What if You Already Have a Superpower?
- Justine Astacio, LMHC
- Jan 1
- 5 min read
What if your greatest superpower is self-awareness? The ability to tune in, listen, and respond to yourself with compassion? You don’t have to be overwhelmed, stressed, or falling apart to check in. Sometimes the most meaningful moments of growth come from pausing when things feel fine and gently asking, What do I need right now?
Our bodies and emotions are always communicating with us. Tension, restlessness, disconnection, or even quiet numbness aren’t problems to fix, they’re invitations. When you learn to listen with acceptance, you create space for emotional freedom and a deeper, more honest relationship with who you are.
That’s why I created The Balance Formula. A gentle framework for regular check-ins, not just moments of crisis. Through four variables: Serenity, Strength, Love, and Life, you’re guided back to calm, courage, connection, and meaning in a way that supports self-exploration and strengthens your relationship with yourself.
This isn’t about doing more.It’s about listening more deeply.
Balance isn’t something you achieve. It’s something you return to.
In this post, I’ll guide you through each variable and share simple, grounding practices that help turn self-awareness into something lived, embodied, and sustainable. Whether you’re feeling overwhelmed or simply curious about yourself, The Balance Formula is here to support you with compassion, clarity, and trust in your own inner wisdom
Here is what the four variables look and feel like in everyday life.
Serenity: When Your System Needs Calm
Serenity helps regulate your nervous system when stress, overstimulation, and tension build up. It invites quiet, grounding, and space to breathe again.
Balance is not something you achieve. It’s something you return to.
When Serenity is low, it often shows up as:
Feeling overwhelmed or easily irritated
Trouble focusing or mental fog
A sense that everything feels urgent
Pressure in your jaw, chest, or shoulders
You are not avoiding life.
You are creating enough inner stillness to hear yourself again.
Strength: When You Need Courage, Resilience, and Embodiment
Strength reconnects you to your body and your sense of capability. It is mental resilience, emotional courage, and the movement your body needs to regulate stress and return to center.
When Strength is low, it might look like:
Feeling disconnected from your body
Avoiding conversations or tasks
Emotional heaviness with no clear outlet
Going through the motions on autopilot
Strength helps you face what is challenging without abandoning yourself.
Love: When Connection Is the Missing Piece
Love is emotional safety. It is the need to be seen, supported, and held in care. Love grounds you in connection with others and with yourself.
When Love is low, it often feels like:
Loneliness
Emotional tightness
Difficulty softening or receiving help
Feeling unseen or misunderstood
Love is not a grand gesture.
Love is a soft place to land.
Life: When You Need Meaning and Direction
Life brings you back into purpose. It helps you reconnect with fulfillment, intention, and what feels true to you.
When Life is low, it might look like:
Feeling unmotivated
Moving through your day without feeling present
Losing interest in meaningful activities
Questioning your path or doubting yourself
Life reminds you that you deserve to feel alive in your own story.
Tension, restlessness, and disconnection aren’t problems to fix. They’re invitations to listen more deeply to yourself.
Rituals and the Balance Formula: Strengthening your super power
For me, a ritual is a small, intentional practice that brings me back to myself. It could be a slow breath, a mindful stretch, or a moment to check in with my emotions. Rituals matter because they create space, calm, and clarity, helping me navigate life with more ease.
In The Balance Formula, rituals become even more powerful. Each variable: Serenity, Strength, Love, and Life, offers a guide for how to care for yourself.
By practicing rituals aligned with these variables, I strengthen my greatest superpower: self-awareness.I can pause, listen, and act from a place of understanding and compassion. Rituals turn balance from an idea into something I live and embody every day, guiding me toward emotional freedom and deeper connection with myself.
How to Apply: An opportunity to create your own ritual
Save this list. Refer to it. Let it support you. | ||
Serenity Practices (for stress, overwhelm, tension)
Two Minute Slow Down
Inhale through your nose, exhale through your mouth, and soften your shoulders.
Release One Thing
Ask: What can wait today? Take it off your mental plate.
Still-Point Check In
Hand on chest or belly. Feel one full breath cycle.
Micro Quiet Time
Lower lights, silence notifications, or step into a quieter room.
Breath Before Responding
One full inhale. One full exhale. Then respond.
Strength Practices (for disconnection, avoidance, emotional heaviness)
Ten Minute Reset Walk
Move at a natural pace. Let your body lead.
Power Exhale
Inhale normally and lengthen your exhale five times.
Spine Wake Up
Stretch overhead, lengthen your spine, take three breaths.
Anchor Stretch
Release your neck and jaw by tilting one ear to each shoulder.
Shake Out the Day
Shake arms, legs, and shoulders for ten seconds.
Love Practices (for loneliness, self criticism, emotional tightness)
Safe Person Text
Send a grounding message to someone you trust.
Self-Compassion Line
Hand on heart. Say: “I am doing the best I can.”
One Honest Share
Tell someone one true thing about your day.
Warm Presence
Sit with someone without multitasking for thirty seconds.
Softening Breath
Exhale and imagine your belly and shoulders softening.
Life Practices (for lack of direction, numbness, or confusion)
One Meaningful Thing
Choose one task that feels meaningful, no matter the size.
Values Check In
Ask: What matters to me today? Align one action to it.
Small Win List
Write down one thing you accomplished today.
Joy Spark
Do something that brings joy for sixty seconds.
Future Whisper
Ask: “What do I want for myself?” Let the answer unfold naturally.
When You Want to Go Deeper
The Balance Formula is woven into everything we do at Lotus Theory. Therapy, movement, breathwork, sound, and community experiences all help you interpret your variables more clearly and use them with intention.
If you are curious about how these variables show up in your life, bring them into your next session. Ask your clinician which one might be calling for your attention this week.
This framework is here to support you, not pressure you.
Your balance is already within you.
The Balance Formula simply helps you hear it.
