Life coaching system is essentially a synthesis of concepts borrowed from astrology, art therapy, and sacred ritual. The workbook guides you in creating your own personal Wheel of Life: a visual representation of your current life, overlaid with your dreams, prayers, and action plan, rendered in a form that is ancient, potent, ritualistic and symbolic. Your personal Wheel serves as a vision board, task list, and meditation mandala all in one. It is to be used and energized through a regular practice of gratitude and ritual.
Email me to get a free copy of the workbook if you’re curious to try it out for yourself.
The 12 houses
Each section of the Wheel (a house) can be thought of as a specific bucket of energy – an energy we need in order to thrive. That is why the Wheel is purposely laid out to give equal weight to each house. When all the buckets are filled to a healthy capacity, we can naturally expect to have a sense of fullness or fulfillment in life.
The twelve houses in this system more or less map to the astrological houses although I took a few liberties to re-align some houses according to the quality of the energy they represent rather than sticking with the current canonical tradition.
In terms of practical application, not every house should be interpreted in the same way for every person. How a house is interpreted depends on the values, priorities and desires of each individual. The houses simply point to an energy. How that energy manifests will be unique for each person as every life is unique.
Achieving balance
The Wheel is designed to help you find greater balance across your activities by identifying areas where you might be doing too much or not enough. Especially if you’re an overachiever, you might have found that there are times in your life where you’ve been so focused on your career or education that you have neglected your relationships. Or as a parent there may have been times when you became so overwhelmed by family obligations it affected your ability to relax and listen to your body.
It may not always be optimal to live a perfectly balanced life at all times and this is okay. Balance may be achieved sequentially rather than all at once. At different points in time, one’s focus may need to be concentrated in a single area, or shift from one set of houses to another. The purpose of the Wheel is simply to make these choices conscious and deliberate.
Especially if you are prone to the kind of anxiety that tells you you are not doing enough, you can use the Wheel to remind yourself that you are actually doing the best you feasibly can and have much to celebrate about yourself.
Surrendering to the mystery
All that being said, we would be wise to remember that not every life can be balanced across all houses.
Some houses may be blessed with abundance for some whereas others may suffer from repeated disappointments and setbacks. It is natural and normal to have areas in your life where you feel stuck and exhausted.
These are the mysteries of fate and destiny that our predecessors who developed astrology ascribed to the movements of the stars and planets. Whether you believe in astrology or not, it is important to recognize that in spite of our best plans and efforts we can only live our best lives within the parameters of the hand we have been dealt.
Since the Wheel of Life is a spiritual system and not just a psychological one, you are encouraged to “let go and let God” when you have hit a wall and give yourself room to breathe. In areas where things seem particularly stuck, it is often wiser to take a step back, rather than run yourself into the ground. In this case, it’s recommended to compose a prayer or affirmation, and shift your focus instead to something else that you can control.