“There are two ways to build energy in your body-mind; the first is to find ways of generating more energy, the second is to prevent the loss of existing energy in your system”
Dear Integral Meditators,
Is there anyone who is not under some form of energy stress these days? It seems like there are so many things that can take up our time and energy these days that learning to make effective use of what energy we have has become an essential survival skill in today’s world. This weeks article looks at how we can begin to make better use of our energy in our daily life through a simple self-enquiry mindfulness technique.
Last week I gave a short talk entitled “Lessons from the Monastery to Contemporary Business” in which I reflected on my own time as a monk and how some of the skills that I learned may be applicable to a modern secular business environment. I have posted it on the Integral Meditation Asia Site, if you wish to have a listen just click on the link HERE!
Yours in the spirit of high functioning energy levels,
Toby
Dealing With Energy Stress:
Is it Worth Giving Your Energy To?
There are two ways in which to create financial resources; firstly, you can find a way of making more money, or secondly you can find ways of spending less of the money that you already have coming in so save more.
Similarly, there are two ways to build energy in your body-mind; the first is to find ways of generating more energy, the second is to prevent the loss of existing energy in your system.
It seems like one way or another we are all under quite a lot of energy-stress these days, this article looks at how to use a simple mindfulness-meditation technique to become more energy efficient and less inclined to lose or dissipate energy unnecessarily.
Making a general enquiry into the ways in which you tend to lose energy
Ask yourself the questions, “What are the situations and circumstances where I tend to:
- lose energy?
- feel exhausted psychologically?
- dissipate my energy unnecessarily?
- otherwise waste or lose physical or psychological energy that I could be saving or using for better purposes?”
Think about these and, if you like, write down your answers. There are a wide variety of possible answers to these questions, for example:
- When I meet with my colleague I can feel him/her making me angry, but I don’t/can’t express it, rather I just find myself feeling angry inside for hours after seeing him
- When I log onto my computer to work, I procrastinate for 20mins rather than getting the actual tasks I need to do out of the way
- I spend time complaining about the injustices that happen to me rather than simply looking for a solution to what has happened
- When I become tired, I tend to become sloppy in my tasks, which then take even longer and even more energy to complete
The point about this exercise is to isolate actual situations in your life where you are actively losing energy, are dissipating it, or could be using it more ergonomically. Having isolated these real-time situations where you are losing energy, you then arrive at specific conclusions designed to remedy this energy loss. For example, for the person who has written the four points above, conclusions might be:
- When I meet my colleague I may not approve of his behaviour or manner, but at the same time I will not waste my own emotional energy getting angry and resentful with him. It is not worth it.
- I should ensure that when I sit down at my computer to work, I start work strait away, and create a separate time to surf the net if I wish to.
- I shall try and catch myself complaining about what happens to me, and refocus my energy on what can be done and/or moving into a space of acceptance about what is happening/has happened
- When I am tired, I will make a special effort to focus on getting what needs to be done done, or if possible, I will take a strategic break and return to my tasks refreshed.
With these conclusions in mind, you now have several specific areas in your life that you can begin to work on being more energy-efficient with or, put another way, create more energy by expending less. The mindfulness exercise from this point on is to bring your full awareness to the task of re-patterning your daily habits to this new, more energy efficient way of using your life-force.
© Toby Ouvry 2013, you are welcome to use or share this article, but please cite Toby as the source and include reference to his website www.tobyouvry.com
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