4. Get into action

Action releases energy allowing your thoughts and intention to be expressed in the world. There are several types of actions that work well in restarting the flow of your river of life energy:

• Actions that lead to completion
• Actions that change your bodily state
• Actions that decrease the likelihood of future contractive reactions

Completing something – anything – frees up energy. All the thought and attention that went into readdressing the same lingering issue over and over is gone. When the action is done you free up energy that can be applied to the next action you initiate. Completing actions builds momentum. This principle works whether the actions you complete are small or large.

Actions that change your bodily state are those that stimulate the senses or increase your metabolism. New sights, sounds or smells invoke physiological changes in your state of being as does doing things that raise your heart and breathing rate (think physical activity, listening to heart pounding musical rhythms, or watching thrilling TV shows or movies).

Actions that decrease the likelihood of future contractive reactions include those that involve “clean up” or clutter removal. What happens when you walk by a pile of unopened bills on your desk or continuously open an overfull email inbox? You have a physical and emotional reaction – you tense up and contract. Doing this over and over causes these physical contractive reactions to become habitual. So high on your list of priority actions to take should be cleaning up or eliminating things that serve as contractive triggers. Identify the particular triggers that you encounter every day and get rid of them.

5. Let your words flow freely

One of the surest ways to dam up your energy is to break the link between thought and speech. Thoughts and emotions create energy. That energy when turned inward and held inside can not only be corrosive – it establishes a habitual constricted energy pattern: Think, feel, generate energy – stop. Think, feel, generate energy – stop. To open up the flow it is important to practice expressing your thoughts and feelings. Sometimes what it takes is simply learning some simple new communication tools that allow you to say what you want in a way that you feel comfortable with. Here are two simple but useful tools: