The desire to have more energy is common in our over-worked, highly stressed modern age.

One often hears people comment regularly on how they wished they had more energy to do the activities that they love, whether it is spend more time on a hobby, learn something new or be with loved ones.

There is no doubt that when we are engaged with what we love, we naturally feel more generative and energized.

The myth that we can have more energy is a false one. We can’t actually increase our energy exponentially by pounding 24-hr energy boosters, coffee or in the extreme example toxic drugs—all of these stimulants will deplete our body long-term and wreck our energy reserves.

When we are running on depleted reserves we create more muscular tension. We can not create energy from tension. In order to build energy we need to nourish our energy reserves through relaxation.

Relaxation is our means to harness energy in the long run.

Creating a balanced and harmonious life takes time. First, we have to unlearn previous habits and priorities that led to stress and disease. When we are able to function from a place of calm we will naturally function optimally; this occurs, because we are able to get out of our own way, process information more efficiently, and be present with what is occurring in each moment. Each moment offers a wealth of resources that we can not access if we are stressed out all of the time.

Notice, what happens when a person says, “Listen up.”

The conditioned response is to tense ourselves and hold muscular tension and contraction. This is not a conducive response if our aim is to take in new information and benefit from a dynamic learning environment.

Learning and energy are supported when the body is able to be relax with a sense of wellness and ease. The more we can learn to relax, unwind, and reduce tension, the more endurance we will build. We begin to feel better through the process of re-learning how to be and thrive. Creating stability in our lives means supporting wellbeing through activities and resources that enhance natural energy reserves. It is the simple everyday actions that lead to big breakthroughs for lasting health and energy.

Another important aspect to having more energy, is to recognize what is taking our life- force.

Often times we become consumed by activities, relationships and jobs that we do not enjoy. The effect of this over time is robbing us of wellbeing because these activities and relationships are not generative; they are not giving back what we put into them.

When we find activities and lrelationships that we really love they become our life-line. These benevolent cycles of energy circulation enhance and replenish our reserves, and chi. Unfortunately, this is not how most people’s lives are set up.

People go to jobs they hate, and consume sugar, coffee, and other stimulants to numb themselves out enough to “get the job done”—not recognizing this is the biggest energy leak of them all!

When we can fine-tune our lives, and focus on small every day activities that add up and build over-time, we can create more energy for the things that we love.

This perspective of focusing on what makes us feel nourished can help us look at the root cause of our experience— the lack of energy. When awareness is our guide, we can set up better cycles for ourselves, habits and actions that feed us. It can be as simple as redirecting our behavior when we need to, in order to have better experiences, more energy, harmony and contentment in our lives.

Just thinking about these things can help us shift our experience overtime, but actions are also important in order to create lasting change.

Simple action steps, that can help you have more energy:

1) Start today and stop drinking stimulants (or at the very least, try to cut down).

We can look for herbs and tonics that will nourish our systems vs. deplete our adrenals. Herbs like reishi, and chaga will help build chi and jing energy and support the body system. When we take them they wont create a buzz like caffeine, however, with repeated use we can build our energy reserves. This may take time depending on how long we have over-stressed our body system.

2) Make the time to engage in activities that we love.

It doesn’t help to worry so much about the things that we hate doing. First, if we start to incorporate more activities that enhance our experience of life we may find a renewed sense of purpose and resources. It is important to: take that nature walk at noon, go to the restorative yoga class, and play in the park with your dog. If we do what we love, we may start to feel better immediately.

3) Observe our thought cycles through meditation, journaling or a contemplative practice.

When we take the time to notice what is going on in our head we may become overwhelmed at first, however, we are beginning to build awareness. Are our thoughts creating stress-loops? Some people enjoy writing, others like to talk it out. It is a great ally to find an appropriate outlet to help re-pattern our thinking

4) Honor our emotions and intuition in the moment.

We all have a highly intelligent and untapped resource at our disposal—it’s called the gut. When we trust ourselves and listen to our instincts about situations, people, and activities, we may find our energy leak and therefore be able to spend less time there; Doing this, alone, will give us more time to enjoy life.

Again, our small everyday activities and habits will add up and help us navigate our lives toward more energy, contentment, health, and energy.

We needn’t worry about taking big actions toward change until we have fully explored what we can do in each moment and throughout the day to support the kind of life that we feel excited about living. When we build this reserve, we may find that we have more value to offer our loved ones, clients, co-workers, and world. It can be as simple as doing what we love, that will create generative feelings to share.

Love elephant and want to go steady?

Sign up for our (curated) daily and weekly newsletters!

Editor: Catherine Monkman

Photo: greyloch/Flickr