We know how important it is to have a support system; it makes all the difference in life, particularly when you might be going through big changes or challenging circumstances. You may have even heard about Blue Zones — places in the world with the most longevity, in part because the people in the region have a support system.

How can you better understand the support you have around you? Here is a fun and easy "Community Assessment" exercise that you can try:

1. Take out a blank piece of paper and draw a dot in the middle to represent yourself.

2. Draw different dots on the page to represent friends, family, animals, practitioners, and other people in your environment. Draw each of them on the page (close/far/big/small) in relation to you.

3. Reflect on the page once it's completed.

When you look at the page you created, were there people in your life appearing close or far away? Were there any that appeared as a "big" part of your community, or a "small" part? Do you want to change any of them to support your well-being? What surprised you about the exercise?

This process is designed to give you feedback about your support system. What feedback did you get? What was your big takeaway? Some people realize that they don't have a support system, or have a support system much larger than they realized. Whatever the case may be, we hope the exercise will bring you valuable feedback on the support around you.