Living Energy Blog

Neutrality is a helpful space to create on the journey to inner peace. It helps to strip away all that blocks inner peace and happiness from bubbling up from deep within. Here are three questions to ask yourself and help trigger a more open neutral state as you go through your day.

What if just for today….

I practice shifting the gears in my mind from any negativity to neutrality?

I actively open to neutrality in response to negative events and situations?

I interrupt repetitive thought loops when I notice them and invite neutrality to take root in my body-mind?

Would love to hear your experience with this practice!

Related articles

• Stillness: the Natural State (threeprinciples.wordpress.com)

A very interesting commentary by Carolyn Myss on the shift in Medicine as well as change in general. As I listen to her, I am struck by how important it is to meet change with deeper, broader consciousness –one that functions above the level of our conscious mind and its fears.

Letting Go of Resistance Boosts Energy

Resistance can be subtle—I have noticed that I can be fundamentally positive in my philosophy or outlook but still have a subtle resistance to certain events or situation. Resistance constricts our energy and contributes to low energy states and negative moods which then create more of the same. We need to actively intervene in this cycle in order to erase its hold on our energy and nervous system. Once we are “onto” the subtle ways of resistance, the increased energy motivates us to keep practicing until we have a new pattern installed.

Here are three affirmations to help release resistance you may not even be aware you are holding.

Today I will notice the subtle ways I resist and say “No” to life.

Today I will notice how the inner resistance I hold constricts my energy and feelings and contributes to negative thought loops.

Today I can practice softening and opening to a more spacious feeling in my mind and body, not fighting or resisting what is and simply notice the effect.

Being crazy busy is a common complaint and source of stress these days. We all feel it no matter what our life situation it seems. Some is the result of necessity of course, but there are also more insidious causes that we can actually eliminate if we honestly appraise our circumstances. No one outside of you can or should be the determiner of whether your reasons for being too busy are valid. Honest self-appraisal can be the start of having more time and energy for what you would prefer in your life!

Consider these sources of busyness with an eye to reclaiming your energy.

1. Boredom
   We like stimulation! Cell phones, e-mail, Facebook etc. all give us a LOT of stimulation and can take the place of alternate activities, connection and fulfillment that would take you out of boredom. We also need to consider the inability to be quiet, tolerate inactivity and enjoy the simpler aspects of life.
2. Belief in necessity
    We may think we need to be outrageously busy and stretched to the max to stay ahead, be successful, feel important or even to avoid unpleasant situations. Is that really true? Our energy becomes scattered, we become ineffective with too much stimulation and activity so we need to look at the truth of this belief. Once we see its falseness we need to look deeper at what may be driving our need and work with it in a more appropriate and effective way.
3. Speed is a natural high
    All the stimulation creates an initial high but like any drug, activity or substance it is not lasting or sustainable without a high price to our overall well- being.
4. Saying “No” and creating healthy boundaries
    These are things worth knowing and learning—they can enhance your enjoyment of life immensely as well as eliminating energy drain!
5. Over commitment
   What lies behind over commitment? Is it a fear of saying “No”? Is it a fear that you will miss out on something?  Reconsider!
6. Status
    Some folks believe it is a sign of importance to be strung out and busy. Lots of questions about false beliefs and the need to have status are the resolution for this one!
7. We avoid what is difficult or challenging
   Looking at what is needed to face the difficulties and challenges may be a more resourceful way of managing this.

We all have a lot to be busy about!! And we all have areas of busyness that we can modify and reclaim energy. Which areas of your life need the light of awareness and some kind attention to return some of your precious life force to you and your life?

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Little vampire (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Modern Day Vampires
Modern day vampires are not thieves who come in the night and drain our energy. Today they are right out in front of us—on our desks, night stands, in our living rooms, pockets and pocketbooks. …techno-vampires!

There are also non technological vampires in our lives that we must attend to if we are to reclaim our time, energy, attention and sanity! Below are some of the common sources and some suggested strategies for taking charge of these energy drains. Also let us know how you may have approached some of these issues to safe guard your precious life (force).

Screens

We all have multiple screens that occupy us throughout the day—we even carry many of them with us!! Computers, TV, Kindles, phones, I Pods…it can feel as if there is no escape!

The true escape is to become conscious and committed to YOU—your time, energy, values health and peace of mind.

Screens have a curious quality. They suck us in and keep us fixated while our energy is being silently drained away through our eyes, attention and effect of the technology and the noise it creates within our energy fields, as well as within our minds. Preliminary research is suggesting that we get a hit of feel good chemistry from some of our on screen behavior which makes it act much like a substance abuse issue!

There are many good things about screens. It is a matter of managing our relationship with them.

Taking Your Energy Back

1. Problem
   Procrastinating: screens are great for this! We can avoid all manner of unpleasant task while believing we are busy or doing something useful, fun or necessary.

You are susceptible to energy drain from a screen every time you turn on, tune in, or log on.

Solution
Awareness and insight can lead to moderating your use.

Setting a timer can be helpful if you are playing computer games or surfing the net

Keep a list of your goals and values handy so you can remind yourself what is really important to you in terms of how you spend your time.

Be aware that if you spend time depleting energy and not rebuilding it, it will not be there to fuel your dreams, health or goals. Develop a reminder for this that is in frequent and easy sight.

1. Problem
   Energy Vampires are people or projects that suck the life out of you.

Solution
If you find yourself de-energized by a project or a person in your life, question your motives for remaining, resolve it so you can find the door out and you can move on. We are all different. What depletes one person will energize another. Your energy is not a negotiable item and you have the right, responsibility and deserve to determine what is correct for you.

Notice the people and projects that fill you with energy and commit to developing more of those in your life.

1. Problem
   The spirits of procrastination will haunt you in the night or at most inconvenient times! These are the tasks you dislike or things that you keep putting off. You expend a lot of energy reacting to them with dread, guilt or frustration.

Solution
Make a list…make a plan including when and how you are going to take care of the issue and then follow through. As much as this may pain you as you change your habit, in the end you will have more energy as you will have eliminated a very insidious drain. The enhanced energy you feel will become a new motivation.

1. Problem
   Clutter! We all have it….it infiltrates our mailboxes—email and otherwise. It exists in the form of requests from a multitude of directions, as well as in the information we pile up “just in case”, or because “someday I will need that”.

Solution
Make it a rule to only handle something once and set up a system for that can work.

Set up a system where every request does not reach you: get off lists, use voicemail delete, have a barrier between you and requests.

1. Problem
   Split attention is rampant with the profusion of electronic and other stimuli in modern life. It is a myth that we can be effective multi-tasking. We can’t and it is bad for our brain and nervous system.

Solution
Cultivate the ability to attend to your present moment and the task at hand.

We are all too busy–it is practically a global epidemic! How this crazy busy buzzing that we live in came about is not altogether clear. It seemed to creep in somewhat gradually and so stayed below our radar. Nevertheless, we all can pretty much say now that we know what the phenomena is and how it feels. Many people feel like they are slaves to a life they hate but cannot escape. At this point it may seem like it is unavoidable and necessary. That may or may not be true, but we will not know until we can see clearly beyond the feelings of frustration and overload. At the very least we need to find ways to deal with it to avoid burn out! In the process we may find that a clear perspective not only feels better, improves our health and well being, but it also allows us to see opportunities we did not see under the pressure of the stress response.

Being busy in the ways we are these days insidiously takes control of our lives until it feels out of our hands. This busyness creates toxic stress, contributes to accidents and mistakes, as well as adding conflict to relationships and severely reducing the capacity for creativity or to relax and enjoy life. Perhaps if we look at the short time we have on this planet we could also say that the biggest harm comes from keeping one from what is really important.

Energy flows where attention goes. Attention and Intention are two of the biggest influences for how our life force is channeled and used.

One of the first steps to bringing the stress and busyness under control is to define what most matters to you…what is really important. It is so easy to get caught up in activities that do not really matter to us and that do not really contribute to our personal or professional lives.

What is really important to you in each area of your life?

Where would you like your energy to flow more freely?

How would you like to feel each day? What if you took periodic one minute breaks and felt that through the day–like building an energy account?

What would it take for you to take back your intention and attention…come off autopilot and structure your life according to what is important to you?

Or are you too busy?

 Over the next two weeks I’ll be writing here  about some ideas to take charge of time and energy without giving up what is necessary and helpful in our lives. I would also welcome hearing your ideas about what you are doing to manage keeping stress down and your life balanced.

“Why is it that between 25 and 50 percent of people report feeling overwhelmed or burned out at work?

It’s not just the number of hours we’re working, but also the fact that we spend too many continuous hours juggling too many things at the same time.

What we’ve lost, above all, are stopping points, finish lines and boundaries. Technology has blurred them beyond recognition. Wherever we go, our work follows us, on our digital devices, ever insistent and intrusive. It’s like an itch we can’t resist scratching, even though scratching invariably makes it worse.” Tony Schwartz, CEO of The Energy Project and the author of Be Excellent at Anything.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We have control over this!! It feels like we don’t as we unconsciously go about our business, but when you really stop and think about it –we do! It used to be that we had built in stopping points, finish lines and boundaries. Now it is up to us. First we must realize that multitasking is bad for our brains (if you don’t take care of it–it will not take care of you!), second we must know that our inner reserves do not replenish themselves,  and third we are not effective when we scatter and split our attention. So, what do we do? Perhaps beginning with some questions can help define where each of us can make changes to preserve our energy, health and sanity!

Gorilla Scratching Head (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

An honest appraisal of time management can be useful. The average person wastes upwards of two hours a day. Where can you reclaim time to devote to replenishing your energy reserves through exercise, deep relaxation/meditation? Meditation is particularly helpful as it serves multiple purposes: (1)decreases effects of stress on health, (2) begins to train the brain to be better able to focus and concentrate, (3) builds the ability to remain in the present moment which contributes to efficiency,and enjoyment and satisfaction in life.

Where could you draw limits with people or activities to free up time for yourself?

How could you streamline your day and give yourself breaks to regroup and replenish your energy?

Bringing a mindful presence to each activity that you do can begin the ball rolling to get some of the positive effects already mentioned, but it also helps to create motivation and momentum for the other suggestions to reclaim your life!

One of the things that I try to remember when things are moving too fast is that I do not want to get to the end of my life feeling like I missed it! When we let things get out of control, are overwhelmed and stressed, we are not present to people or our experience….and are left with a sense of dissatisfaction and loss of fulfillment–like we were not even there!

What are some other ways that you could bring a more sane and healthful approach to your day? Feel free to share in the comment box as sharing ideas and thoughts is helpful to us all! 

“The practice of meditation gave me the set of skills to guide my own transformation. It has been the most life altering skill that I have gained. I shifted from thinking that my emotion and thoughts owned me to feeling like I could play a role in changing my state.”

From Neuroplasticity: Changing our Belief about Change, by  Joanna Holsten

http://www.dailygood.org/view.php?sid=221

Image via Wikipedia

Nature’s graceful process displays the art of “unfoldment”.