Today I want to talk about a very important, but often overlooked part about our lives: energy management. We live in frantic times, bombarded by information and stimuli from everywhere. Today, now more than ever, it’s necessary to be aware of our body needs to live a truly fulfilling life.

When our bodies are well nourished, rested and properly taken care of, everything else in life gets better: We experience the present more intensely, we can work with total focus for hours, the eventual catastrophes that inevitably happens to us all become more manageable and we live more fully. We have deeper relationships, we feel good about ourselves, we feel secure, centered and happy.

Obviously, each one of us is at different stages of our journey. Some are in completely different journeys all together. Some of us have harder difficulties and limitations to overcome, but I believe that is true for everyone.

In this post I’ll compile some things that I found worked well for me. There’s no secret formula, and each of one of us has to find our own unique formula, and I hope that you can find one or two useful things on this post!

The Different Types of “Batteries”

Think of our body as containing several batteries. Each one has a function and is recharged in a different way. Here are some of the major energy types that are constantly affecting our life:

  • Physical energy
  • Emotional energy
  • Creative energy
  • Spiritual energy
  • Sexual energy

Physical Energy

This is the energy our body needs to stay alert, work optimally for long hours, heal itself, and move. When this battery goes low, we feel weak, slow, tired and lazy (by the way, nothing wrong with laziness in moderation ?).

Physical energy is the basis of everything  and all the other types of energy sort of derive from it. I always put the most priority on maintaining this battery recharged, as it makes everything else much easier. There are three pillars to maintaining healthy physical energy levels:

  • Eating
  • Sleeping/Resting
  • Exercising

Eating

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” – Hippocrates

We are what we eat. Simple like this. I used to eat whatever I felt like, and I chose my food based on taste. If something tasted delicious I’d eat it. Being a slim guy, I never had problem gaining weigh (but I also lose very fast, so I need to be eating constantly!), but if I was someone with tendency to gain weigh that would for sure become a problem for me!

These days, I base my food choices on other factors, such as nutritional value, quality (purity) and ease of cooking. I make sure to eat foods that have more fiber, protein and vitamins. I also make juices/smoothies sometimes to make sure I’m consuming fruits. I make my own sauerkraut, not only I find it delicious but it’s great for gut health!). I just try to have a very varied diet to make sure I’m getting all kinds of nutrients, because each one performs a very different function in our bodies.  Balance and moderation is key.

Cooking takes time, but the more you do, the more efficient you get, and preparing meals becomes much easier. I usually cook on Sunday and Tuesday nights and cook enough to eat for a few meals. (Meal prep trays are a godsend for this!)

Eating is healing, like Hippocrates said. Eat well, and your body will naturally fight infections, and other problems. It’s a natural property, that unfortunately it’s not much discussed in our culture. Seeing someone I loved pass away while being treated at one of the most well regarded cancer institutions in the world, and never being educated about diet by her doctors, was an extremely painful and eye-opening experience. There’s an incredible wealth of scientific studies demonstrating the healing properties of different foods, yet, this important part of her treatment was completely ignored by her doctor.

Obviously I’m not qualified to discuss diet, take everything I said with a grain of salt (and pepper). Definitely take the time to do your own research (Gaia TV has some amazing documentaries on the subject) and find the perfect diet for you. One you enjoy eating, that is practical to cook (so you have time for other activities) and that will heal (and not destroy) your body.

Sleeping/Resting

Re-arrange your schedule so you can get enough sleep. A good night of sleep guarantees a happier mood, well-being feelings and enough drive.

Sleeping is not a waste of time, it is what allows us to live a deeper awake life!

Exercising

We need to have one (or several) physical activities that we enjoy as part of our routine. It has to be something you do every week, preferably on the same days (so you become used to it). If you are not exercising right now, find something you enjoy doing, be it yoga, working out, skateboarding, dancing, zumba, running, walking, anything.

I was always horrible with this, but now I have a pretty nice routine that allows me to get a lot of (varied) physical exercise weekly. I work out two nights a week (at work, with friends, I could never do it by myself, it’s so damn boring!), and do yoga twice. In total, I spend about 5 or 6 hours of week exercising, pretty much nothing in a week that has 168 hours, but the benefits are immense.

When we exercise regularly we are healthier, stronger, lighter, more focused, happier, more confident.

Maintaining Optimal Physical Energy

So, to summarize, if you can take some time to design a routine that includes proper eating, sleeping and exercising, you will be able to achieve all your goals more easily. You will feel much happier about your life, you won’t get sick or tired easily and you will be able to do much more.

Every life thing helps, and every little tweak you make on your routine, no matter how small, will have a large impact in your journey on the long run!

Emotional Energy

Emotional energy is like the interface with which we interact with life. If we are feeling generally good, everything else becomes better. The pleasure is higher, we are able to love more fully and lead deeper, more fulfilling life.

When our emotional energy turns negative, it becomes problematic. Small problems can often become huge problems.

Each one of us faces completely different challenges, and everything that has happened to us so far, shapes who we are, and for sure this is the most complex battery of it all.

This is obviously an infinitely deep subject (like the human mind), so I’ll limit myself to list some things I do that help (or helped) me:

Introspection

Some time for introspection is necessary. During these times, I retreat from everyone and everything (even if for just a few minutes, like, during the shower or when driving) and analyze how my life is going. What I can do better, what I feel good, what I feel bad. I try to avoid dwelling on negative emotions, while feeling through and observing when they come. Ignoring or repressing emotions can lead to all kinds of problems, even premature death. Recently I learned how to cry, and it was very useful when I was dealing with grief.

Emotions are what makes us human, the key is to stay aware and in control.

Meditation

These days I don’t sit down to meditate as often as I did in the past. 10 minutes of sitting still does wonders! During this time, I simply observe my thoughts, acknowledging them and letting them pass.

When I have a stressful day, or when I notice that I have too many thoughts, I take 15 minutes and meditate. It’s like relieving pressure that slowly builds up and leads to feelings like anger and fear.

I remember when I presented my Junkertown talk at Digital-Dragons in Kraków. The day of my presentation I woke up literally sweating bullets. I had all kinds of fears. What if the audience hate my talk. What if no one shows up. What if I forget the words. What if I freak out, or whatever else! I simply took the hotel pillow, and meditated. After all those fears were gone, I ” reprogrammed” my mind to believe that I knew what I was saying, that people would love it and that it would be very easy. The result? I felt totally comfortable giving the presentation, and it was filled to the ceiling. I once heard that it was one of the highest rated in the entire conference, which meant a lot, considering all the other amazing presentations that I watched there!

That’s just one small example of controlling the mind when it tries to sabotage.

If you don’t know where to start, I’d recommend checking out some videos on zen meditation. The technique is very simple, and is an extremely useful tool that, once you learn, can be used for your entire life!

Relationships

Surround yourself with people who you feel affinity. People who treat you well and that you enjoy to be around. Love your loved ones deeply. Accept that some people will be dishonest, and possibly hurt you, but that’s part of life and every experience leads to more understanding and experience.

I love nourishing, opening up, catching up, having fun and sharing experiences with friends. It takes pro-activity to keep healthy relationships.

It’s a good idea to stay away from negative people (overly aggressive, overly criticizing, people who put you down, etc…). It’s incredible how much someone bad can drag us down and take us to the literal bottom if we are not paying attention!

Love without fear, love the right persons!

Self-Image

Our self-image controls how we interact with the world, and consequently how we are perceived. Believe that you are inferior, or that you are weak, or that you are whatever negative, and you become that.

Maintain a healthy self-imagine. Acknowledge your successes and failures, find a way to love the parts of yourself that hurt you (afterall, they are parts of you!), and improve your self-image. Learn to love yourself more, and nourish what is unique about you.

Therapy

Therapy can help you get rid of parts about yourself that drag you down, that you don’t like, or to deal with any types of trauma we are all subjected simply by existing (being born being the first one!)

A good therapist can help you improve your relationship with others, with yourself, and understand the feelings and thoughts you have.

I did some intense psychoanalysis a few years back, and it was one of the best investments I have ever done! The lessons I learned there, I will take my entire life.

Creative Energy

This battery is recharged by exposing yourself to novel experiences. Reading a new book, going to a concert, hiking, traveling, going to museums and watching new movies.

This is the easiest battery to recharge in this day and age, but that can also be a trap, if that’s all you are doing.

Getting out there, and living a more intense life, will fill your mind with ideas and inspiration!

Spiritual Energy

This battery deals with what it means to be alive on this planet. What does your life mean to you? Does it have any meaning? Does it have any value? Or is everything meaningless?

These questions have deep repercussions in how we behave and act, whether we acknowledge it or not.

If you want to become a more productive and creative artist, you need to expand your consciousness, one form or another.

Summary

To recap, to increase our general quality of life, we need to maintain these 5 batteries recharged:

  • Physical energy
  • Emotional energy
  • Creative energy
  • Spiritual energy
  • Sexual energy

Physical energy is recharged by eating properly, sleeping and exercising. Emotional energy is recharged by keeping the mind clean from negative thoughts and emotions, by introspection and self-love. Creative energy is recharged by exposing yourself to new experiences. Spiritual energy is fulfilled by spending time asking the big questions and finding your own answers. And sexual energy is necessary for a deep, fulfilling life!

This article ended up much bigger than I originally envisioned! And again, what works for me, doesn’t necessarily work for you. Find your own truth, your own routine, and I hope that this post helped you get some new ideas!

To close this off, here’s where you can find more information about some of these subjects:

  • Gaia TV (they have some amazing documentaries about food, meditation, yoga and spiritual inquiries.)
  • Psycho-Cybernetics (excellent book on self-image and learning)
  • The Way of the Superior Man (I can’t recommend this book enough if you are a man, though if you are woman you might learn quite a bit about men too!)
  • The Four Agreements (Excellent manual on how to keep a clean mind. Very short but powerful book.)
  • Psychology-Today (Nice site to browse when I have some time to kill, always find useful articles here)
  • King Warrior Magician Lover (Another pivotal book in my life, explores the four main archetypes of a mature masculine, maybe there’s a corresponding one for the mature feminine?)

How about you? How do you feel about your routine? What are some tweaks you made that made big differences in your life? I’m eager to hear! Drop a comment bellow, or send me an email!