A Lifestyle Lesson for More Energy
Your energy is invaluable. After all, time and energy are the only two things we humans really have. Everything we’ve ever created as a human family has come from moving our energy across time.
There are many beautiful experiences that come from spending our energy well. We create relationships with other humans. We create meaningful work. We build buildings. We write books. We cuddle and love one another unconditionally.
Your energy is your magic.
The world will benefit from good use of your time and energy, for sure. But there are also many messages we receive from that same world that tell us that others are entitled to our time and energy.
If you are a member of a marginalized, oppressed group (some of us have parts of us that fit this description – many of us have many parts that do), your time and energy – and that of your ancestors – has been stolen from you, your lineage, and your land.
With that trauma comes programming in your brain and your DNA that make it likely you will unconsciously believe somehow you owe the world your creative energy.
At a very basic level, this happens to many of us at work and with our families. They need our energy and so we give it freely.
If we are receiving energy back and thriving, this is an equal energy exchange and it’s likely that you are fueled by it – not drained by it.
However, if we are continually giving without receiving (e.g., doing work without getting paid for it, staying after hours even though we’re on salary, pouring care and love into a special needs child without getting support we need, endlessly fixing up a home that is falling apart), eventually our energy reserves are drained.
In this case, we must learn to conserve and reserve it. Only then can we serve the world from a place of abundance.
Here are the three steps to do just that.
SEE: Notice when it’s difficult to conserve your energy.
Energy conservation is important on a physical level. Your cells need energy to do their work. Without it, your cells – and even your organs – will begin to steal energy from other places in the body.
Personally, I’ve had this happen with my ailing spleen. Because it wasn’t being nurtured with comfort and was being drained by my constant worry, it eventually started to pull energy from my left hip and shoulder – collapsing my spine in its direction and creating lots of pain.
Chinese herbs and mental training helped heal it.
Energy conservation is also important on a mental level… mostly because it physically drains us too. When our brain waves are constantly in activated patterns, it signals to our body that we are under threat. To cope with it, the body produces the stress response, fatiguing our adrenal glands, heart, and other areas required to keep us safe.
To gain more energy, you must simply start to notice when you’re not able to conserve enough of it for your basic needs.
Do you have time and energy to take a 20-minute bath if you want to? Do you ever have time to meditate or sit in silence? When was the last time you “wasted time?” If you wanted to go workout right now, would you have the energy for it?
If the answer is no to any of these questions, you might be struggling with energy conservation.
STOP: Learn to stop breaking your own boundaries.
The world will always make demands of you. People will need your care, and projects will need your time and attention. That’s the world’s business, and sometimes you need to respond to those needs.
However, there are also many demands that we place on ourselves without realizing it. And to fulfill those demands, we often violate our own energetic boundaries.
We run an extra mile even though our body doesn’t feel up to it. We stay up an extra hour because our spouse wants to watch a show together. We eat more than we meant to. We sit in front of the computer longer even though we have to pee!
All of these moments are tiny ways in which we violate our own energy boundaries. Instead of pushing through, learn to reserve yourself. This means respecting your limitations and keeping a little energy in your tank – not continually pushing ourselves until we’re empty.
START: Reflect on ways you can serve yourself, others, and the world.
Our energy gets drained because we “put it out” into the world. Ideally the way we serve is meaningful and energizing. However, many times the way we are serving the world isn’t aligned with our purpose.
We work for organizations that don’t align with our values. We have conversations with friends that don’t speak our truth. We spend time with people and in places that don’t feel good.
To become more energetic, we must be aligned and in a state of integrity. This means thinking, saying, and doing what lines up with what we value most in the world.
The only way to get in touch with our values is to go inward – to explore our inner most desires.
To do this, you can use this easy practice from Deepak Chopra before falling asleep.
Ask yourself what he calls the four questions of the soul:
Who am I?
What do I want?
What am I grateful for?
What is my purpose?
You don’t need to know the answers to these questions. Simply by posing them before dreaming helps the soul of your spirit become more aligned with the soles of your feet.