Last night I return to my singing practice and I so much enjoyed it because singing really moves positive energy around inside. I wrote about the importance of moving energy recently in my two part series about Self-Care. Most of us tend to hold too much of the past in our bodies, past memories, past trauma, past emotions, and past thoughts. These past experiences need to be released so we can free up our energy for the life we are living today. Each of us must find the ways that works best for us to transform the constricted energy of our past into the potential energy of aliveness in the present.
Energy movement and release happens: when you and I move into action; when we get unstuck by going for something that has meaning to us; when we break out of old holding patterns; when we do something we enjoy; and numerous others ways. We all have this aspect of self we can call our emotional body. This body is made up of our lifetime of feelings, especially prominent are the unexpressed ones, the ones we stuff to avoid feeling. Those denied emotions both positive and negative linger in the body in the form of tension or tightness. The more ignored emotions we have the more uptight we can become. This emotional tension compromises our immune system, our aliveness, and too often our ability to enjoy life.
Yesterday at work I led an exercise in visualization to help release these old holding patterns in the clients in treatment. When people got up and moved around they looked much more relaxed as if the light of aliveness was turned on inside. When I figure out how to record this type of session I will place it here on my blog for you to utilize. The important point is that there are ways to release the containment of the past, to energize ourselves so that we can feel more alive.
The following are some tips to assist in letting go of the past, to help make us feel more alive and energized in our lives:
• Tune in and feel where in your body do you sense holding or tension going on? As you sense where these holdings are, make a conscious effort to breathe into those areas and relax and release them.
• Try a simple practice of breathing more deeply so that it feels as if all the cells of your body are filled with the healing energy of your inhale. This practice is best done in a very relaxed position where there is no restriction of your breathing. If you do this for a minimum of 10 minutes per day you will be amazed at the healthy benefits.
• Laughter is a great healer. Listening to a fun CD or watching a funny movie can be helpful. There is something called Laugher Yoga that is spreading around the planet. You can check that out. Simply watch a child as its whole body shakes with laughter, that is what you want to happen in you.
• Push your body, do some vigorous exercise, climb a mountain, go for a long run or walk, do an exercise class that tests you and more. A good push of self will awaken stuff that may have been slumbering for some time.
• Let go of unfinished business, forgive what needs to be forgiven and move on from it. This unfinished stuff tends to drain the energy of life form us. Survey what you are holding onto like resentments you have and figure a way to let them go today.
• At all times pay attention to what feelings are bubbling up in you, especially note the ones that keep showing up. When you acknowledge what you feel and watch what happens you will see they come and go mostly on their own accord. Feelings respected by acknowledging them just don’t show up later as past baggage.
All of these ideas keep the body and emotional energy in a healthy flow and can assist you in moving old stuff out of you. Often times a good counselor can make this whole process move along more effectively but self-help like the ideas above can do wonders for your well-being.