Hey,
Welcome to this moment,
This chance to center and settle,
To turn toward the breath,
Finding groundedness and spaciousness.
Inhale,
Exhale.
Welcome to a hit of hope.
I love secondhand stores.
In fact,
Except for most of my shoes and all of my underwear,
Almost my entire wardrobe comes from thrift stores.
I walked into one recently,
However,
And I whispered to my friend,
This is where things go to die because there was this sense of deadness and decay to the store and everything inside of it.
Inhale,
Exhale.
That got me thinking about energy.
Energy is the active working of something,
And it's also the ability to produce an effect.
As I teach yoga,
I also think about energy in terms of life force,
Otherwise known as prana.
Energy in this yogic way can be thought of as battery life,
How charged up or depleted something is,
Or wattage,
How much it glows.
Inhale,
Exhale.
Take a moment and consider your energy right now.
Is it like a cold carp hovering at the bottom of a deep,
Deep lake?
Or are you more dumpster fire?
Is your energy grounded like a stone in the sun,
Or more hummingbird whose mainlined six espressos?
Inhale,
Exhale.
Something important to realize about energy is that it is generally a renewable resource,
At least for as long as we live,
And as we know,
There are things that give us energy,
Just as there are energy vampires.
The things and people that suck our energy dry.
Inhale,
Exhale.
But here are some other things to wonder about in terms of energy,
Because it is from insight that we can create intention.
So what feeds your energy in a good way,
A steady way?
What siphons it off,
Either all at once or slowly over time?
What kind of energy do you bring to your life?
Steady and strong?
Sporadic,
Intense one minute,
Non-existent the next?
Is your energy grounded,
Nervous,
Awkward,
Overwhelming?
Inhale,
Exhale.
These questions are not meant to bring shame,
More,
Huh,
That's interesting.
Now here's another question.
Is your energy what you would like it to be?
If so,
Awesome sauce.
If not,
Be specific.
What would you like to see change?
And what's one thing,
Just one that you might do to change or shift your energy?
A hint,
If you are listening to this,
You're already doing one,
So good job on that.
But is there one other thing you might do?
If you have too much energy,
How might you quiet it down?
Get it steady,
Bounded.
If you have too little,
How might you create more?
Get intentional about one thing you might do to generate more life force,
A strong charge,
A beautiful glow.
And sadly,
This isn't a one and done.
With energy,
You have to continually work to find your sweet spot between dumpster fire and cold carp,
Between manic hummingbird and dead-eye doll on a dusty shelf.
But you can keep breathing deeply,
Intentionally,
And that is one gorgeous way to feed your glow.
See what other ideas come to mind so you can get out there and live light.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Be well.
