If the Buddha Got Stuck_ A Handbook for Change on a Spiritual Path - Charlotte Sophia Kasl [68]
EXERCISE
Ground Yourself to Take Action
If you’re with another person, one can read this to the other.
Sit (or stand) with your feet solidly on the floor or rug. Breathe, relax your belly, drop your shoulders, and say to yourself, “Let go.”
Bring your focus to your solar plexus or belly and imagine a centered place, a source of strength. Take all the time you need.
Imagine this place as a source of energy. Feel the energy expand throughout your body, becoming brighter, stronger, going into your muscles, bones, blood, heart, and mind. Take time with this. It should feel fluid, and perhaps full or heavy.
Then imagine this energy dropping down through your belly, pelvis, legs, and right into the ground. Be aware of your feet connecting with the floor. Again, take all the time you need. Some people use images such as light energy moving through their body and down into the ground; others see roots going down through their legs and into the earth; still others have a sense of weight moving downward through their body or an increased feeling of gravity.
Now undulate, sway, and move your upper body with a sense of energy going upward. Be sure to relax your shoulders and soften your body. Notice the sensations in your body.
Now imagine an action you want to take, including all the steps—gathering resources, asking for help, making phone calls, thinking about what to say. Start at the very beginning or preparatory stages. Take time with each step. Close your eyes, experience yourself going through the steps as if they are actually happening, while staying grounded. You might feel as if your feet start to “disappear,” or you hear saboteurs discouraging you. If this happens, go back to grounding yourself.
If you get anxious or uneasy, come back and focus on your grounding.
Repeat the above steps, imagining yourself taking action until you can walk through the whole process. With practice you will train your nervous system to feel grounded, thus able to take action when a difficult situation arises or you are afraid and uneasy.
43. Manage Your Energy, Not Just Your Time
Anything that crowds the life out of you is junk.
—DON ASLETT
People often talk about managing time, but what we’re really managing is our energy. Think of yourself as a vortex of motion with a continuing cycle of energy moving through you. Managing energy goes beyond the concept of energy coming in and going out—it’s keeping the energy alive within you no matter what you are doing. Notice the situations and people that spark your interest, emotions, and excitement, and those that lead to feeling heavy, dull, or drained.
Efficiency is about getting the most done with the least output of energy. This applies to sports, organizing your home, taking on projects, playing a musical instrument, or running a business. In response to my request at a recent tennis lesson to “hit harder,” the teacher had me work at relaxing deeper, getting in the correct position, and expending more energy only when speeding up the racket at the point of contact with the ball. It was amazing—much less energy output, and a much faster shot.
A first step to becoming more efficient with your energy on the home front is to cut out extraneous tasks and get yourself organized so you’re not always running out of dog food, frustrated looking for important papers, or scurrying around in the morning looking for socks that match. Notice what you often misplace and create a place for it. Then stop, focus on the place, and, for example, say to yourself, “I will always put my car keys here when I walk in the house.” Do this until it becomes a habit.
I had an office assistant named Linda who, in her first interview said, “I can do in twelve hours what it takes other people twenty hours to do.” And she was right. Within a day, the jumble of pens and pencils on the