What is energy anyway?

What is energy? Here is an easy way to feel your energy. Notice how you feel in this very moment. Do you feel heavy or light? Awake or sleepy? Still or jumpy? Now take a deep breath, and possibly another deep breath. How do you feel now? However you feel, you just changed your energy! It’s that simple. Energy is breath and awareness.

Energy is a word to describe the quality of your being. In yoga classes, it's called prana. In Chinese Medicine, it's called chi. This concept isn't esoteric. I believe it's something that everyone can feel, change, and nurture.

How do you raise your energy? I’ve created an easy way to help you raise your energy: ask yourself in every situation-does this add or take away from my life? Can you do more of the things that add to your life and less of things that take away your energy?

Each one of us is an energy consumer! We take in the world through our 5 senses. Asking yourself the question above may help you understand what you are consuming. Does staring at the ocean, trees, and the sky, add to your energy? My guess is yes. Does looking at a computer screen take away energy? My guess is yes.

But how do you raise your energy, when you have to do things that take away your energy? We live in a stressful world. Each one of us have the pile up of tension that accumulates by the end of the day. The question becomes: where do we put the tension? You can transform it. You might have to spend hours looking at your computer screen to make a living. This may take away energy in the form of eye strain, neck and shoulder tension, and shallow breathing. But you could counteract this energy drain by spending time in nature doing a meditative walk and positive thinking at the end of your workday.

Everyone can be a transformer of energy. Taking time to notice how you feel is the first step towards transformation. Then spend time doing activities that add to your energy, such as breaks to release tension build up. If you would like to learn how to incline your mind towards the positive and let go of stress, you’re invited to join me for the Yin Yoga Meridians course this August 2022! Click here to learn more!

4 reasons why Metta Loving Kindness Meditation will change your life

I practice Metta, or Loving Kindness Meditation, to take good care of myself, which then helps me take good care of others. Metta is a Pali word that translates as friendliness. Metta Meditation is about creating a friendly or a kind attitude towards yourself, people, and the planet. It often involves silently saying phrases such as “may you be happy, may you be well, may you be safe.” You can listen to a Metta Meditation I created by CLICKING HERE. I’ve found this style of meditation helpful these past two years. To cultivate feelings of compassion towards yourself and others can be a radical act.

How can Metta Meditation change your life?

1.) Concentration. Have you been feeling distracted? Overwhelmed? Life got way more complicated these past two years, with all the changes, twists and turns. Also, as technology continues to grow and alert us, there is more to focus on at once. Meditation is a way to let the mind focus on just one thing. It may sound simple, but that is different than the way most of us are being asked to engage in the world. In Metta Meditation, you let your mind settle on the words you are saying. Words create feelings and vibrations in the body. You might try it right now: say the word—PEACE to yourself a few times. How does that center your mind? How does it feel in your body?

2.) Re-Wiring. Us humans are creatures that are designed to look for the danger. That helped us out when we were running away from animals that wanted to eat us years and years ago. Times have changed and we don’t need to be in this state of sympathetic “fight or flight” activation all the time, but our bodies react the same way. I’ve heard so many people, myself included, start to say negative self talk when things don’t go as planned. As I mentioned in the last paragraph, words create feelings in the body. Why not change the narrative to a positive one and see what happens? The next time you feel you’ve made a “mistake” instead of talking down to yourself, try holding yourself in the field of Metta and say to yourself, “may I be kind, may I forgive myself, may I love and appreciate myself.” You can re-wire your negative grooves and go down a new positive path. I’ve found that to be freeing and been able to open to new ideas that wouldn’t have come to me otherwise.

3.) Community. We really are all connected. What happens in another part of the world effects us. When someone is hurting, we all feel it, because we relate to each other. As Maya Angelou is quoted saying, “The truth is, no one of us can be free until everybody is free.” In Metta Meditation, you send well wishes to people you know, to people you don’t know well, and to strangers. This sharing of good thoughts strengthens the bond between you and others. It’s a reminder we are not in this world for ourselves, but we are bound to each other, to lift each other up. Our survival depends on it.

4.) Protection. When I know that my intention is to share myself with the world from the place of Metta, Loving Kindness, I know my intentions are pure. This protects my heart because I’m confident that I’m moving from a pure place. If someone approaches me with an attitude that is less than kind, my Metta practice teaches me to be compassionate to myself and the person in front of me. I don’t let anyone else’s negativity effect me because I realize it’s the practice to be compassionate to people that are suffering. In this way, the Metta Loving Kindness Meditation helps me create strong boundaries.

Metta Loving Kindness Meditation can help you improve concentration, re-wire your brain to the positive, help you feel connected to people, and protect your heart. You can make it simple and say a few phrases to yourself whenever you have a free moment or take time to sit for a longer practice. I’ve found it a life changing meditation, that I use when I can’t sleep at night, when I feel stressed, or if I’m feeling that I want to do something to help others. It’s an active meditation that creates transformation. You can learn Metta Meditation in my upcoming online course: Meditate with KC- 7 day Meditation Challenge.