How to Manage and Revitalize Your Personal Energy

Energy, Health, and Conscious Living

The 21st Century Energy Crisis

One of the major health issues affecting people today is a lack of energy. The energy crisis we are currently facing is not limited to our environment and the planet we live on. The crisis extends to each one of us, and the bodies we live in. More and more people suffer from stress-related illnesses. In fact, research suggests that as many as 80-85% of all disease and illness is caused by stress.¹

The technological age that promised extended free time and increased leisure is draining us energetically. Work pressures, relationship issues, parenting, financial worries, and fears for the future, all drain energy and create stress. Stress leaves us feeling tired, wound up, and low in energy. In our fast-paced, I need it yesterday world the only constant is change. And when everything changes we must adopt new coping mechanisms. How we manage personal energy is the new key to creating a high quality of life.

Managing Personal Energy

Most of us want enough energy and vitality to live life to the fullest. We don’t want to feel drained, exhausted, and stressed out all the time. And why should we when being full of energy is our birthright? Energy is the fuel humans are designed to function on. We need regularly topped up, good quality energy for optimum health and wellbeing.

Everyone is familiar with energy and describes it in different ways. How many times have you said or heard others say ‘I feel full of energy’ or ‘I am low on energy’? You may have heard people speak of ‘having no energy left at all’? We speak of liking and disliking someone’s energy or vibration. Energy is very much part of our experience and common language.

¹ AMA Business Week 2003

How One’s Energy Gets Drained

Energy has been the focus of my work for over the last twenty-five years. As a Health and Success Coach, I have had the privilege of working with thousands of people all over the world. From my experience, I have observed five main ways people allow their personal energy resources to get drained.

1. Overwork is the number one energy zapper. The culture of working long hours in the office or working from home without clear boundaries causes tiredness, poor concentration and eventually leads to exhaustion.
2. Reluctance to exercise takes the number two spot. We all know the benefits of exercise yet traveling by car and sitting down all day creates insufficient movement, which is a major energy zapper and cause of stress.
3. Poor diet is another issue, with people eating foods lacking in vitality and nutritional value. Eating on the move and yo-yo dieting prevent nutrients from being adequately absorbed. We need to consume foods that provide energy and sustain life. Most of us know the theory of what to eat, yet still fall prey to all manner of poor eating habits.
4. Constant worrying is another way energy gets depleted. People often entertain fears and play out dramas, in the mind, that never happen in real life. Not to mention carry the weight of the world on their shoulders. Can you imagine how much energy that takes?
5. And on top of all that there never seems to be enough me-time to refuel. Think about it, even cars get an oil change and a regular service. No one expects a vehicle to run on empty and I am sure you always give your car the best fuel you can afford.

So how about your body? Surely you deserve the best. What is the key to good health, optimum function, and living life to the full?

Energy and New Paradigm Medicine

Ancient traditions, complementary medicine, and modern science all point to energy as the key to high-quality living. The ancients mapped the subtle energy body, detailing the chakras, the aura, and the energy pathways known as nadis and meridians in India and China respectively. We learned from the ancient spiritual traditions of Africa, Asia, and Europe that our complex human energy system needs a constant expansion and contraction of flowing energy. Just like day flows into night and expands again into day or hot becomes cold, energy in the human body flows through an intricate number of pathways expanding and contracting as it flows. Any disturbance to the even flow of energy can lead to dis-ease. The ancients told us that all illness is caused by a disturbance in the flow of energy. Living life to the fullest requires free-flowing energy.

The growing field of CAM complementary and alternative medicine has energy at its heart. Holistic and integral approaches to health and healing work with energy in numerous ways; homeopathy, acupuncture, reiki, hands-on healing all work to rebalance the flow of energy in the body-mind and seek to restore health and wellbeing. James Oschman, one of the scientists back in the ’90s to first provide a scientific explanation for energy medicine, goes as far as to say, “In a sense, all medicine is energy medicine. Any intervention with a living system involves energy in one form or another.”

In high-tech hospitals, in a majority of countries, doctors have become accustomed to using energy-based diagnostic tools, such as X-rays, MRI scanners, electrocardiograms, and electroencephalograms. Energy-based medical equipment is commonplace in our hospitals, clinics, and scientific research centers.

As we evolve energy is taking its place, center stage. New paradigm medicine has energy at its core. The relatively new term refers to integrated approaches to health care that utilize learning from all the ages. It is unity consciousness, the ability to draw on what works from the ancients, our religions, and modern medicine; with the aim of reducing the stresses of life and creating overall wellbeing.

The ancients spoke about the Akashic field and the information it holds. They knew that information on everything that ever was, is, or shall be, is held within what some call the Akashic record. This field is known as the quantum vacuum, a field of energy and information. The ancients spoke of the ability to communicate instantly from a distance. Quantum theory calls this non-locality. The ancients were aware of our connection and realized that if we hurt another we hurt ourselves because we are all one. In Quantum physics this is known as entanglement.

The knowledge and timeless wisdom of our ancestors is again being revealed to us through the latest research in consciousness, neurobiology, and quantum physics. Science and spirituality are moving ever closer as we develop our understanding of ourselves as energy beings connected in a matrix-like web of energy, consciousness, and information. We are energy beings and everything we do, say or want to be, requires energy.

Energy is the Fundamental Building Block of Life

We have seen that energy is the fundamental building block of life. We know that modern living encourages the use and abuse of our personal energy resources. What then is the way forward?

My research over twenty-five years has involved the study of energy, holistic healthcare, psychology, spirituality, and new paradigm medicine. I traveled worldwide and experienced how people maintain health and achieve success in different cultures. This led me to develop a powerful energy-based approach to balanced living. I literally took the most potent, quick-acting, easy-to-use techniques for energy management and created a new approach to health and conscious living. Having uncovered the five main energy zappers, I looked at ways energy could be restored and revitalized. I knew from my work in holistic health care that there is absolutely no need to wait to get ill before making life changes that positively impact your health and wellbeing. Therefore we explore four main ingredients that are guaranteed to get energy flowing and not only to restore energy levels but also to prevent illness; creating healthy, happy, and successful lives in the midst of a changing world.

The four main ingredients are:

1. Energy Exercises to re-energize your body
2. Energy Psychology to release stress and free your mind
3. Energy Foods that re-vitalize your system
4. Energy Balance to relax and calm you

Creating abundant energy is not as difficult as it seems. The magic of this formula is that it can be used to revitalize energy anytime and anywhere. A few minutes every day can make an enormous difference to your energy levels and quality of life.

Revitalizing Personal Energy Levels: Sharon’s Story

Sharon came to see me suffering from anxiety and mild exhaustion. She’s the mother of a beautiful 4-year-old daughter who has Downs syndrome. Sharon never had a minute to herself. She works as a hairdresser part-time seeing clients from her home. Using my techniques, Energy 4 Life’s, four main modalities we soon identified the areas in Sharon’s life that needed more energy. Sharon agreed to get up earlier each day in order to have time for herself and implement my suggested techniques to revitalize her energy levels. She immediately changed her and her daughter’s diet focusing on the introduction of high-energy foods. They started a 60% raw diet including lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. Sharon was already a vegetarian so it wasn’t too much of a shift for her. She also agreed to add energy exercises to her day. I showed her simple exercises she could do herself and with her daughter when appropriate. She also made appointments to see me to receive hands-on bodywork.

My focus for Sharon during our sessions was rest and relaxation. I used a very gentle energy treatment with the chakras to release tiredness and negative energy. The treatment causes a free flow of energy through the energy pathways and exits points in the subtle energy body. As I worked I could see Sharon’s body releasing old energy patterns, her limbs occasionally made shaking movements as energy found a way to flow more freely through her body. Sharon spoke of seeing colors and experiencing a deep rest she had not known before. Tears rolled down her cheek after one session from sheer relief.

Within less than two months Sharon’s world had changed. Her energy levels soared. She had lost weight and felt much fitter. Her skin was glowing and she told me that people thought she had been on holiday or was taking supplements. I guess the sessions were like mini-breaks and the supplement was simply increased Energy! Her newfound energy also rubbed off on her daughter who became calmer and more loving. My feeling is that, because Sharon created more time and space for herself, she was able to enjoy parenting her daughter more and appreciate the love they shared.

Some of the tools used that gave Sharon her Energy back, can be incorporated into the busiest of days. I’d like to share some of them with you. Think of them as stress first aid – ways to re-energize in less than two minutes.

How to Revitalize Your Personal Energy

I strongly believe in the dictum, less is more. Don’t sweat the small stuff and Pareto’s 80-20 law definitely works for me. The Italian economist Pareto said that 20% of your energy creates 80% of your results. That means most of what you do creates very little. For example, 20% of your wardrobe accounts for 80% of what you wear. 20% of the world’s population uses 80% of its resources. Does that make sense? It’s all about learning to master energy. So don’t underestimate the power and simplicity of the following exercises. The secret of this lies in the simple things you can add to your day to create maximum impact. Didn’t Duke Ellington once say, “I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues”. That is energy mastery and the simple exercises below can help you achieve it.

Breathe and Relax.

For just two minutes stop what you are doing, slow down and be completely mindful of your breath. This re-oxygenates, rejuvenates, and relaxes your body-mind, which in turn creates calm and greater clarity. If you doubt two minutes can make a difference, try it. Regularly incorporate mini-vacations into your day. I recommend two minutes in every hour.

Get out of your head and into your body.

Especially if you usually sit at a desk all day. Take a moment to stretch with awareness. Rotate your neck, arms, and shoulders to release any tightness. Walk upstairs, stretch your ankles and feet to improve circulation, release blockages and elevate energy.

Inner smile

Great for releasing negative energy. Close your eyes and visualize your lungs smiling, then see your heart smiling and your liver, your intestines, and all your internal organs one after another. This is hard to do without bringing a smile to your face and releasing negativity. Negative emotions create dis-ease, so let go of any stored negativity and give yourself a big inner smile.

Make use of nature’s perfect health drink H₂O.

There is no better way to lift energy than by drinking water. Fatigue, headaches, digestive problems, and low energy levels are often removed simply by drinking more water. 75% of the population is dehydrated. So next time you feel low, reach for the H₂O.

The energy crisis we are experiencing can be alleviated with more awareness of how we go through each day. It’s important to remember that the flow of energy in the human body, mind, and spirit is the foundation of health and success.

The secret is to give yourself me-time and do a little something every day to raise your energy levels and make life on our planet and in your body a life of health, happiness and success.

**This article appeared in The Reiki Times, the official magazine of the International Association of Reiki Professionals.

By Caroline Shola Arewa