Tools and Techniques

Over my 20+ years of energy and Spirit exploration  and experimentation, I have gathered and developed a number of Tools and Techniques to help us reach inner peace and handle the noise of the everyday world.  I am gradually adding them to this page–so please do visit again to see what has been added.

Below you will find:

More are to come!


Attitude Shifters

“I reclaim my freedom, peace and joy. This is my life and I want to live it deeply.” Thich Nhat Hanh, Vietnamese Zen Master

“If you are depressed, you live in the past. If you are anxious, you live in the future. If you are happy, you live in the present.” Lao Tzu, Ancient Chinese Philosopher

“Narrow your life down to this moment. Your life situation may be full of problems, but do you have a problem now?” Eckhart Tolle, author of The Power of Now

“If it won’t matter in five years, it doesn’t matter now.”  Cher’s Mother


Tool No. 1:  Power Posing

Harvard research has shown that if you do a Power Pose for only 2 minutes, it actually changes the chemicals in your physical body. It increases your testosterone (confidence hormone) by 20% and reduces your cortisol (stress hormone) by 25%. High confidence and low stress—sounds good!

Power posing is simply making yourself bigger, the way most animals do, when they want to show who’s boss. You can hold your arms up in the air, like a winner crossing the finish line. Or put your hands on your hips, Wonder Woman style. Standing or sitting, just spread your wings and make yourself bigger. Strike a pose, chin up, shoulders back. Act like a confident winner and voila, after only 2 minutes, you are one!

 

The same research also shows that the opposite is true. When you make yourself smaller, slumping, arms pulled in, head in hands, your testosterone goes down by 10% and your cortisol goes up by 15%. Powerless and stressed—oops!

So, when things go wrong, when the flight is canceled and your computer wipes out all your work, just fling your arms up and give your hormones a boost. When you have a stressful interview or meeting—or perhaps a meal with some very stressful relatives–just take 2 minutes beforehand and Power Pose.

It really does work—plus it feels great and looks wonderful on you.

When you have 20 minutes, you can learn more about Power Posing–and a lot more about body language and power–in a wonderful Ted Talk by Amy Cuddy of Harvard. (The photos above are from that talk.) It’s well worth your time to watch it—or watch it again, as I just did.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks-_Mh1QhMc


Tool No. 2:  Heaven and Earth

This is a very simple, yet powerful, Tool, intended to build up your core of energy and center you in that place where you are grounded in this life, but open to the blessings that flow.

I like to do this while standing, but do what works for you.

  • Close or lower your eyes, whatever is most comfortable
  • Take a deep belly breath in and then exhale with a big sigh
  • Be aware of the light that shines within you, in your torso. It might be centered in or near your heart, between your breasts; It might be lower, in your solar plexus; in might be in between.  It might seem like a light or it might be a warm glow. There is no right or wrong. Just sense its presence.
  • Reach your hands up to the heavens and lift your face to the light that shines. That light is perceived differently by different people. It could be sensed as the light of Oneness; the glow of the field of Shared Consciousness; The Great All; God; Spirit; your personal Soul Spirit; Knowledge and Knowing; or simply the Sun. However it shines for you, reach up toward it.
  • Invite that light to flow down to you, bathing you in loving and joyful energy. Invite it to flow down and ignite the light that glows in your center. Watch as your own light grows stronger and brighter, filling your torso, then reaching out several inches, then perhaps several feet. Glow!
  • Now, as you stand within the flow, also direct that light through you and down your legs, through your feet and down, down to the very center of the earth.
  • You are now standing within a glowing column of light. Feel how the energy surges up and down, from heaven to the center of the earth and back up again. Feel how you are the place where heaven and earth meet; you are the place where the goodness and love from above is grounded into this physical Earth plane for meaningful action. You are all of this.
  • Enjoy this state for as long as you like. As you learned in Tool No. 1, Power Posing, if you hold this arms-extended pose for only 2 minutes, it will physically shift your hormones, 20% more testosterone to make you more confident and 25% less cortisol to make you less stressed. And now you’re full of light, too. What a combo!

If you are not a strong visualizer, use your hands to guide yourself through the exercise. Then use your intuitive senses of Feeling and Knowing and trust that it is all working, even if you don’t see the light in your inner eye.

Begin with your hands together over your center. Know that there is a warm light glowing inside. Then reach your hands up toward the Heavens, and lift your face to the glowing Sun. Feel the warmth of heavenly sunshine pouring through you. Feel your center grow warm and then your legs, down to your feet and through. Just holding the pose and knowing that it is filling you with beautiful energy is enough.

Practice this every morning—the shower is a great time–and you will learn to feel the effects very quickly and will be able to do it anywhere, any time. Call upon it during the day whenever you feel your energy flagging. Use it for a quick recharge as you walk across the parking lot or perhaps during a slow eye-blink and stretch while sitting at your computer.


Tool No. 3:  Luminous Egg

The purpose of the Luminous Egg is to help you hold your own energetic glow, no matter what is happening around you. It helps you become like a light bulb, holding the energy strongly within so that you glow ever more brightly in the world.

You may precede it with Heaven and Earth (Tool No. 2), if you feel that your center needs revitalizing first. When you complete, Heaven and Earth, lower your arms to begin Luminous Egg.

I like to do this while standing, but do what works for you.

  • Close or lower your eyes, whatever is most comfortable
  • Take a deep belly breath and exhale with an audible sigh
  • Be aware of the light that shines within you, in your torso.
  • Picture yourself as standing within a luminous egg of energy. If you are feeling very relaxed, the egg may extend out a foot or two. If you are tense, it may be just inches out. Either is OK; just sense what is.
  • Now, send a fountain of energy and light up from your center, through your head and out the top of your head until it reaches the Luminous Egg. Then let it flow out over the Luminous Egg like a sheet of water, coating the Egg and making it glow more brightly.
  • As the energy flows over your Egg, see that it is repairing the Egg, healing cracks and fissures that may have been caused by trauma or just the stress of daily life. Feel how it is making you feel complete and whole; you are not leaking energy any more, but are holding yourself strong and steady.
  • As the energy reaches the bottom of your Egg, just mentally tuck it under your feet, sealing yourself up.
  • Then open your eyes, take another deep breath, and go out into the world refreshed and strong.

You may use your hands to help out, especially If you are not a strong visualizer. Start with your hands together, over your center, then lift them up over your head like a ballerina, then trace the Egg with your hands, moving down, finally bending over to reach all the way to the bottom, where you tuck the energy under your feet, forming the Egg.

If you practice this daily, you will find that you can very quickly repair your Energy Egg after leaving a noisy public area or the presence of a person you find difficult or overbearing. Anytime you feel a little jarred or rattled, it may be that you are leaking energy and could use a little Egg repair.

If you have gone through a very difficult event in your life, you will want to do this every day. It can take some time to heal major cracks and fissures, but you will find that they gradually repair, if you keep at it.


 

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