Living Energy Blog

Caring for others, be it an elderly parent, a relative, a child, or a friend, is one of the highest forms of human service.  However, altruism aside, caring for others often means that you put their needs before your own.  You set aside your desires and wishes for another day, a day when you’ll have the luxury of time to spend by yourself and on yourself. It is a day you dream about and yearn for.

In the meantime, you give and give and give. You begin to wear down and out.  Energy and enthusiasm wanes as you become physically exhausted and emotionally drained.  It may seem that the more you give, the more that is requested or required of you.  It becomes harder to keep up and maintain your pace.  Your nerves wear thin. You begin to do less and less for yourself. Periodically you wonder, “Where is there care for me?”  You may begin to ask: “What’s happened to me, to my life?” Worse yet, you may feel guilty for having those thoughts!

A continuous outflow of energy through giving without refueling or replenishing yourself cannot possibly end up anywhere but in fatigue and burnout. It is then that resentment can set in not to mention damage to your own health. You must stop and refuel in order to keep going.

Each of us can only give away what we have. Humans are adaptable and it may seem that we can give from nothing, or run along on empty for quite a time, but the truth is that the bill for such behavior will eventually come due. It may seem ironic that as a caregiver you need to put yourself first. However, it is truly the only way to assure a reserve of energy to care for others without creating problems for you! Regular self care and self nurture is essential to create the inner resources that allow for a constant and even flow of energy for both you and the ones you love.

The photograph ( by Rita Loyd www.NurturingArt.com) above depicts the energy of love but also spiritual and grounding energy flowing through the primary caregiver that nourishes and strengthens her and then flows through the one being cared for. This is truly the way that we all should be “hooked up”–if we focus on energizing and balancing ourselves, there is an easier flow toward others without all the stress and striving.

Image via Wikipedia

Most people have an awareness that stress affects the heart. There is however less awareness of how this actually occurs. Changes Happen in our energy field first in response to life events and interactions. The energetic changes travel from the energy system into  the nervous, circulatory and hormonal systems where physical imbalances begin to occur. In addition to issues of grief, loss and disappointment, changes to the heart’s energy are also profoundly affected by our feelings of self love, self acceptance and relationships with others. Conversely, the state of our heart energy contributes to our capacity to feel these qualities.  The condition of heart energy also influences the level of our spiritual capacity and connection. In short, our heart’s energy is a major player in every facet of our lives! Some care and positive attention to this part of ourselves can have enormous impact on the quality of our lives.

The heart chakra takes the denser energy from the lower chakras and converts it into a subtler form so the energy can move upward where it takes the form of thoughts, ideas and inspiration. In addition, the heart chakra transforms the energy from the upper chakras into a lower frequency so it can flow to the lower chakras and be used to manifest ideas, inspiration and desires on the physical plane. Our heart plays a major role in bringing our ideas from the realm of thought into the material world. And of course this can happen in a positive or a negative way.

While the elements associated with the previous chakras are tangible, the element of the heart chakra is air and thus invisible. The heart chakra is home to Prana or life force ….the unseen energy we take in with every breath.

Psychologically the heart is involved in the shift from average everyday consciousness, external focus and ego to a deeper, broader awareness that encompasses self and other as well as spiritual realms.

Our hearts are keenly involved in our daily lives and especially in the major events we encounter in our journey.  Who has not known the feeling of the heart chakra shutting down to protect itself, or the sense of a “jam or blockage” as we try heal and shift our experience ? We may not have associated the feeling with energy or a chakra but we all recognize the sensation!

Issues involving the heart such as death, divorce, loss, abandonment and betrayal may all be part of our human experience at one time or another. Closing of the heart chakra creates numbness in an attempt to protect ourselves from unbearable pain. Unfortunately this generally has the effect of making things worse as communication with other chakras is shut off and a feeling of emptiness results. This is why knowing how to process difficult emotions is so vitally important to our well being.

On a more positive note the heart carries within it the power to transmute our negative feelings. Guilt, fear, shame and anger can all be transformed through the loving power of the heart.

When the heart chakra is in balance and energy is freely flowing, a person is self accepting, trusting, forgiving, compassionate, charged with positive emotions and fueled by hope. As always the issue is to take charge of our inner states and create more of what we truly desire on the inside so that energy can flow out into the outer world and bring more of what we truly desire to manifest in our world.  Love heals and we can always choose to focus on it rather than fear or negativity…but learning to choose love is a process so self compassion and patience with a learning curve are necessary.

Next: Signs of balance and imbalance of Heart Chakra energies

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1. Stressful reactivity is an inefficient approach to life. Learning to shift to grace and ease happens through my heart and opens me up to a life enhancing flow of energy.
2. Stress robs me of vitality. Choose to release stress and reclaim you energy.
3. My mind tries to understand and control life. My heart has deeper knowing that informs me as well as assisting me to flow with life and its mysteries.
4. Frequencies of love and peace cannot coexist with stress. I am the choice maker.

Image by lrargerich via Flickr

Happy Sunday! Love this video as it is not just fun to watch but is also a great trigger to feel lighter, brighter feelings that generate happy flowing energy. It reminds me that the ordinary can become extraordinary if seen through creative eyes. What are some things you have done to turn “ordinary moments” into extraordinary?

Share the fun–leave your ideas in the comment box so we can all more ways to bring lighter, brighter energy to each day!

Video from KarmaTube

Image via Wikipedia

Developing your consciousness to be aware and tuned in to what thoughts and feeling states are running you sets the stage for being able to release them and the accompanying stress.

Engaging a method that allows for the release of resistance to difficult feelings and compulsive thgought loops and letting that energy flow…allows it to go! You then have a real choice to generate positive emotions and feeling in your body-mind.

1. Today I will remember that it is my choice which thoughts and feelings I allow to flow through my body-mind.

2. As I open to release the pain deep in my heart, there is more space for wisdom and love to flow through me.

3. Consciously choosing to feel love and compassion improves my health and well being.

Image by aivas14 via Flickr

As the pace of the holiday busyness picks up, remember to take steps to replenish your energy so you can enjoy all there is to experience… fully in the present moment… building new memories to store in your heart.

• Breathe feelings of gratitude through your heart.
• Intentionally drop out of your head into your heart often today.
• Remember a happy time, feel the feelings of that time.

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Image by notsogoodphotography via Flickr

We experience a variety of feelings every day. They run vast and deep. Chances are you have different feelings for different events and different people. For instance, you might be bored at work, tired of doing the same thing day in and day out. Once you’re home you might feel discouraged that you can’t do anything about your situation, that things will never change. Since discouragement is lower on the emotional scale, the time you are working and feeling bored, is actually a better state for you! Similarly you may feel one way with your family and a completely different way with close friends.

This brings us to another point that can be trouble. Sometimes we want to make huge leaps and move from one end of the  spectrum to the other, E.G. from sad and despondent to joyous and ecstatic. We don’t really work that way and expecting it to only adds frustration, inadequacy and feelings of powerlessness to the equation. Accepting where you are without resistance and finding your way to a simple step up is the way that true inner change occurs and your basic emotional tone can transform more permanently.

One way to move out of a slump is to acknowledge your feelings, really feel them without holding on to them. Sometimes just letting feelings be, taking the label off, relaxing, breathing, letting go of resistance can be all that is needed. After all it is resistance that causes pain. This process of acknowledging your feelings can help release the intensity of emotions that seem to hold you  powerless in their grip.

The next step is to see what is possible in terms of moving up the ladder of feeling. Don’t try to leap to joy or bliss but ask what feeling could I now realistically conjure up through memories, images, or fantasies? A slightly better feeling is all that is needed to help you shift into a better frame of mind. In fact, if you can get yourself into a better feeling state and stay there for as little as 17 seconds several times a day, you’ll be making progress.

The Institute of HeartMath has discovered that consciousness is enhanced, stress is reduced and health is improved with a simple technique that uses a heart focus to dispel troublesome emotions. The technique is called Attitude Breathing. This method helps to synchronize body, mind and spirit and provides inner ease when we are out of synch.

The method is performed by bringing your attention to the center of your chest, the heart chakra, and feel as though you are breathing in through that space; the out breath is focused through the solar plexus and you may want to feel as though you are  releasing an unpleasant feeling with the exhale. Then, when you feel at ease and comfortable with that, you can switch to using your breath to increase feelings of gratitude or appreciation in the heart area. This may sound simple but there is some very complex energetic and neurohormonal activity that is triggered which has profound ramifications throughout the bodymind. All very interesting but more important…YOU WILL FEEL BETTER!

Give yourself a special gift this year that doesn’t cost any money. Give yourself the gift of feeling better. Practice Attitude Breathing. Feeling slightly better is all it takes to begin the move UP the spiral!

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Tis the season…children caroling in the snow, families gathered round the hearth, visions of sugarplums dance in your head….or do they?

 What if your images are less Currier and Ives and more Dali-esque? What if your experience of this season falls far short of what is “supposed to be”? That can leave you even more bereft than the original Scrooge dialogue running rampant in your interior!

We often experience our feelings as missiles from a malevolent universe and totally out of our control in spite of pop psychology’s assurance that we choose our feelings (We do but it is a complex process and a story for another day).

When you are feeling down, discouraged or sad, that little piece of knowledge falls just a bit short of helpful. And if you are a normal functioning human being you just may have some intense reactions to the messenger who tries to “help” you with this kind of reminder!  BUT, if you were down and now you are angry, that actually can be a good thing!  Why? Because when you are down, sad, despondent etc. your energy is frozen, depleted or inaccessible and the anger is a sign that something has shifted, opened up, or thawed out.  Anger can be a very positive and motivating emotion at times.

Your emotions influence and impact your health and well-being in a big way.  This has been well documented in the “mind-body” literature. A user friendly version of emotions, their impact and how to work with them is presented by David Hawkins, M.D., PhD in his book Power vs. Force (Hay House, 1995, 1998, 2002).  Dr. Hawkins has drawn a Map of Consciousness that represents feelings on an energetic scale. Feelings such as fear, grief, depression and despair are low on the emotional scale. Anger calibrates higher than blame on Hawkins’ map. Thus if you are blaming people for your situation and you can shift into feelings of anger, you’re improving!

During the holidays you may simply feel overwhelmed with all that you have to do.  Try to be conscious when you are having difficult emotions and look for ways to process and shift them. In many cases you may be able to simply breathe and let go of feelings of frustration, irritation or impatience.  Other times it will be apparent that you need a more targeted approach to sort out and release what is troubling you. The time it takes is well spent considering that the alternative is to haul the feelings around with you which uses valuable energy. This is one of the ways you can actually choose to feel better and you’ll will have contributed to your climb up the ladder of the emotional scale.

If you are feeling pessimistic or even bored, thinking of a time when you were content, hopeful or even optimistic can lift your spirits.  Remember the situation and try to get into that feeling state. What was happening and how did you really feel?

If you’re already feeling optimistic, great!  You can move into an even stronger emotional state by being more present to your enthusiasm… about what you’re doing, feeling eager and happy.  Passion is stronger than happiness.  As you discover your passion and engage it, allow it to flow through you, then feelings of joy, empowerment, love and appreciation can emerge more easily.

Next time: Simple Seasonal Attitude Adjustment!

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Image by Cath in Dorset via Flickr

1. Let go of struggle, just for today.
2. Practice feeling: What if it/this were easy? How would I feel?
3. Replace a negative with a positive and FEEL it.

Nature gives us many examples of energetic states that we can embody if we stop, breathe, notice, choose!

Image by aselundblad via Flickr

Have you ever noticed that when you are in a funk and have no energy, feel down, depressed, exhausted that something great can happen and all of a sudden you are filled with energy and ready to go when just a moment before you were barely able to move? We’ve all had those times but perhaps have not thought about exactly what was going on that caused the shift.

We experience our lives through our energy systems. When things feel good we tend to allow our energy to flow, to be connected to the infinite energy available to us…we think and feel in positive ways and experience vitality. When something negative or unpleasant occurs we tend to shut down…in our minds and our hearts… perhaps throughout our whole being. We close ourselves off from the supply of energy around us as well as closing the flow within us. We do not realize it, but this also traps not only our energy but also the memory and pain of the event. This sets up a situation where the pain can be triggered again through a similar event in the future.   In addition, since we do not want to feel the pain we use considerable energy to keep it at bay inside us which further depletes the flow of our vitality and along with it our capacity to feel good. The result is that we tend to limp along with compromised energy supplies.

We instinctual close off ourselves out of a need to protect. This is natural. However, if we do not then open up again and release what is trapped inside then we compromise  our energy, vitality and ultimately our health and well being.

Being in touch with your energy system, noticing where and how you are closing off and learning to release difficult feelings can help restore your flow of vitality so you can feel good more often than you feel bad. It takes self awareness and practice as well as effective methods to  learn how to manage your energy. It is well worth the effort given the return of vitality and well being to you and your life.

All of our programs help you from a slightly different vantage point to be aware of your energy, effectively release discomfort, old wounds and pain and “install” healthier patterns. Our Chakra Aerobics program is particularly helpful if you like to work with color, sound and frequency. Don’t let the title fool you! It is not about heavy exercise! This program is a relaxing, pleasant journey through your energy system that helps to release old tired stuck energies and strengthen your chakras so you can maintain a healthier flow and vitality.

A simple step toward beginning to reverse the habit of shutting down your “inner guidance system” is to notice when you feel tightness or constriction in your body  in response to events or interchanges. Once you notice, pause, take several deep breaths and feel yourself opening the places where you feel shut down. This small step can begin you on the journey of reclaiming your energy and vitality so you have more of it to bring to life!

To read more about our programs that help with reversing

negative patterns and creating healthy new ones, click here:

https://www.livingenergyworks.com/store/?ccUser=

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