What energy do you bring to your interactions with others? What about your energy when you’re NOT around other people?

Everything has energy and the more you research how energy affects us (from the planets to the phases of the moon to human interactions) the more I’ve become aware of the energy I’m bringing to the table and the energy of others. One way to stay in tune with your energy (and feel others) is to practice staying in the present moment and practicing stillness. Being MINDFUL is key.

Martha Beck discusses “entrainment” and how it effects beings around you  – even turkeys – when you practice stillness.

She says, “You are the master of the energy you radiate. You always have a choice. Don’t fall into resonance with some random person who’s feeling lost and scared (as most humans do, most of the time). Be the peace you wish to see in the world, and watch the turkeys in your life—both literal and metaphoric—join the stillness.”

Read the full article here. 

One area I’ve been working on is to stay calm and talk less (and listen and be more) – something that’s hard for a high energy person – especially on caffeine! Like Martha’s example of the turkeys staying totally still, I’ve found my dogs like to come lay down next to me when I’m meditating or doing Pilates or yoga.

The other thing is not to let the energy of others suck you in if it’s negative. My daughter (whose schedule is the craziest this week) has some freak outs and I have to stay very aware so that I don’t “match it”. If I’m calm, it should calm her.

One of Deepak’s guided meditations, which I re-listened to yesterday, focuses on the topic of feeling and emitting energy. From the overview of his meditation:

“Energy cannot be created or destroyed,
it can only be changed from one form to another.”
—Albert Einstein

Today in our meditation we will explore our essential energetic nature. At the deepest level, we are all powerful energetic beings. We inherently possess the ability to shift the world around us with our presence and how we project ourselves. When we walk into a room, our energetic state of being is communicated before we say a word. If we’re coming from love, everyone feels it. And if we’re feeling resentful, edgy, sad or preoccupied, everyone can feel that, too. Silently, our energy speaks and our thoughts, feelings and intentions ripple out into the world.  Our capacity to affect others with our energy is both a gift and a responsibility. Ultimately, we have the power to choose how we show up and interact in this world. When we choose to come from compassion, peace, and unity, we become a powerful force for good and open the door to deep and rich relationships.

Learn more about his meditation series here. 

His advice if we’re feeling any type of negative energy is to take a deep breath and consciously shift. I’ve found that even saying “let it go” to myself or visualizing letting the “thing” go helps tremendously. Our days are so full of stressors and at this time of year – end of school – our schedules are so packed that we can become irritable and edgy. I’m not only working on not snapping in my words, but even in my thoughts. I’ve started to catch myself making judgments – even in my head – and trying to stop it and just “let it be”. See it without judging it. THAT also is about bringing energy because your thoughts and feelings can be felt by others. Even if you believe like Martha did that it’s the animals around you feeling it. For me, it would be the birds and squirrel on my deck as I work out there or the people around me at Starbucks when I’m writing and every interaction I’m having AS I’m going about our hectic schedule to get to summer.

I’m excited about starting a new Get Out summer series on adventure, courage and trying new things starting next week. I’ll post the adventures and photos and hope that it might inspire you to seek out new experiences, too. Life is about growth and taking full advantage of the gifts we’re given and seeking out (and paying attention) to those new doors being opened for us. If it’s in alignment with our purpose, we don’t HAVE to tug on the door and try to beat it down. You just turn the knob and walk through.

Transformation is all about shifting. Our thoughts, our actions. Small, big and everything in between, now and forever.

Namaste and rock the day.

xo,

Malena

*** writing update***

18K on my WIP and feeling like Jake is now fully immersed in my head so when I start writing he’s already there and I’m thinking his thoughts and feeling his feelings, which is what you have to have to keep the momentum up and let the story flow through you. I love this talk by Amy Tan on creativity so if you’re a writer, give it a view.

***wellness update***

After trying lots of new (to me) fitness classes, I’ve settled on a fitness routine I’m comfortable with. It’s still

working out every day but the “hard days” are every other day so the “light” days let my muscles relax a bit. I’ve now lost 17 pounds (since summer 2013) and while my goal is NOT to lose any more weight (I wanted to lose 10) it’s my body adjusting to the new lifestyle of eating well and working out every day. I do believe I’ll gain a couple of pounds back in muscle which is great. I’ve added more protein to my diet – especially after the workouts so that I make sure I’m not losing muscle. I don’t think I’m “there” yet in terms of reshaping my body so will continue to adjust as I learn more and see how I feel. Sending big love out to Brooke at the YMCA for being a great instructor (Pilates, Kickboxing, RIPPED) and Lauren Fitzgerald who teaches hip hop at Co-Motion. xoxo

Schedule:

Cardio – every day.

Hip hop at least 1x per week.

Kickboxing once a week.

RIPPED or HIIT once a week.

Those are high fat burning classes (up to 600 calories an hour) so then the LIGHT days I do what I call a Triple 8. 8 minutes on the stair climber, 8 on the treadmill at an incline and 8 on the bike. Then I finish up with some push ups and Pilates just to work my abs and arms. OR I’ll do OUTSIDE activities like hiking or biking. My first Get Out adventure is hiking the Wichita Mountains with my fit girlfriend, Kelley.

Eating wise, I’m letting myself have a few more “cheats” but mostly sticking to my clean/green/lean and no processed sugar or carbs. I DID share a peanut butter chocolate pie with my husband so it’s not about NEVER. He’s lost more than 20 pounds and feeling great, too. I recently added a WHEY PROTEIN powder to my smoothie after I work out so I get 25 grams of protein. At the beginning I think I wasted a lot of muscle by not refueling with protein. My meats are still chicken and tuna and turkey. I pretty much cut out all dairy but may try to add it back in a day or two a week.

Any questions or comments? Let me know. I’m here for ya.