Living Energy Blog

Stress constricts our energy and drains us of our vitality. All effective stress management techniques help alleviate the constrictions and blocks to our flow of energy and thus enhance our overall feelings of well being, peace and happiness. Laughter is a wonderful way to open up our channels of energy and let the good times flow!

As we spoke about yesterday on our radio show, stress is anything that causes you to adapt…and it is a fact of life!

( Listen to recorded show here: http://www.divatoolbox.com/diva-toolbox-radio-/hosts/2007-peg-donahue-and-karen-kallie-living-energy.html)

However, just because it is a fact of life does not mean that we are powerless over it. There are many ways that we can address the stresses of life. We can eliminate some, reduce others and manage the rest in a healthy way!  

Positive Stress

There are changes in our lives that are fun, exciting and highly satisfying. These changes do require us to adapt but generally are not damaging to our mind, body and spirits. Still it is wise to be aware and care for yourself when you are going through major life changes as they can still impact you in ways that stretch or strain your energy.

Negative Stress

This is the stress that most are referring to when speaking about stress. Negative stress has ramifications mentally, emotionally, physically and behaviorally. It is important to view your particular response to stress so that you can appropriately address your symptoms. For instance if your typical response to stress is to become physically constricted and tight with lots of muscular tension, then it is important for you to have techniques that address that type of reaction. A person who is more cognitive or emotional in their reactions needs other methods that more specifically address their needs.

It is important to address stress from the inside out

We generally may be aware of the external signs and symptoms of stress…the results. But what we are not unaware of is the multitude of internal changes that occur as our natural fight/flight response is triggered by external situations…or our interpretations of them.  Since most of our stresses are psychological and not physical, our natural balancing response does not kick in after a stress is over. The result is that in effect we have flipped a switch ON and it remains on silently wearing us away from the inside out. Over time not only do our state of mind, emotional balance, performance and relationships suffer from this unremedied state, but our health also breaks down.  The good news is that there is a lot you can do that is simple and enjoyable to address the stress in your life and not have it eat away at you, your health or your life.

Unnecessary Stress

This is the stress that you can eliminate or significantly reduce. You can look at your schedule, how you spend your time and with whom and make changes that bring more sanity and peace to your world. There may aspects of this elimination process that feel difficult or awkward but what is your life and your health worth?

Necessary Stress

This is the stress that you cannot or do not want to eliminate from your life. You must manage it through changing your response  to it. The inner work referred to earlier is helpful in all areas relating to stress, but it is here that it is the most crucial.

What do I mean by inner work? Certainly taking a look at your beliefs, perceptions, emotional style, and cognitive patterns and working to change them to be more healthy and supportive can be helpful. But the really effective antidote for stress lies in techniques such as deep relaxation,  energy work and meditation.  Introducing a regular practice that includes these methods has a profound effect on erasing the effects of the fight/flight response, building resiliency and enhancing health. These methods also help bring clarity of mind and peace to the emotions that can help to shift  other aspects of your being to help you deal with the stress of life in a healthy way.

If you travel to the homepage on www.livingenergyworks.com,  you can sample a 9 minute deep relaxation to get an idea of how it feels to learn to releae your stress.

We also offer a free email series that helps you walk through your energy system and look at the energy of mind/body/spirit and how you can work holistically to bring your system into balance to improve all facets of your life including stress!

This series includes a weekly email with information about a specific chakra and how it affects your life. There is a link in each email that leads you to more information, an online journal where you will find questions to personalize the information for you and a recorded relaxation that helps to balance that particular chakra. 

~Chakras Unplugged ~ Click here to sign up for Chakras Unplugged our FREE email program

Today on our radio show we will be talking about how to Stay Stress Free in a Stressful World!

We will be discussing:

1.Four different types of stress and why you need approaches for each one

2. The hidden effects of stress and what you can do to erase them

3. Energetic approaches to stress reduction

4. A quick on the spot stress buster

 In addition to the discussion we will be ending the call with a technique focused on dissolving the inner effects of stress.

Stress Measurement

If you are interested in measuring your stress here is a scale that was designed to help give you an idea of what types of life events cause stress and have an effect on your health.

The scale directs you to look at events of the past year. I believe that if something happened 2-3 or more years ago and you are still experiencing stress over it then you should count the points–you may need to adjust the point valueaccordingly. One of the ways that a scale like this can be helpful to you is through greater awareness of the major stresses in your life. If you are encountering several big stresses at any given time then perhaps you can make more different choices about adding more!

In my opinion, the best use of a scale like this is to empower you to take charge of yourself and your life through new choices rather than feeling like a victim of stress or anything else in your life!

 To measure stress according to the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale, the number of “Life Change Units” that apply to events in the past year of an individuals life are added and the final score will give a rough estimate of how stress affects health.

Score of 300+: At risk of illness.

Score of 150-299+: Risk of illness is moderate (reduced by 30% from the above risk).

Score 150-: Only have a slight risk of illness.

 We would love to have you join us on the show either by phone, computer or later at your convenience by listening to the recorded call. And as always we welcome your questions and comments by email or in the comment section on this blog or in the area provided under the radio show area on Diva Toolbox.

To call into the show:

Phone Number: (724) 444-7444
Call ID: 66142

On your computer:

http://www.divatoolbox.com/diva-toolbox-radio-/hosts/2007-peg-donahue-and-karen-kallie-living-energy.html and share your thoughts and questions on this topic. All shows are recorded and archived so you can listen at your convenience if you are not available at the time of the call.

The term “new human” has been used as a way to  describe ourselves as we move along the path of evolving our human nature and integrate more of our spiritual capacity in our daily lives.

A recent experience at a presentation Peg and I did has led me to thinking that more conscious compassion may be a part of this new human presence and expression.

The purpose of our presentation was to use Aura Imaging to show people their energy in real time. This is a type of biofeedback that allows you to see what your energy looks like first without any attention and then how it shifts as you experiment with various mind states and stimuli.

In groups when we have done these demonstrations people are often most amazed to see how different each person’s energy is, as well as how easily their energy shifts even with small changes in intention and attention.

This particular evening all was going along pretty typically until one woman sat and I noticed right away that I felt a strong urge to place my hands on her shoulders and “run energy” to her. I just chalked that up to my thinking it had simply occurred to me that it would be fun to show the group the effect of that. However, once she was situated on the equipment I could see that her aura was showing signs of turbulence, disorganization and incoherence especially around her heart chakra. When I placed my hands on her shoulders I could feel a deep inner trembling in her.When I asked if she was experiecing any kind of pain or discomfort she began to weep and said she had broken up with a boyfriend that day. 

It then occurred to me to ask the group to come and encircle her and simply send whatever feelings of love and care that they could. Its worth mentioning here that these people were not energy healers and did not know this woman, they were  simply folks from all walks of life who were interested in the topic of energy and its effects.

As we stood in a quiet space and simply held that intention of flowing love and care, everyone could watch on the computer screen as the aura shifted and changed . The whole experience was less than five minutes but we all watched as  the darkness in her field dissipated, the earlier signs of turbulence faded and her energy became more smooth and flowing. In addition a beautiful pink color began to suffuse her field especially in the heart area. This is a color that I have seen frequently when healing energy is flowed either within or to a person.

In addition to the changes we were seeing on the screen, there were signs externally that something was shifting for this person. The tears stopped, her body relaxed, she became more settled and said with surprise in her voice that she was feeling much better. What she described was feeling much stronger and centered with the sharpness gone out of her pain. She began to speak more about how she felt she would move on from this experience rather than about being overcome and paralyzed by her grief. Her conversation reflected that she was regaining her inner balance and her composure and was indicating that she was beginning to feel that she would be able to move beyond the immobilization, disorientation and disorganization that she had felt for most of that day.

Did this  experience last beyond the time of the presentation? I do not know. What I do know is that for a moment she and we had a real time example of how we can all care for, support and nurture each other simply with a moment of focused compassion.  We all had a visual representation now of how our conscious intention affected energy. Perhaps moreimportantly we had a very real experience of being able to make a difference even with a stranger by how we hold and express our selves through our energy. And of course, even if this woman’s pain reemerged with all its intensity, she now had had an experience that showed her that she could move beyond and feel differently and did not have to be a “victim” of her pain.

We can all give ourselves and others the gift of energy. Doing so enlivens both the giver and the receiver. Simply being present and intending care can help support a person to move to the next best place for them. Receiving the energy of care frees us up and clears a space to be able to know our next best step on the path of healing and wholeness.

On our Monday morning radio show we had a discussion about why we might fear owning our personal power. Three major areas emerged in that discussion:

1. Lack of awareness or clear definition about what personal power is

2. Lack of knowledge about HOW to claim it 

3. Beliefs about power that keep us small, constricted or conflicted

Personal power from our perspective is having the ability to create and live your life from your best/whole self. It is not power over anybody or wielding great influence in the world. Our definition is really more about having self mastery and creating your life from the inside out. That can result in your having more presence, success or influence in the external world but that is not the driving force or primary goal.

Personal power from this viewpoint is “owning all your parts” and nurturing them so that your best self can find its best expression in your world. All else flows from there.

Understanding our energetic nature helps to simplify the task of owning our personal power. Our energy and the consciousness within it is our inherent power. When we know how to harness and manage it we are much better able to address personal power and all its manifestations.

 We are of course mind, body and spirit and we could take any one of those aspects and see a myriad of ways that we either build or dissipate energy with and through them. A general rule of thumb is that when we add to our inner resources we are empowering ourselves and when we detract from those resources we dis-empower ourselves.

For now let’s just look at the mind and how we either contribute or detract from our energy resources through it in our daily lives.

Dis-empowering, energy draining mind habits

Criticizing self or others

Judgments

Blaming

Obsessive thinking, analyzing

Excessive ruminating on the past

Over preoccupation and anxiety about the future

Identifying with stories of being a victim of life/others/past

Emphasis on what is wrong—with self, other, situations

Empowering, energizing mind habits

Focus on maintaining an inner state of peace–an attitude of ease

Freely choosing to place thoughts on genuine positive thoughts

Present moment awareness ( fully present in the now without judgment)

Recognition that others have and are entitled to their perspective

Commitment to noticing beauty

Make it a game to become aware of  happy moments

Make breathing deeply, fully and  easily a habit–quiets the mind

Actively choose to release habitual negative thoughts

Mind Matters

How you use your mind affects your health and as we have seen through experiments in Quantum Physics—our mind affects matter, so it behooves us to master ourselves at this level so we can be at cause in our lives rather than suffering effects! 

Check out our Energy Tips section (see tab on home page) for more hints on manging your energy to vitalize rather than drain your power. And of course all our recorded programs include a variety of information and techniques on managing and using your energy to become the best expression of you and create a life you love to live!

Our minds are powerfully creative. You may have heard that and even believe it and yet still find that you are not able to generate what you would like in your life. Discouragement, disbelief and abandonment of effort are all possibilities when our attempts at conscious creation do not produce the results that we desire.

It is essential to realize that the common level of mind that we generally operate from is not where our true power to create resides…the true power is found in a deeper aspect of mind and being.

To fully and effectively engage this power, we need to develop  a not so common capacity for clarity of awareness, concentration and an ability to really focus our energies. We need a commitment that includes developing these capacities and integrating them into a state of BEING. We called our business  Living Energy to highlight not just the fact that we are all energetic beings, but that we need to LIVE or embody the energy of that which we seek to have in our lives. To do this we need to learn new methods that will allow us to embrace and effectively use ALL of our higher potential.  In fact our foundation course, 12 Keys for Life and Self Mastery is all about the tools and techniques that help you do just that!

Here is a video that speaks to some of these ideas and can  encourage you to stay on your path of conscious creation and new ways of BEING in your world!

On our radio show, Monday Nov. 2, 2009 at 10 A.M. on the Diva Toolbox, we will be discussing:

What is personal power?

Why DO we fear it?

How do we release those fears?

What is the connection between personal power, energy & consciousness?

How can we become more empowered from the inside out?

We would love to have you join us http://www.divatoolbox.com/diva-toolbox-radio-/hosts/2007-peg-donahue-and-karen-kallie-living-energy.html and share your thoughts and questions on this topic OR if you would like  add your comments or questions here in the comment box! Remember, all shows are recorded and archived so you can listen at your convenience if you are not available at the time of the call.