When I am coaching I talk about these two different areas, the red zone where we are struggling, frustrated, down, angry, stuck, no motivation, and then the green zone, where we have focus, direction, clarity, peace, motivation, joy…
1. Both zones are a part of us, and I explain in this blog, why I don’t like to disregard or disown the red. When we are able to uncover what is going on underneath the red zone, then we can take action to get out of it sooner.
2. Red and green zones are used as it is neutral language, but the red zone could be called fear and the green zone could be called love. The red could also be called disconnected and disempowered, while the green could be called connected and empowered. I don’t know about you, but simplicity works best for me, and red and green are super visual for me to picture.
3. As discussed in the blog above the red zone forms the basis of our false identity, whereas the green zone helps us to live a far more authentic life, a life closer to the person we were put on the planet to be.
4. When we are living in the red one, our world becomes small, we often tend to withdraw and isolate ourselves, focusing purely on where we are at, even when, for example, community or connection may be the very thing we are craving. When we start stepping out in the green zone, our world starts getting bigger, there is more openness, we have more or new wholesome experiences, we gain evidence and pieces of the puzzle as to our true self.
5. When triggered, we have a choice as to whether we react or we respond. Often this realisation starts to happen with hindsight, we spot how we could have handled a situation differently after it has happened; but then over time we are able to bring even the smallest of pauses in and respond in a different way, and that will be from the green zone.
6. When we are dealing with pain, in the red zone it can be a go-to to numb and avoid as well as withdraw, sometimes we don’t have enough understanding as to what the buttons are that have been pressed or the wound that has been poked. When we are coming more from the green zone, we are able to hold that pain, to sit with it, feel it and in doing so are able to move through it much quicker.
7. Some activities can look very similar in the red zone and the green zone, but they may have a different intention behind them. For example, sleeping in the red zone could be a way of withdrawing, but in the green zone, could be self care; reading a book in the red zone could be a way of numbing and avoiding, but in the green it could be an afternoon of literary bliss! When we can uncover what is going on for us at the time, can help us see where we are at.
8. When we are in the red, we can find ourselves living with glasses on that have a filter of doubt, worry and fear, when we are able to start stepping in to the green more, we are able to live and see the world with love, trust and faith. We literally start seeing things we have not seen before, or little bit by little bit we start to see the world in a different way, and it starts to feel different, in our body, our heart, our mind and our soul…
9. Freedom is a core value of mine, and when I am struggling, when I am in that red zone, there is nothing free about that place. Argh makes me feel trapped just thinking about it, and that feeling of being trapped super affects my headspace.
10. Maybe I have painted a pretty rough picture of the red zone here, as I say it is a part of who we are, and the more we can get clues on it, the more we can understand it, have a relationship with it, start getting to know what we need when we are there, and therefore the steps to get back in to the green.
Please know that despite teaching, coaching, sharing, using the tools every single day in some way, I still get down, frustrated, angry, upset, I still get in that red zone, but jeepers, when we understand more about our red zone, we start making moves to get out other quicker!
After all, there’s green zone living to be done!
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