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Last week we explored the areas of work, finances and time and productivity in our life audit. This week we look at body and health, hobbies and interests and relaxation.

4) Body and Health

One of the first things I did was to accept that I was not happy with my weight or health. I scored myself at a three out of ten in this area.

After brainstorming different ways to improve my health I went on a detox and gave up drinking. For my body I decided to eat healthier and went to a dieting club and lost weight.  As my health became more important to me I started running and created a goal to complete a 5k charity race which I ran this past year.

For more on creating meaningful goals following your life audit, I strongly recommend reading ‘How to turn your dreams into reality’ and, should you wish to look at diet and exercise in more depth, read ‘New Year, New Life – How to Exercise Your Way to Well Being’.

5) Hobbies and Interests

When it came to assessing my hobbies and interests it was clear I was deficient in this area of my life. My only hobby was singing, it was a huge source of enjoyment for me but I felt I needed a more varied range of hobbies and interests. Other than that, my leisure time consisted of watching TV and occasionally seeing friends. I scored my hobbies and interests at a four out of ten.

I began searching for more hobbies and interests. One of the interests that arose when I went into treatment was psychology. It fascinated me. I was completely in awe of its power to transform lives.

Loving to be creative, I decided to continue pursuing my hobby of singing and look for more ways to creatively express myself. I had always wanted to write, so I mixed my interest in psychology with my bourgeoning passion for writing.

I also chose to start attending church, pursuing my growing interest in Christianity.

If you have very few hobbies or interests a great site to peruse is Tasterlab. It has an extensive directory of taster classes, designed to help you uncover which pursuits most appeal to you. Should you conclude your life is lacking playfulness as a result of too few interests, next months series is titled ‘How to Avoid Problems by Integrating Play’ and will reveal the many ways we can integrate play so it fits in with our lifestyle.

Likewise, if you’re interested in being creative, read  last Septembers series titled ‘How to Design a More Fulfilling Life by Being Creative in 6 Simple Steps’.

6) Relaxation

Once I looked at how I relaxed and how often I found that although I spent a great deal of time watching TV I didn’t actually find it that relaxing, it was more a means to distract myself from how unhappy I had grown with my life. Similarly, you may be surprised to discover that what may conventionally be viewed as relaxing, actually isn’t that effective for you personally. I scored relaxation a measly two out of ten.

I discovered in treatment that a great way to relax was through meditating and it is a practise I continue today. I also began to visualise reaching my goals to soothing music, with candles which filled my room, a pastime that I found very relaxing and uplifting. I bought a monthly cinema pass as I found going to the cinema relaxing.

To help you brainstorm activities you may find relaxing I have listed some below:

• TV / DVD / Cinema
• Candles and music
• Visualisation of realising goals
• Bubble bath or hot shower
• A professional massage
• Beauty night (hair, nails, face masks)
• Going for a scenic walk
• Early nights sleep
• Cooking
• Meditation*

*To discover how meditating can benefit you please read ‘How to Stop Operating on Auto-Pilot and Live for the Moment’. If you decide you want to purchase a meditation CD, please read my ‘Review: GUIDED Mindfulness Meditation CD Series 3 by Jon Kabat-Zinn’.

Stay tuned – next week we explore the areas of family and friends and romance.

Are you happy with your body and health? Do you have many hobbies and interests and are you actively pursuing them? How do you relax and do you relax often? Please share your thoughts in the comments below to gain encouragement, insight and support from our community, we’d love to hear from you.

Exercises:

1. Score your body and health out of 10, with 1 being poor and 10 being amazing. Brainstorm and write down what would make your score a 10 out of 10.
2. Score your hobbies and interests out of 10, with 1 being poor and 10 being amazing. Brainstorm and write down what would make your score a 10 out of 10.
3. Score your relaxation out of 10, with 1 being poor and 10 being amazing. Brainstorm and write down what would make your score a 10 out of 10.