Energy equals resilience

Energy is a natural buffer that surrounds us and helps us respond to everyday life with resilience.

by Kimberly Kingsley — 

Think about the last time you snapped at someone. Were you tired? Were you rushed or drained? I would venture to guess that you did not roll out of bed completely rested and full of joy that day. If you did, you might not have been short with the innocent person who just happened to annoy you.

Energy is a natural buffer that surrounds us and helps us respond to everyday life with resilience. And, as you know — intellectually at least — stress is the result of how we interpret and respond to an event, and has relatively little to do with the event itself.

Now think of a time that you responded to a negative situation with grace and resilience. How did you feel that day? If you think about it, we are infinitely more patient and resourceful when we have energy, so it makes sense to take a preventive approach to stress by improving and increasing your energy.

Here are five ways to increase the quality of your energy:

1. Sleep in a clean environment. I am not suggesting that you clean your room. I am suggesting that you get rid of any potential disruptions or negative energy that can poison your psyche and affect the quality of your sleep. This would include turning off the television prior to lights-out, making sure that your cell phone is off or in another room and unplugging wireless Internet connections. We are naturally open when we sleep, and it is a time to process the day’s events so that we can wake up fresh the next morning. We support this process by creating a clean and positive environment for our night-time renewal.

2. Plug-in and charge. You charge your cell phone each day, so why not charge yourself? Waking up rested is step one, but it is not enough to buffer us for the entire day. Taking 10 minutes in the morning to meditate infuses your body with resilient energy so that nothing and no one can steal a piece of you without your permission. If you do not know how to meditate, just close your eyes and breathe from your abdomen — it is that easy.

3. Cultivate an energy orientation. Everything you do either nourishes or depletes you. Start to keep track of your energy the way you would your money. Pay attention to how different foods, environments and even people affect you. You may be surprised. Once you learn more about what feeds you, you can make energizing choices throughout the day.

4. Play the “what if” game. We lose a lot of energy with negative thinking. Next time someone pulls in front of you on the road and you are tempted to curse them in the privacy of your own car, try playing the “what if” game. It goes like this: “What if she did not see me?” “What if he does not feel good and he is rushing to get home?” “What if she is upset because she just had an argument with her husband?” Deliberately opening your mind to different possibilities, in other words, giving the poor soul the benefit of the doubt releases you from the draining effects of negative thinking.

5. Pull yourself out of downward stress spirals. The moment we interpret a situation as horrible, the body responds with shallow breathing and increased adrenalin and cortisol production. This is fine and good if you are being attacked in an alley and need to run for your life, but not so productive if you are stuck in traffic while trying to get to an appointment. Stress hormones, while providing short-term energy boosts, ultimately drain the life out of you. Simply tell yourself that it is not a life-or-death situation and take some deep breaths. This will tell your body that all is well and prevent an all-out stress bath.

Kimberly Kingsley is an energy coach and author of The Energy Cure: How to Recharge Your Life 30 Seconds at a Time and Portals of Peace: A Path to Inner Peace and a Healed World. www.kimberlykingsley.com.

Reprinted from AzNetNews, Volume 29, Number 6, Dec 2010/Jan 2011.