Spiritual Essays

Mental Energy Loss

An introduction to Mental Energy Loss
Distraction - Does it really help you overcome your problems?

General Energy Tips

On Pain and Energy - Why looking at the overall pictures helps us regain our sanity and happiness.
Investing in Yourself - Simple steps for greater energy, balance and growth.

On Love and Relationships

Interview with an Angel - On God, Love and Relationships - What we are really looking for in a relationship.

General Essays

The Carpet Principle - A simple method for finding direction in your life.

Other Areas of Interest

Reiki Facts Reiki Articles Meditations Courses Home

An Introduction to Mental Energy Loss

We lose a lot of energy when our mind spins out of control.

This happens frequently, whenever we are overtaken by a strong desire or aversion of some sort.

It also happens when we get caught up in the whirl of negative emotions, like anger.

On such occasions, our mind often swirls around and around repeating the same thoughts and images until we become so fixated with whatever it is that is bothering us that it is hard to think about anything else.

This makes it difficult to relax, which often leads to a tightening of our muscles and a feeling of stress throughout the body.

If you have ever felt this, or are currently experiencing such a problem, you'll be pleased to know that there are several simple methods to help 'regain control'.

Below is a list of exercises you can try. The simplest ones are first; the more advanced (and more powerful) ones at the end:

Top Melbourne Reiki

Distraction

When our mind starts spinning out of control we often feel pressured, as if we need to solve our problem right away.

Often this causes us to become obsessed to the point where we can't stop thinking about our problem. Our thoughts are like little tug-boats that pull more thoughts behind them - that pull more thoughts behind those as well.

Our general default method for dealing with this 'thought current' is usually to distract ourselves by doing something that engages our full attention. This might be by playing a computer game, watching a film, going out with the girls - whatever.

These activities can be useful since they can help us break the momentum of our thoughts. You hop out of the mental whirlpool and, as a result, don't feel so troubled by it when you next hop back in. In fact, on a good day, you can't even remember why your problem seemed so serious.

The unfortunate thing about distraction, however, is that it generally only works for minor 'complaints'. If your boyfriend has just left you, that tends to be the first thing you think about the moment the film or night out ends. As such, you are thrust straight back into the miserable heart of your problem.

The same thing happens when we try to avoid thinking about a certain problem. We push it into some dark corner of our mind, we repress it, we do our best to forget - but one way or another it is always still with us - even if only on an unconscious level.

Worse still, because we have pushed our problem into the unconscious part of the mind, we actually can't keep any 'tabs' on it. It can run amok in the background, causing all sorts of emotional chaos, and much of the time we won't have any idea why we are feeling so down.

It is for this reason that so many of our problems stem from childhood. In childhood, unable to successfully deal with issues that seem too big for us, we repress them and forget. This helps us in the short term; but in the long term we eventually realize that while we may have forgotten about our past problems, they haven't forgotten about us.

This make us a lot less emotionally stable than we would otherwise be had we not repressed these difficult emotions.

So what, then, is the solution? What do we do when the pain really seems too great for us? The solution is to move in the opposite direction from normal: instead of running from our problem, we need to run towards it!

If we can open up to our problem rather than fleeing from it, we usually find that is ceases to trouble us - much in the same way a ghost can't hurt us if we stop running from it in fear.

In order to open up to our problems we need to fully 'feel' them. Instead of repressing our emotions we need to do our best to experience them to their very core. Meditate on the feeling. Zoom in on it wherever it appears in the body (emotions can generally be felt in a part of the body).

If you can just sit with whatever feelings you have without either judging or running away from them, then you will discover an amazing thing: they are just energy - and not even bad energy at that!

And when you focus on this energy it tends to dissolve like an ice-cube in the sun. It melts into a relaxing pool of crystal clear water.

So next time an issue is bothering you, try moving the other way. Move towards the problem, not away from it. Almost certainly you will find that is the quickest way to overcoming it.

(Jeremy O'Carroll)

(For a deeper exploration of this point, see my article, How to Clear Energetic Blockages with the Five Reiki Precepts)

Top Home

On Pain and Energy

Pain tends to attract awareness to it like a pimple.

You look at it in the mirror; you prod it with a finger; you twist your face so you can view it from a different angle; you resist it; you identify with it.

This last statement seems paradoxical given that you are battling your pimple (pain) like a monstrous (external) foe; but in a sense you really do identify with it. So much of your awareness is focused on it that you become it: a big pimple, or, in our case, pain.

The problem with getting obsessed by your pain, your pimples, your troubles, or any other such thing, is that you are distorting the truth. In actual fact, the sore tooth (to take one example) is just a small component of your total being. At every moment you are receiving thousands of different stimuli, and it is at most probably just a few of them.

If you could take a more balanced view your sore tooth you would most likely find that it amounts to something like 3/1000th of your being. Not much to get fussed about.

So what is the solution to the problem?

First, we need to observe our pain but not get obsessed by it. Notice it - just the same as you notice everything else that is happening in your life. Don't get tricked into believing that it is bigger than it really is.

Second, don't resist it. Fighting something only gives it more strength. Just observe it - as the Buddhists would say. Watch it. Smile at it. And keep moving. Don't stand still and gape.

If you can do this, pain - or whatever else it is that is troubling you - will transform into what it really is: energy. And plain old energy is never bad. It is only bad when coming through a filter. The 'It's Bad' filter.

A proven method to help put things in perspective is meditation. Meditation allows your being to expand so you're not trapped any longer in the minute prison of the mind.

In meditation you let your awareness expand and, as you do so, little grievances give way to a greater joy: the Energy that surrounds us.

(Jeremy O'Carroll)

Investing in Yourself

People are always looking for security. They want a secure job. A secure relationship. Secure assets.

They want to know that everything will be okay in a world that is constantly changing.

Of course, we all know that trying to fight against the impermanent nature of the universe is a losing battle; but is there some way we can protect ourselves from the ups and downs of life nonetheless? Protect ourselves from changes that are out of our control?

The answer is 'yes' and 'no'.

Naturally, we can't control how other people act. We can't control the world economy. And we can't do much if everyone in our department at work - us included - gets laid off.

Not much to do, either, if a natural disaster - like fire - wipes out our family home (okay, maybe some good insurance, but the house is still lost).

In short, riches on the outside are always liable to perish.

What is more in our control, however, is who we are. That is, we can do so much to improve our inner qualities and skills that even if disaster does strike we will have the ability to rebuild from scratch.

And this, if you ask me, is where a truer brand of security lies.

Investing in Yourself - Health, Spirit & Education

Stephen R. Covey, in his wonderful book 'The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People', talks about the need to get our P/PC balance, where P stands for production and PC production capability.

That is, on the one hand we want to get things done (P); on the other we need to take care of the machine (often us) that can get things done (PC).

There is no point, for example, working like a maniac, making millions when you are young, only to ruin your health so you can't enjoy any of your riches when you are older.

So a balance needs to be struck. You need to produce because you need food, shelter and other good things; but you also need to look after yourself because otherwise you won't be able to produce.

And that is where taking care of your health is so important.

Health is one of the cornerstones of production, because without it you can't have any.

So if you ultimately want to produce more, then consider three key things: diet, exercise and sleep.

Diet: eliminate refined sugars, caffeine and simple carbohydrates (white flour, white rice etc.). They will sap your energy reserves and make you sleepy and lethargic - as well as contributing to many serious health conditions.

If you eat complex carbohydrates (and foods with a low G.I.), you will be amazed how much more energy you have.

For a database of foods and their glycemic index, click here.

Exercise: Man was not made to sit around in front of a computer screen all day. For most of our evolution physical exercise was a major part of any day. So if you wish to be healthy, invest 30 minutes three to four times a week in physical activity. If you do, you will be surprised at how much more energy you have, and how much more productive you will become.

Sleep: A lot of people skimp on sleep because they feel it is a waste of time. Ironically, they end up wasting a lot more time because they trudge about the day feeling lethargic. They move slowly, think slowly and, as a result, produce slowly.

So if you think you can get more done by sleeping less, believe me, you're kidding yourself (unless, of course, we are talking about sleeping excessive amounts!).

I admit all of this is fairly simple and has been said many times before; but are you doing it?

Spirit is the second cornerstone of a healthy and productive life.

Here I recommend what I call a 'mini-Sabbath'. That is, be sure to take some time out of every day to turn inwards. Invest a minimum of 2% of your time (roughly 30 minutes) doing meditation, Reiki or the like and you will be surprised at how much more balanced you are.

Don't wait for Super Sunday where you have promised to do 2 hours meditation, because if you don't do any during the week you will probably end up so unbalanced you won't be able to slow down enough to do any when Sunday does come around.

The first two components (health and spirit) will keep your body and mind in good shape. The next step is to enhance them.

This step will enable you to increase your production capability and start over if things turn bad. Because unless you are physically injured, you will always be able to start over if you have the skills to do so.

A good rule of thumb advocated by several experts (Brian Tracy etc.) is to invest 3% of everything you make in educating yourself.

This could be taking a course in meditation, Reiki, business skills or whatever. It could be investing in online programs, books and magazines.

The point is to actually set a certain amount of your income aside for educative purposes.

Actually, as far as I'm concerned 3% should be the minimum amount set aside. I, personally, invest a good deal more. And the point is to see it as an investment too, because with better skills you will have better production so, ultimately, the money will be well spent.

Investing in yourself is a simple concept and it will give you great returns.

The trick is simply to take an idea you most likely already know but have not acted on - and act on it!

If can do this you will succeed where others fail.

(Jeremy O'Carroll)

The Carpet Principle

Sometime back I was renovating the Reiki centre in Daylesford and needed to purchase some carpet. I went into Ballarat, did the rounds at about four carpet stores and wasn't happy.

Not that I was totally unhappy with the options and prices I found; but none of them really satisfied me. They weren't quite right.

I had a course coming up in a bit over a week and I didn't have time wait, so I hummed and hawed not sure what to do.

To buy or not to buy, that was the question? Was 'not quite right' good enough?

The day was getting late and I needed to make a decision. This would be the last chance I had to visit Ballarat in time to get the new carpet ordered and down in time for the course, so I had to act.

In the end, rather than return to one of the stores I had already visited, I opted to try another one a little out of town. By the time I arrived they had already closed, but being a family run business the owners - who hadn't left yet - reopened and let me have a look at their stocks.

Almost immediately I found a carpet I was totally happy with at a very good price. Right away I knew it was the one I wanted.

I didn't need to think about it. I didn't need to weigh things up. I just knew. As such, I put in an order on the spot.

On the way home I reflected on what had happened and wondered whether there mightn't be a principle in all of this.

So often we try to 'squeeze' ourselves into a situation that we aren't quite comfortable with. We are offered, say, a job with a really high salary and are tempted even though a part of us isn't convinced.

It doesn't feel right, but our mind happily comes up with dozens of good reasons why we should take the job: 'We would be unlikely to find another one with such good pay. There are excellent opportunities for career advancement. It would be a good learning experience etc. etc.'

But...

My question therefore is this: What if the right option is always the simple one - the one without resistance?

Should you marry that girl? 'Ah, not quite sure, but..' Then don't!

Should you marry that girl? 'Yes! That's all I want.' Then do it!

Of course, I am talking more about your intuitive feeling (your gut feeling) than your emotions connected to a choice or option. But I do have a suspicion that when the right course presents itself then we don't need to hesitate. Every part of us (except, perhaps, our mind) will just say 'Yes!'

This idea of 'total convergence' (i.e. where everything flows towards a 'yes') is what I have decided to call the 'carpet principle'.

If a decision is right you will know it wholeheartedly. You won't need to hum and haw. You will just want to shout 'yes'.

And if you don't get that 'total convergence'?

Then sit tight - and wait for a better option. This theory states that the right option is always there - it's just a question of being patient.

So be brave and don't settle for second best. If something isn't totally right then forget it. If it is right, then act - and act resolutely. Don't wait. Don't dilly-dally. Just charge full steam ahead.

(Disclaimer: This theory needs personal testing. Consider it. Try it. Own it or discard it. The responsibility is yours.)

Top Home Reiki Articles Meditations Courses