This week’s Yama (moral code) is Bramacharya – right use of energy.
What is right use of energy? To use our energy to fulfil our life’s purpose. Sounds deep I know 🙂 This can be thought of as energy to conduct our daily tasks, look after the people around us, do our work, perform our duties and so on. By simply taking care of ourselves we should be able to do all of these activities effectively without diminishing our energy reserves.
If we don’t take care of ourselves, we run the risk of triggering the stress response. Our bodies become run down and we have less energy. So being super busy and active is not always being super effective.
To take care of ourselves we should include things that are positive and leave us energised. Here are some examples of activities I love and keep me fully charged:
- going for a walk
- spending time with good friends
- eating lovely food
- mindfully enjoying a cuppa
- meditating
- music that warms my soul,
- being creative
- attending my favourite yoga class and many more
To help ourselves, we should notice how our bodies react to different activities. Was it a good idea to take a 10 minute walk this morning? Was it good that I stopped for proper tea break before attending to my emails? Was it good to have my fifth coffee at 5pm today? Was it good that I practised yoga this week? Was it a good idea to scroll through socials or watch the news?
Sometimes the activities we take delight in are momentary and at other times they have a positive and lasting effect. We just need to listen to our bodies and notice is this activity helpful or harmful. In class we considered each move in our asana and whether it was helpful or harmful.
Action – I’m taking a 10 minute walk every morning and it starts my day beautifully. Use your energy to do something that is positive for you and ask yourself is this action helpful or harmful?
I would love to hear your positive actions 🙂
