System Upgrades For Your Energy Levels 2020

Work, with its many competing demands and little time to do things, is the norm. Being pulled in different directions causes stress, tightening and shallow breathing. Let all that be so 2019. If you can learn to course-correct, to realign and improve energy, your perceptions of stress and time will change, like magic.

Here's your master program curriculum and system upgrade for 2020.

1) Better Breathing: Focus on breathing deeply like sipping through a straw; all the way in, pause for 2-3 beats, then exhale slowly and empty out. Give attention to your breath, it offers clues about your mental state. When it's shallow, it's the early warning sign you're flipping into stress and thinking abilities suffer. Next, notice if you're placing your awareness on helpful thoughts, growth thoughts or worries. Breath and awareness is step 1 to alter your energy. This is present moment awareness. Another step is called Doing the opposite. When you catch yourself holding your breath, clenching your teeth or hand wringing, just do the opposite and release. Exhale, separate your teeth, relax your hands. You'll notice subtle or pronounced differences that will shift your electrical and neurological system or, as l call it, mojo.

2) Naming things is useful. It helps create some distance between you and your body so you can witness yourself with less attachment. Let me explain. I'd notice my body and get curious about what the sensation of getting ahead of myself is like in my body. Or how being wound up actually feels like or affects me. Is it jittery or jumpy? Describing sensations with adjectives or metaphors, instead of ouch, where did this come from, or how come my shoulder freezes up on me? Valid questions for sure, but not actionable. How about exploring my tight muscles and describing it a little differently? Feels like a straitjacket or confinement. Or tight jaw feels like words being held back. We have no power when we're running from the sensations. Instead stalk them, be with it for a moment and do the opposite -- unclench and relax and you have options.

3) Apply opposites: It'll be a fast energy changer. Adjust the shoulders, lift them towards your ears, scrunch your face, hold your breath and just when you can't hold any more - abruptly drop all the tension. All of it. You'll gain body intelligence through the contrast. Rest, compared to fight or flight, feels spacious and unhurried. Learning how to read the language of your body's sensations helps you understand what corrections it wants from you. Your body is a brilliant teacher and wants you to stay ahead of stress. Get up and shake, listen to a great tune as you step outside, hold an ice cube in your palm so you come back to your body. You will feel more energized and relieved when you install new habits. If there's a rebel in you this will be easy.

4) Remember: Tightening was once a protective measure you used when you perceived stress to protect yourself. Now retrain yourself to relax in the face of stress and it will give you options. You'll feel like you can build up a Teflon permeable coating for your protection, control and comfort you crave. The more you flex your release muscles, the better you'll feel. You'll be less resistant and grasping with more energy. As you inhale deeper you can receive and take in others points of view. When you can exhale longer you have more room for new ideas and won't carry around old frustrations that weighed you down or kept you keyed up. I think we're going to need this good mojo in 2020.

Alyse Hart www.Freebirdmojo.com

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