The human body is the vehicle or mindfulness, empathy and willpower.
When we are less comfortable with our bodies; these energies are less comfortable with us.

Today’s Body Language of Energy blog;’ highlights the 5 minute daily Energy Routine, designed by Energy Medicine pioneer Donna Eden; who shares the principles of this knowledge already  for many many  years.

We’ll see two people demonstrating the daily routine; Donna Eden herself and Prune Harris.  Observe, Compare, use them alternately; whatever way feels best for you.
Even when you know the routine through and through; it’s nice to do it under guidance and go with the flow.

When you are more comfortable with your body; your body is more comfortable to contribute something for a better world.

What the Donna Eden 5 minute daily energy routine will do for you:

• Give the energy systems of your body a head start.
  By tapping certain acupressure points on the body, the energies are given a ‘kick-start’  (1 minute)
• Ensures the energies are crossed over.
  Similar to the left hemisphere of the brain guarding the right half of the body and the right hemisphere of the brain guarding the left half of the body; the energies used in daily life are crossed over as well.
  At times however the overwhelming amount of information and impressions we receive on a daily basis, can be stalled out of self protection. This means the energies turn homo lateral (run in the same direction) and in a proverbial sense raise the white flag.
  A simple marching-technique put them ‘straight’ in cross-over position.   (30 seconds)
• Balances the energy-circulation system.
  The energy pathways of your body both nourish and are nourished by each other.  A for instance stress full situation can cause the stress-support-meridian to draw more energy  from the other meridians.
  By balancing this system of give and take, every organ in the body is given a chance to function optimally.
• Protects you against absorbing negative energy.
  On a daily basis we receive many more impressions than we register.  Some of these impressions however do not go by unnoticed in the sense that they leave an imprint on our energies. A negative remark, an unpleasant message or something that keeps coming back in your life and makes you weary.  A simple ‘zip-up’ exercise (taking only a few seconds) prevents negative energy from crawling under your skin.
• Support and increase your emotional and physical resilience
• Help tone down degenerative processes
• Support your well being throughout the day.
  

Enough said, let’s go and do something….:) :

The 5 minute Daily Energy Routine presented by Donna Eden

The Daily Energy Routine with extra’s presented by Prune Harris

Ingrid

The post The Donna Eden Energy Routine. appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

Can you imagine yourself doing absolutely nothing for 5 full minutes? I thought it would be a nice challenge for you to try out. Especially women seem to suffer from the always-doing-something affliction, scouting things that still need to be done.  Men apparently have a nothing box that they can go to with a ‘gone fishing’ sign on it; but even then….they’ve gone fishing.

Humans seem to have a problem when it comes to doing absolutely nothing. We have brains that constantly keep us on the go. Just imagine cats or dogs having a brain like that. Would they be able to sleep the amount of hours that they do if they did have the ability to think things over? Cats and dogs react on instinct.

Humans don’t have that convenience. Humans constantly measure, interpret, compare. Everything they see is negotiated. What comes first? How much will I gain? What should I do in order to get what I want?  We are all constantly thinking.

For most people; even when they meditate, they do the meditation. They put on a CD or go to a class and listen to words guiding them to the sanctuary within. A good place to start for sure but also difficult with a consumer society brain that is turned on 24/7, to evaluate things.

A hilarious example from Kripalu Yoga teacher Stephen Cope tells the story of someone who, in the middle of meditation class bursts out in anger after observing the other meditating group members through his eyelashes. It seemed everyone around him was serene and emerged in stillness while his mind kept mulling over all sorts of things from past, present and future. Once he shares his feelings of frustration with the group; the other members admit, they too have difficulty letting go of judgment and evaluation while observing themselves and the thoughts that pass before their minds eye.

A do/think absolutely nothing exercise given to me once by my mentor Cees van der Kroef, was to look at a painting without thinking anything of it. Simply see the painting. Observe it without judging it. You may establish which colors are in it and what it portrays but refrain from having a verdict, such as liking, loving or disliking it.  Step out of Facebook-mode for a while. You’ll find this to be surprisingly difficult but once mastered it’s a wonderful practice that will help you to sit back and relax. Once practiced on paintings; you can move on to situations involving people and stress triggers.
Of course some things are unthinkable and will always trigger emotions, but many of the triggers we respond to on a daily basis are really better left ignored and will thus give some peace of mind.

Conclusion: Switch of your brain when it comes to judgment. The world will become a better place because of it.

Ingrid Schippers, 22-01-2018

 Click on the card to learn more about its background

The spoken version of this blog, features as end note on  ‘Dutchbuzz’, the radio hour for Internationals every Tuesday  from 10 to 11 pm on ‘Den Haag FM and can be found in the Programme Archive of  the Dutchbuzz podcasts, dated January 23rd 2018

Blog picture: Me at 17 practicing doing absolutely nothing

The post The Do Absolutely Nothing Challenge appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

Here’s 3 directives I picked up in the course of life that have taught me how to have a relaxed holiday, even when trailing (grand) children

Rule number I

When my kids were growing up, my number one rule in family outings was I’d do anything, provided I’d enjoy it too. That implied I would go to all Disney movies but refused to bide my time watching movies I did not like. I would refuse to take them to MacDonalds but would organize a cookery workshop.

This technique, can also be applied when going on holiday in extended groups.  Just say you’ll do anything they like; provided you’ll enjoy it too.

Rule number II

The second rule also grew out of parenting experience.  As mother of 4,  born closely together,  I was constantly on the watch and counting heads at airports, shopping malls and playgrounds. Even more so on beaches where I would resemble a meerkat continuously surveying the beach.

This slightly changed when  our family was extended with a dog.  (Not so much because the dog was assigned a babysitters task like  ‘Nana’ in Peter Pan; for our dog was a French Basset and couldn’t be bothered.)

What I learned on the puppy training course was that one should never chase a dog when it refuses to respond to your call. The dog should be taught to come to you. You should not be obliged to keep an aye on the dog; the dog should keep an eye on you.

I tested this skill once on a group of 8-year-olds I was to supervise during a school trip. I told them: I am not going to count heads all the time; I’m going to expect you keep an eye on me, so I don’t run off”.
To my astonishment this worked. I was a very relaxed volunteering parent that year.  The morale of this story is not be made a follower. As in rule I; do not be the one who is trailing the needs of others; instead make sure to create space of your own bidding.

Rule number III.

I won’t advise you to stick your head in the sand for what is going on in the rest of the world while you’re ‘away’ , for that is not a solution. What you can do however, is to unplug yourself from the drama of it. Reality check if there is something you can do; say a prayer or send supportive vibes those who are suffering; but don’t let it get to you in the sense that it rules your day where you are. We tend to get drawn away from of ourselves, where we are and what we are doing by outside circumstances, while we have plenty to care for in our own world;  especially during holiday time, when unresolved thoughts and feelings dating back from daily working-life get a chance to catch up on you.  So basically what I’m saying is: make sure you have down time for you @ where you are. The world has become a small place with the internet and international news. Make sure though to remember your own plot of life in the moment

These were my 3 cents. I wish you a wonderful summertime and hope to see you in September, when I’ll start up both the  ‘Body language of Energy’ and ‘Nan Yar- Who Am I’ groups, combining the flow of energy with the flow of transition.

And just because I’m a proud mom; the silhouette of the girl in the picture is my oldest daughter, one of the ones I watched over like a meerkat, standing upright on the beach. She grew into a lovely young woman

Ingrid Schippers, 26 June 2017

To connect, send me a mail at info@energycounseling.nl, or scroll down and leave you comments through the contact form.

This blog is featured as spoken end note of the Dutchbuzz edition of June 27 2017, broadcasted on The Hague FM from 10.00 tot 11.00 pm.  It can also be listened to through the Dutchbuzz podcast of  June 27 2017

The post 3 Tips for a Successful Holiday appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

Do you recognize this? When you feel like giving yourself a treat, you go and look for it outside your regular environment? A short getaway to be away for a while? But away from what, one may wonder?

Wouldn’t it be better to change your regular environment? Take a different stand towards your daily routines? Re-apply the energy it takes to do on a daily basis what is expected of you? Or what you think is expected of you? Or what you expect of yourself?

On coming back from their holidays, some people tend to get the holiday blues, with their time-out having been so nice that they are reluctant to return to the daily treadmill.

Todays inhabitants of the fast-moving society, are constantly directed through stress, with adrenaline consistently urging the body to go to its limits. In some ways this is even experienced as pleasurable because the hormones responsible for making us active, also have the added effect of making us feel ‘on top of the world’.

In itself ‘stress’ is a healthy and natural response of the body to take action, a mechanism humanity has tagged along since the dawn of (wo)mankind.

In our hunter and gatherer days ‘stress’ was desperately needed to outrun the sabertooth tiger or hunt for food. But 5000+ year ago, that wasn’t something we did all-day-long.

There was no 70-80 hour ‘saber-tooth-avoiding-working-week’. Nor was there the necessity to be able to buy all sorts of material trophies; possessions of which commerce tells us we can’t live without them.

Yet what do these trophies actually bring us? Peace and quiet? Relaxation time? Can we finally unwind when we have the latest television sets in our rooms to watch the latest news? Or the latest action-movie? Does our daily environment support our self care needs? Or is the balance somewhat off, slowly undermining the constant flow of energy; if you don’t watch it, to a point where you desperately need a holiday…

Maybe it’s time we did what our ancestors did and weave holiday self care into daily life.
The Hunter and Gatherers certainly weren’t hunting and gathering all day. They took their moments in between, made sure they were as comfortable as possible during what was expected of them. They certainly didn’t take a break for a couple of days to be away from it all.

Literally for a start, a simple way to achieve this in today’s world, would be not to jump out of bed immediately after sleep but take some time instead. As if you are on a holiday. Stretch. Take a look out of the window. Take it easy. Make yourself some breakfast. Sit yourself down and observe your environment, like you would on a holiday. Take a few moments entirely for yourself; repeat that a couple of times throughout your day.

Another one is: Don’t rush. If you’re late, you’re late. Being anxious about it does’t change being late. Getting up or leaving 20 minutes earlier,- taking your time-, does.

And it doesn’t require any material trophies.
It’s free! It’s within you and always there when you need it.
It’s the Art of Self Care

Ingrid Schippers, September 6 2016

Visit the other pages of www.energycounseling.nl for information on the Body Language of Energy and Nan Yar – Who Am I personal development Group, Individual and Skype sessions.

To connect send me a mail at info@energycounseling.nl, optionally with a phone number.

And before you leave….draw your own Nan Yar- Who Am I card of the day on the right of this blog. Click the card and let your subconscious do the thinking…

The post The Art of Self-Care appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

Especially with our world today offering such a diversity of challenges,
daily life can distract us from what really matters to such an extend that we forget to take good care of ourselves.

Breaking news flashes, famous people dying, terrorist attacks, presidential elections fought over in the media;  commercials attracting us into thinking we need certain products in order to be happy, it simply doesn’t stop!
Thousands of impulses a day attack us from television sets, computers,  cellphones, billboards, shop windows and friends who go through exactly the same experience and share that again!

It can make you weary; by the end of the day feeling you’ve done all sorts of things, yet very little of it had to do with you.
Eventually, when you have many of these days in row, body, mind and spirit start to protest. They start to feel drained, perhaps even to a point where certain ailments start to surface, physical aches, colds, lack of resistance, mental issues, feeling wobbly, mental tiredness.
As a result; the next day like this, will take up even more energy to perform.

One option to escape this vicious circle  is to take a break, go on a holiday.
Unfortunately this is only a short term solution, for after the holiday it’s back to normal and the same cycles start all over again

Holidays are also infamous for fatigue that finally gets a chance to surface once daily pressure falls away, igniting anything ranging from mild irritability to illness and escape into excess drinking or eating.
Or holidays can be overshadowed by an inability to actually enjoY being away from it all, as too little energy  is left to do that.

So….what we can we do to break this cycle?

When ever I catch myself reading my mails or watching the news straight after waking up;
or spending too many hours behind my computer;
or using my time off to meet dead lines rather than relax;
then I know its time to think of our ancestors, the hunter and gatherers, who had to live without holidays, who couldn’t break the vicious cycle by going away for a few days and had to regenerate on a daily basis in order to stay tuned.

Suppose they would have jumped out of their animal hide beds first thing in the morning;
pick up their spears and start hunting and gathering for 8 hours or more, 5 days a week or more;
how long do think they would have survived?
And they didn’t even have commercials, presidential candidate debates, terrorist attacks or breaking news from all over the world thrown at them many many times a day.

So what did these people do differently from modern day men and women?
The answer is: they took their time and created their own space.
They took care of themselves while life was happening; nourished their needs on a daily basis, wove relaxation into every day activities; integrated well being into their daily life occupation no matter where they were went or what they did.

In my next blog I’ll reveal what our hunter and gatherer ancestors did to keep fit during daily life, using their own body language and their own healing powers.

Ingrid Schippers Friday 6 May, 2016

This blog is featured as spoken end note of the Dutchbuzz edition of May 10th 2016 and can be listened to on The Hague FM from 10.00 tot 11.00 pm or on the Dutchbuzz podcast of May 10 2016

The post Paleo Fitness: The Bodylanguage of Energy appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

While it  can seem nice, to mutter and moan openly about things one doesn’t like, there’s a catch to living in a free country and being able to say what you think. That catch being that merely complaining about something, without doing anything constructive about it, makes you a conspirator in what you are complaining about.

In short: being negative about the world you live in, generates negative energy in return.
Let me try and explain this with an example.

Suppose someone in traffic for instance lifts the middle finger at you, and you, getting angry , lift the middle finger in return. What you’re left with is two people lifting middle fingers at each other, NOT making a pretty picture in the middle of traffic.
So what can you do to change that situation?

You could smile for one.  I’ve noticed it takes people completely of guard. By reacting the opposite way of how they feel, you take away their leading role in the situation.
A friendly wave is a very effective tool in that context as well.

Now, you perhaps think I must be getting a lot of middle fingers raised at me when I’m so knowledgeable about the subject,  but here’s the interesting thing;
Ever since I began to understand that getting angry in return only creates more adversity, I hardly have any problems in traffic, or in other situations for that matter, for I’ve learned to turn away from the source of my anxiety.

There’s this ancient wisdom in the legend of the Archangel Michael fighting the Dragon. While he effectively fights the dragon, he doesnt look him in the eye while he fights him. The dragon’s anger does not become Michael’s anger. Michael fights the Dragon but doesn’t merge with its state of mind.  Instead, he stands above it.  That is a piece of wisdom with huge consequences, not to be drawn into the negativity somebody else is trying to impose on you, resisting the temptation to be drawn into other peoples feelings. It’s a challenge, but possible.

Test it once when a friend blames you for something you think differently about or when a relative, boss or teacher showers you in reproach; ask yourself: “Is this what I want to be part of?”

I predict that even merely becoming conscious of the fact you’re being lured into the story line of somebody else, will summon up a smile.

Ingrid Schippers 8 March 2016

This blog is recorded as weekly end-note of Dutchbuzz.nl, the radio program for internationals, every Tuesday on The Hague FM from 10 to 11 pm. All programs are archived at Dutchbuzz.nl.

The post The Catch of Complaining appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

While the brain wonders and questions,
the heart knows.

This may come as a bit of a shock to some, but actually our brains are not that smart.
Our true intelligence resides in the heart.
Unfortunately many of us live in the head rather than the heart,thus sourcing their lifestyle and decision-making from calculated thinking.
What will it cost me; what do I get in exchange, meanwhile forgetting true value lies in how something feels.

This, while there are so many clues as to why living from the heart is so much healthier and even more so, so much easier.
Think about it for a moment, preferably from the heart.
Place an imaginary chair or yoga mat in the center of an imaginary heart and observe the brain.

It is the brain that is judgmental, not the heart.
It is the brain that wonders what other people will think, not the heart.
It is the brain that makes mistakes, while the heart only follows itself (and captures those moments where we confess how deep down inside we already knew)

Now pick up your imaginary chair or yoga mat and place it in the brain to observe the heart.
You already know why living from the heart is so much easier.

The heart has no boundaries.
It does not restrict itself to preconceived ideas, preoccupied fears or conditioned convictions.
It simply beats and is there for you all day long, as long as you live.
It warns you, makes you smile, supports you when you need it the most and when your heart is in love (for we do all know the heart to be the source of love) it gives you the gift of being able to love another person.

While the brain wonders and questions,
the heart knows.
The heart lives in the Now.
The heart cannot think ahead of itself or fear what will be next;
nor can it regret what happened in the past; that’s for the brain to decide.

And perhaps most importantly the heart is where our physical energies originate from;
And while the brain can feel lost, the heart keeps on beating and connects us to everything around us in this world;
While the brain divides and rules; the heart connects and supports.
While the brain can be extremely unkind to yourself, the heart never judges.
While the brain thinks in money, the heart donates in love.

We may mock ‘brainless people’ and refer to them as fools;
but I’d rather be a fool in my heart than a wizard in my brain.

To conclude: a heartwarming energy minute, presented by Donna Eden and her daughters Dondi Dahlin and Titanya Dahlin

I wish you a self-loving week

Ingrid Schippers

This blog is recorded as weekly end-note of Dutchbuzz.nl, the radio program for internationals, every Tuesday on The Hague FM from 10 to 11 pm and archived in the podcast of September 15

The post Living from the Heart appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

The other day I heard someone say; “I don’t understand the hurry of all these people, we’ll all reach the finish line one day anyway, whether we hurry or not.”

Have you noticed that too? How sometimes people are stressed even when it doesn’t serve a purpose ? Caught up in a traffic jam or train delay with the certainty they will be late and yet they keep looking at their watch?

The thing is though that constantly looking at a watch won’t cure the delay or slow down time, on the contrary, it only confirms the stress and stalls everything else that goes on at the same time.

When you’re stressed you can’t think of anything else.
All that occupies your mind is the stressor, that which makes you feel stressed.

So not only does stress cause you to be anxious, it also debilitates everything else going on in your life, as you have no energy left to direct towards other things.

Being late for an appointment is only an easy example in this context.
It also goes for being stressed over a relationship, financial problems, health issues, worries over children, parents or friends. Once we are stressed over something, anything at all, human beings are programmed in such a way that all energy is directed towards that which causes the stress.

This behavior originates from our hunter and gatherer days when an attack from a saber tooth tiger still required all of our attention, leaving no time for other issues.
The problem with this spontaneous reflex however is that the world today offers many more stressors on a daily basis than the occasional saber tooth. Time frames, deadlines, in fact the invention of the watch itself, the workings of economy, money issues, bills, stockexchange, morgages, alimonies, they are all little saber toothes, or should I say saber teeth in themselves.

How to de-stress, so that you are able to function again in other fields of life, when a stressor occupies your mind, may well be one of the biggest health issues of the era we live in today

For apart from taking up time and personal space, stress also affects your immune system, for the simple reason that all of your resilience is directed towards the stressor leaving the rest of body, mind and spirit unguarded against other invasions of the nervous system.

Now lets see this as a learning curve. Today, I invite you to think of a personal cure against stress. We all have different Tools in life. For one person curing stress might mean a walk past the shoreline, for the other taking a stiff glass of wine and for a third to sit down and meditate.
The first requirement is to realize you can actually actively weapon yourself against modern day Saber-teeth simply by becoming aware of the phenomenon.
The fact that the beach walk might be healthier than the stiff glass of wine is secondary.

Just think, what you, you personally yourself, so that’s you, could do to diminish stress in your life.
I wish you creative thinking.

The post Slow down appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.