Unlock Your Inner Balance: Discovering Your CODE/AURA for a Healthier You - Dr. Cheng Ruan

airway health alzheimers autoimmune brain health mental health mind-body medicine Jun 24, 2025

At the Texas Center for Lifestyle Medicine, we believe true well-being means more than just not being sick. It's about understanding yourself, handling your feelings well, and building strong, good relationships that make life better. This idea is central to our work, helping us guide people to achieve overall health.

My sister, Dr. Diana Ruan, and I created the CODE/AURA Profile with this goal in mind. This special system is a complete guide to help people understand their inner thoughts and how they interact with the world. We first made it to help professionals in stressful jobs, especially in healthcare, where burnout is common. But we quickly saw that it could help everyone.

We found that the ideas and practices in the CODE/AURA Profile were very useful for anyone wanting to improve their emotional skills, become stronger, and live a more balanced, happy, and meaningful life. This system, first made to help healthcare workers deal with burnout, has become a valuable tool for anyone committed to personal growth and well-being.

Think of it as a personalized roadmap to understanding your natural communication style and how well you navigate the emotional landscape of your daily life.

Your CODE: Unveiling Your Core Style

The "CODE" part of our system helps you identify your foundational, subconscious operational style. There's no "good" or "bad" CODE – just different ways we naturally tend to approach situations. Understanding your CODE, and the CODEs of those around you, can transform how you interact with your family, friends, and even how you tackle personal projects.

Here are the four CODE profiles we've identified:

The Commander: Do you tend to be direct, decisive, and focused on getting things done? You're likely a Commander! You thrive on achieving goals and taking charge. In daily life, this might mean you're the one organizing family vacations with a clear itinerary or leading a community project with a no-nonsense approach.
The Organizer: Are you engaging, optimistic, and great at bringing people together? The Organizer might be your CODE! You're the social glue, skilled at motivating others and fostering collaboration. Perhaps you're the one planning fun gatherings or inspiring your friends to join a new fitness challenge.
The Diplomat: If you're empathetic, patient, and prioritize harmony, you probably resonate with the Diplomat profile. You're a natural listener who excels at creating a cooperative and respectful atmosphere. In your life, you might be the one smoothing over disagreements between family members or offering a compassionate ear to a friend in need.
The Examiner: Are you analytical, objective, and driven by a desire for accuracy and understanding? The Examiner sounds like you! You're a critical thinker who values data and evidence. This could mean you're meticulously researching a new health regimen or carefully planning a major life decision based on all the facts.

Your AURA Score: Your Real-Time Emotional Compass

While your CODE is about your inherent style, your AURA Score is a dynamic, real-time measure of your emotional intelligence. It's a self-assessment that helps you understand how effectively you're deploying your emotional skills in any given moment. A higher AURA Score (on a scale of 4 to 40) means you're demonstrating greater self-awareness, empathy, self-regulation, and effective relationship management.

Think of it this way, your AURA Score is composed of four components, each rated from 1 to 10, where 1 is deficient and 10 is exemplary:

Awareness: How well do you recognize and understand your own emotions, moods, and motivations, and their effect on your thoughts, behavior, and others?
Understanding: How accurately do you perceive, comprehend, and appreciate the emotions, perspectives, and needs of others?
Regulation: How effectively do you manage your own internal emotional states, impulses, and resources?
Alignment: How well do you integrate your Awareness, Understanding, and Regulation to manage interactions successfully, build rapport, influence others, and handle conflict constructively?

When your AURA Score is high, you're likely navigating challenges with grace, communicating effectively, and building stronger connections. A low AURA Score, on the other hand, might indicate that you're feeling overwhelmed, miscommunicating, or struggling to connect.

Your Self-Assessment Procedure: Discover Your CODE and AURA!

Ready to get started? Here’s a simple procedure to begin assessing your own CODE and AURA:

Step 1: Discover Your CODE Profile Reflect on how you typically operate in various situations. Read the descriptions of the Commander, Organizer, Diplomat, and Examiner again. Which one resonates most strongly with your general approach to life, work, and relationships?

Consider your natural inclinations: Are you usually the one taking charge, rallying people, mediating, or analyzing?
Think about your communication style: Are you direct, persuasive, empathetic, or logical?
Observe your reactions under pressure: Do you become more decisive, more collaborative, more supportive, or more analytical when stressed?

Choose the CODE that feels like your most dominant, foundational style. Remember, it's not about being only one CODE, but about identifying your primary tendency.

Step 2: Assess Your Real-Time AURA Score This is a dynamic assessment, meant to be done in the moment or shortly after a significant interaction or event. The goal is to develop a habit of self-reflection.

Pick a Recent Interaction: Think about a recent conversation, a challenging situation, or any interaction where emotions (yours or others') were present. It could be a discussion with your spouse, a meeting with a neighbor, or even managing a difficult moment with your child.
Rate Each AURA Component (1-10): For that specific interaction, ask yourself the following questions and assign a score from 1 (deficient/counterproductive) to 10 (exemplary/masterful) for each component:

Awareness: "How well did I recognize and understand my own emotional and physical state during that situation, and its potential impact on my actions?"
Understanding: "How accurately did I perceive and acknowledge the emotional state and perspective of the other person/people in that interaction?"
Regulation: "How effectively did I manage my emotional impulses and maintain composure to respond thoughtfully and constructively in that situation?"
Alignment: "How well did I use my understanding of myself and others to communicate effectively, manage the relationship, and guide the interaction toward a positive outcome?"

Calculate Your Total AURA Score: Add up your scores for Awareness, Understanding, Regulation, and Alignment. Your total score will be between 4 and 40.
Interpret Your Zone:

Distress Zone (4-10): Significant emotional dysregulation; high risk for poor outcomes.
Struggling Zone (11-20): Moderate difficulty; inconsistent performance under pressure.
Effective Zone (21-30): Solid, consistent application of emotional intelligence.
Exemplary Zone (31-40): High emotional intelligence, resilience, and interpersonal mastery.

Reflect and Learn:

What contributed to your scores?
What could you have done differently to improve a specific component?
How did your CODE style influence your actions in this situation, and how did your AURA Score modulate that? (For example, a "Commander" with a low "Understanding" score might come across as abrasive, but a Commander with high "Understanding" would be perceived as decisive and empathetic.)

Step 3: Practice and Improve Your AURA Score The magic happens with consistent practice. The goal is to systematically increase your AURA Score over time.

Journaling: Regularly jot down your AURA Scores after challenging interactions and note what triggered your emotions or what you could have done differently.
Tactical Pause: When you feel your emotions rising (a low "Awareness" moment), take a deep breath before speaking or acting (improving "Regulation").
Active Listening: In conversations, make a conscious effort to truly listen and summarize what you hear to ensure "Understanding".
Seek Feedback: Ask a trusted friend or family member for gentle feedback on your communication style (improving "Alignment").

Real-Life Transformations: CODE/AURA in Action

Here at the Texas Center for Lifestyle Medicine, we've seen how understanding CODE and improving AURA scores can lead to incredible personal growth. While these are hypothetical examples, they illustrate the power of this framework:

Sarah, the "Commander" Mom: Sarah, a busy working mom with a strong Commander CODE, often felt frustrated during family discussions. She'd present her "plan" for chores or weekend activities, and her family would often resist, leading to arguments. Through the CODE/AURA system, she realized her AURA Score was dropping in these moments; her directness, without enough "Understanding" of her family's need for input, was perceived as dictatorial. By focusing on increasing her "Understanding" and "Alignment" scores—pausing to ask for their ideas, even if she had a clear vision—she found that her family became more cooperative. Now, her household runs more smoothly, and she feels more connected to her kids.
Mark, the "Diplomat" Friend: Mark, a kind and supportive Diplomat, was struggling to set boundaries with a demanding friend. He'd often say "yes" to requests even when it overextended him, fearing conflict would damage the friendship. Learning about his Diplomat CODE and working on his "Regulation" and "Alignment" in his AURA score, he practiced tactfully but firmly communicating his limits. He realized that true friendship also involves healthy boundaries. His friend, while initially surprised, ultimately respected his honesty, and their friendship became more balanced and authentic.
Maria, the "Examiner" Planner: Maria, an Examiner by nature, loved to research every detail before making a decision, whether it was buying a new car or planning a healthy meal. While thorough, this often led to "analysis paralysis," and she'd feel overwhelmed and stressed. By understanding her Examiner CODE and consciously focusing on her "Regulation" in her AURA Score, she learned to set reasonable deadlines for her research and trust her well-informed instincts. She's now able to make decisions more efficiently and with less anxiety, enjoying the process rather than getting bogged down by it.
David, the "Organizer" Team Leader: David, an enthusiastic Organizer, was great at motivating his volunteer team, but sometimes felt overwhelmed by negativity or disagreements within the group. He'd try to "cheerlead" through problems, which sometimes felt superficial to others. By recognizing his Organizer CODE and consciously focusing on his "Awareness" and "Understanding" in his AURA score, he learned to acknowledge and validate concerns before injecting optimism. This made his team feel truly heard and valued, leading to deeper trust and more sustainable collaboration.

Start Your Journey Towards Greater Well-being

The CODE/AURA Profile provides a practical, shared language to understand yourself and others better. It offers actionable strategies to improve your emotional intelligence, reduce friction in your relationships, and ultimately, enhance your overall well-being.

We invite you to explore your own CODE and begin cultivating a higher AURA Score in your daily life. It's a journey towards greater self-awareness, stronger connections, and a more fulfilling life.