It takes being ill sometimes to see the obvious. Like - all the things we want to do with our lives rely on how much energy we have.
We know this. That’s why we keep an eye on our sleep, what we eat, how much exercise we do; we try and create a balance of activities in our lives - things that excite our minds, satisfy our emotions, nourish our spirits.
Sometimes we succeed, sometimes not. What I know is that this subject comes up with my clients the whole time. And the question is something like this:
Where can I find the energy, on an ongoing basis, to cope with all the overwhelming demands in my life?
I thought I had the answer to this. Stay incredibly fit, not drink too much, everything in moderation, sleep, the odd fruit juice, greens, weekends free of work. But something was missing - where did the outside world, even the universe, fit into this picture.
So it was no surprise when a few unrelated incidences caught my attention.
I was doing a 3-day workshop in Geneva with Richard Strozzi Heckler - a master in Somatics (learning through the body). And we started with an exercise called Centering - a regular practice for people in martial arts. To do this, he asked us to align ourselves in our length i.e. leaning not too forward, not too backwards; completely loose, shoulders relaxed, head straight, eyes soft. And when we did this, he said that we were aligned with the world’s most powerful energy field - gravity.
The bit that struck me was this. I had always concentrated on me and my energy as something separate from everything else. But now I was wondering what would it be like to align, tune in and connect to all that energy outside?
A few weeks later, I was shown some video footage of an extraordinary athlete Kilian Jornet running across mountain ranges. This athlete has broken, and continues to break, all the records on long distance ultra running. And people are asking how.
Yes, he trained hard; had the right muscles; lived in the mountains; loved running but the profound bit was what his mother and friends said. “He gets his energy from what is around him, sometimes he might stop in the middle of a race and smell a flower, look at the beautiful scenery, stop and wait for his team; it has to be beautiful for him to run”. It was as if he was letting the world run through him as he ran.
And then yesterday, a CEO was explaining to me how he had achieved his swimming challenge goal as part of our coaching. When I asked “what did he learn from the experience” he said “In order to do this, I finally realized that I had to let the water carry me”; and when I asked “So what does this insight mean in a work context”, he said “Believe in my mission, the opportunities that come up and my people”.
He was starting to see the energy that existed in the organization’s purpose, random events and its people - all things outside him. Through swimming, he came to see what Kilian has always seen. The extraordinary energy that lies in our relationship with things, not in seeing ourselves as a lone entity.
Something Practical
Let’s play with the greatest force on earth - gravity. This can be done no matter where you are - at your desk, on the train, walking to work, sitting in the car.
The question you need to ask yourself is - am I holding my length properly? If you are, then none of your body is fighting against gravity. Your head is not leaning forward; your neck is not strained; your back is not curved; feet aren’t tucked under the table.
So:
* a/ feet firmly on the ground; head looking out, not down or up
* b/ back straight, shoulders down; head sitting on top of your spine
* c/ soft jaw, steady breathing (no holding breath)
* d/ soft eyes and eyebrows, no tensing of the forehead
If any part of you is tense or requiring energy to maintain, let go. Just let go.
Something New
Because It’s There has moved through many forms. Our purpose now is clear - to drive effectiveness in individuals and teams working in NGOs and Charities to achieve their organizational goals.
Over the last few years, we have been working with many people in this sector and have built and redesigned our website to reflect who we are and what we do. If you have a moment, do have a look at www.becauseitsthere.net. All comments, of course, welcome.
Going forward, we are still willing to work with individuals on a private basis but this will not be the focus on our work. In which case, it may be that you no longer feel this newsletter is relevant to you. However, please stay with us if these newsletters are still of some value.
Please let us know of any people in NGOs or charities that you think might be interested in our work. All we need is the contact name and number.
We have no doubt that the universe will do the rest.
