One of these Sunday afternoons, I was lying drained on my sofa, fighting to stay alert throughout the day, struggling to finish my house chores and the espresso and quick sugar snack bar idea was buzzing into my head. I did not have any single drop of energy, felt exhausted, depressed, and powerless, and instead of enjoying my hard-earned rest, my willingness to move had begun to fade away, just like my enthusiasm and vitality to life.
I had my high-demanding corporate job where I spent over 16 hours a day and had to give out tons of my energy to satisfy high net-worth clientele. During my weekly time off, I could only find power resources to call up a food delivery; alternatively, I drove to the petrol station and collected something from the fast-food counter while refuelling my car. I adored Dubai’s convenience of getting everything done to satisfy the growing demands of a sophisticated consumer and took full advantage of it. Despite the leisurely lifestyle and getting everything done at my comfort and ease, my energy levels were constantly down, so I knew it was time for a change!
One day, a friend introduced me to a lady running a workshop on power routines. I was initially very sceptical as I thought I knew it all, but since she extended a complimentary invite, I decided to try it. I was introduced to a program of simple yet insightful exercises to be followed daily, promising to deliver incredible energy results after 90 days of disciplined routine practice.
Not only did I follow the system, but it became a habit for life. Today, I am writing these lines full of energy and zest for life at 5 pm, while a year back, this was when I experienced immense energy drops.
In this article, I would like to guide you through some of my top advice and exercises to increase your energy levels and stay in this flow throughout the day.
The base camp of energy
As in every journey where preparation starts from the base camp, I would like to remind you of a couple of well-known generic rules before we explore our energy peaks.
1. Restful sleep
Lack of sleep depletes your strength, and more of it improves your mental and physical energy, your immune system functions, and your positive thought process. The primary feeling of restfulness and relaxation is interconnected with the ability to have a good quality sleep.
2. Exercise
As a friend says, exercise is like the energy of love; the more you do it, the more you feel it. I am not talking about pushing yourself above your limits, but following simple recommendations such as walking, swimming, and dancing daily for a minimum of 30 minutes will increase your energy quantity. When you make a move, your energy quantity will shift upward, too.
3. Wholesome food
Fibre-rich foods like grains, nuts, seeds, and vegetables will give you more vitality for an extended time. Avoid empty calories such as sugars as they only seem to provide you with energy but are just an illusion, and similar to alcohol, you feel that buzz for a moment and then very soon again feel a complete depletion of liveliness.
1. Water
Sometimes, you feel low on strength and vitality because of insufficient water in your body. Stay hydrated, consume less caffeine and alcoholic drinks, and track your daily water essentials. The extended benefits of drinking the precious liquid are related to eliminating headaches, promoting healthy skin, and increasing metabolism, thus weight loss.
2. Laugh
Laughing boosts your energy and brings you into a state that expands the vitality in your body and around you. Watch something funny, read funny books, laugh with your friends, and create more occasions to be happy. Laugh provides excitement and keeps you motivated. Having fun stimulates your brain in a way that improves energy levels.
3. Breaks
Taking more breaks through a little nap, meditation, or simply sitting quietly and listening to music will elevate your liveliness. It seems counterintuitive. However, taking a break from work can help you get more work done, and it is proven that the brain is actively processing all the information supplied throughout the day during rest periods and while sleeping. You can only grow power and focus on working on your task after a rejuvenating break.
4. Negative people
You are in a group, and someone is talking or walking with a black cloud hanging over their head. Their energy frustrates you, and you might find out your mood is quickly affected. Negative people drain your liveliness like energy vampires; be mindful of who is in your circle and avoid negativity. Numerous studies have proven a direct link between a positive outlook on life and your overall physical, mental, and emotional health, increasing your resilience to any hardship in life and setting you toward bigger goals.
Share ideas with the people you feel are on your path of purpose so you have as many allies as possible to fight negative distractors.
Deep dive for more energy resources
Now, after you have been reminded of the basic steps to follow, let us take a deep dive into the power of our conscious and subconscious mind and learn a few techniques that are directly ordering our energy genie to supply more of the essential life force.
1. Tap into a powerful state of mind
You already know and experienced often how a simple smell brings you back to a memory that you had in your childhood. For example, your grandmother’s freshly baked cookies bring you to a relaxed and blissful state of mind. In another case, a usual street noise could get you into a panic attack mode. These experiences occur due to the power of association in our minds – conscious and unconscious that are picked on from the environment and relate the sensation to an experience. The powerful NLP technique, “The Anchoring”, can help you associate a move, a gesture, or a symbol to a positive state of mind that you can use to your advantage next time you feel low and depleted of energy. We unconsciously create anchors during our lives, whether positive or negative. You can increase your energy stream whenever required by learning how to create a positive anchor.
Now, think of a time in your life when you felt loads of buoyancy and high-spiritedness and get into that flow where you perform at your best; you are so confident, empowered, and strong.
Think now of a word that you can associate with that state; it could be some phrase from a favourite song or movie, a love name your partner is using or simply a word like vibrancy, greatness, or strength. Now, we will install one more physical trigger into you; while saying your power word, you will press your thumb and index finger together, grab your wrist, and hold tight to it, or clasp your hands together. Creating a physical association with that state and using it while saying your power command is crucial.
I would like you to close your eyes and take a deep breath. Make your picture of a power state bigger and brighter. Remember when you were in power, and your energy was at its peak, experiencing the state of flow where you could do anything and do it so brilliantly? Get in touch with that circumstance and relax. Please focus on the muscles around your eyes and loosen them so profoundly that your eyelids will no longer function. Second, take a deep breath and imagine you drop into the body of being there in that state. In that energy flow, do what your body wants; perhaps you want to stand up, move, dance, or relax on the floor; just follow your body’s guidance. Be in that state when your energy is growing to that maximum, notice what is going on around you and apply the physical trigger you have chosen; squeeze the wrist or press the thumb fingers and say the trigger word. Hold that for several seconds and release. After you let go of the physical trigger, look around and take a few seconds out of the power state. Do one more time the same exercise – close your eyes, drop into your energy body, get in touch with the feelings and now look around and see even more details, maybe the people around, some details, notice refreshing vitality rushing into your body and once again use the triggers. Once you are done, open your eyes and look at the space to come entirely out of the state.
This anchor will be instilled in your system and body, and every time you apply the technique, you will gain use of your power resources even quicker, and each time it will be more effortless and straightforward for you.
2. Emotional Freedom and Energy Medicine in one
While you are on a short break or just starting your day and feel tired, get inspired by the following technique that combines emotional freedom tools and an energy-tapping exercise.
Start to remove the energy that feels heavy and replace it with upbeat, clean, and clear vibes for better focus and perseverance. The technique takes about 5-7 minutes and requires you to stand up and move away from your desk to shift your state. You will be activating both your left and right brain with this exercise. Start with light tapping with your fingertips under your eyes between the hollow and the bonny part, and set the intention to let go of all that overwhelms you and no longer serves you. Continue tapping on your chin and move over to the collar bones using the tip of your fingers or the whole palm to tap and move slowly down to your thymus or the place in the middle upper part of your chest above the heart level. Place four fingers and tap or keep pressing this area for 5-10 seconds. This point is known as “the sea of tranquillity”, and while pressing, you will sense your heartbeat, allowing you to recharge and reconnect with yourself. Keep your fingers here for one or two minutes, and you will become aware of a refreshing sensation. Following that, you can move your hands under the shoulder bone, where the collar bone and the shoulder bone are connecting. Press or tap your fingers precisely in the hollow point and experience a sense of “letting go” of all your tensions and heaviness. Remember always to breathe while pressing, release the stuck and stagnant air and bring new air rich in oxygen and serenity.
From here, you grab your left shoulder with your right arm and slide down your fingers to your right hip and do the opposite way; grab the right shoulder with your left arm and slide to the left hip. These diagonal slides help you crisscross your meridian energy and activate the left and right brain functions at the same time. You can perform this move ten times, and while you cross your left side with your right and vice versa, the energy is moving and shifting already, bringing you to a balanced state.
3. Final Energy Zipper Technique
Finally, from a standing position, bend forward with your hands hanging freely in the air and go down as close to the ground as possible while breathing out. Hold on for a few seconds and slowly rise to a straight pose, shaking your body softly right and left while coming out of the posture back to a standing pose. Once you are up, interlacing your hands, place them on the forehead and slightly pull them to the side, reaching your temple with your fingers. Continue doing this pulling motion one step higher on the top of the head, sliding as if you want to stretch open your head to receive more energy. Do this with complete focus on the back of your head.
Once you finalize the motions, the back of the head reaches your shoulders. Grab your shoulders with both hands simultaneously and, with a swift motion, throw away and shake off everything that feels heavy from your shoulders down to the ground. With this movement, we remove the old and welcome the new energy we need in our bodies. To complete the exercise and stay in this capacity, lift any hand from the pelvic floor level to the chin as if you close up an imaginary zipper, and when you reach the chin, close an imaginary lock and throw away the key. Do this zipping motion several times and remain energetically protected.
Conclusion
Concluding with the good news, throughout the years of human existence, these techniques were proven to deliver fantastic energy results by using a more holistic mind-body approach. In ancient times, traditional cultures practised tools and methods to increase and maintain energy using simple and natural remedies and recourses. These practices are used to balance the body and mind’s needs and optimal performance. As much as they are simple and easy to understand and follow as much, they are relevant in today’s changing world. Through commitment and consistent practice, they deliver the benefits of happiness, health, a positive outlook on life and peak performance as a byproduct.