Lori: A LightFull Lady

Lori Ogden Moore is a shining star who is not only a distinguished executive coach and leadership consultant for several top organizations nationwide, she also runs her own business as a career and leadership advisor and still finds time to teach Sunday school and attend all three of her children's weekly basketball games. How does she do it?

"I take care of myself," says Lori. "I eat right, exercise and get enough sleep. By taking care of ourselves first, we increase our resiliency to stress and build our capacity to give, both as professionals and as mothers."

Lori defines balance as "a constant work in progress" because her needs and the needs of those close to her are always changing. She says that self-knowledge is the key. "When we are more aware of our needs, we are able to recognize when we are out of balance," Lori says. "Balance is a consciousness about the things that matter to you and a realization that you have to keep adjusting as needs arise."

Lori reveals her secrets to nurturing these four areas of well being: mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual. If you feel out of balance, Lori suggests that you take a moment to think about which of these four areas are lacking in your life, then make a plan for change.

Mental: Perhaps your job is not challenging enough or is simply, not the right fit for you. As a career coach, Lori specializes in helping people find the career that matches their strengths and values.

"When you're doing work that goes against the grain of who you are, and just isn't leveraging your strengths, you can do it, but it's exhausting," Lori says.  "It's like writing your name with your left hand when you're right-handed. You can do it, but the quality won't be as good and it will take much more energy."

Emotional: Lori likens our emotions to the "self-talk" that continually runs through our minds, making comments on ourselves and other people and unconsciously controlling our behavior. Lori says you can improve your emotional well being by moving this self-talk from the unconscious to the conscious level, and dealing with it.

In coaching we call self-talk your gremlin, says Lori. We should turn up the volume of this self-talk, so that we know exactly what it's saying. We need to visualize it, see its shape, size and color, so that we can take it out of ourselves and confront it.

Physical: Of course, regular practices of exercise, healthy diet and sleep are paramount for physical well being, but Lori shares one more important factor: conscious breathing. She explains that deep breathing helps you stay connected to the thinking part of the brain, so when we feel anxious and stop breathing normally, adrenaline and stress hormones are released and we have a brain freeze.

The more we practice conscious breathing, the more we can be prepared for those stressful moments in life, such as public speaking or when your boss yells at you, says Lori. This is another way of increasing resilience and capacity for stress.

Spiritual: Being the most personal of the four areas, everyone nurtures their spiritual side differently. For Lori, prayer, music and the connection with her children are the most transcendent, spiritual things in her life.

Every night, I read to my children individually, and this is my greatest joy, says Lori, who focuses on being emotionally present as opposed to simply physically present in her children's lives. If I had one gift for my children, it would be that they know their particular strengths, know who they are, and know that they were loved, in a very specific way, unconditionally.  From that base they can take their strengths, knowledge and love and use them in the world.