• “There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action–and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique.And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost.The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours, clearly and directly.”

- Martha Graham

Lighten Up:Gaining Energy and

Productivityin 2005!

Merrilee Shopland, M.A.

My Mobile Home

Objectives• Provide R & R• Give you new ways of thinking

about lightening up• Lighten you up• Have you leave with one new thing

you’re going to change

Premise #1All Matter is Energy

Disguised

Premise #3:You’re changing all the

time

• Ten trillion quadrillion atoms

• 98% exchanged within one year

• Skin shed in one month• Stomach lining swapped

out every week

You might as well change

consciously

We’re all Unique

Premise #2 Only you can write your

prescription

Premises:

• Abundance of energy -- our job is

to dissolve the accumulated blocks

• You’re changing anyway -- why not

be conscious of it

• You need to write the prescription

Think of at least one time when you were energetic and

productive.

Physical

EmotionalMental

Social

SpiritualOccupationa

l

One Balloon

Physical

EmotionalMental

Social

SpiritualOccupationa

l

The Physical

How We Make Energy from Exercise

ATP

ATP Split Apart = Energy

How We Make Energy from Exercise

*Aerobic Metabolism:• “With oxygen”• Breaks down carbs and

fat in the presence of oxygen to produce ATP, carbon dioxide, water and heat.

*Anerobic Metabolism:• Without oxygen• Phosphagen• Lactic Acid

ATP=(Adenosine Triphosphate) Split apart=energy

Make a Smart Goal

•Specific

•Measureable

•Accessible

•Relevant

•Time Sensitive

What physical activities do you enjoy that enhance your

energy?

What would help you move through the stops?

What are your “stops?”

Food and Energy

Food & Energy

• White Bread100• White Rice79 • Potato70• Bananas79• Grapes74• Croissants74• Bagel 72

High glycemic carbohydrates (for the most part, unwanted in the diet) can increase hunger and overall food intake throughout the day, whereas low glycemic carbohydrates reduce appetite and enhance satiety. Thus, certain types of carbohydrates can increase the risk of obesity.

Consumption Quiz

Oxygen

• 4 out of 5 atoms on Earth are oxygen

• One out of four in our bodies are oxygen

• Oxygen revitalizes but . . .

Free Radicals

• Tobacco• Alcohol• BBQ and Smoked Meats• Processed foods & aged cheeses• Chemotherapy, Radiation• Sunlight• Etc

How does food affect our energy?

• Eat for HIGH energy

– Three essential nutrients:

• Carbohydrates

• Proteins

• Fats

How does food affect our energy?

• To increase

energy increase

your consumption

of “living” foods.

How does food affect our energy?

• Eat for HIGH energy

• To increase energy increase your

consumption of “living” foods.

• Eat less, more often

• Listen to your body

– Hunger

– What works

Mental

“I have about concluded that wealth is a state of mind, and that anyone can acquire a wealthy state of mind by thinking rich thoughts.”

- Andrew Young

Mental

• Books• Movies• Conversations• Classes• Crossword

Puzzles• Games

• Travel• Conferences• Research• Teach• Join a list serve in

an area of interest

What do you do for mental stimulation?

Mental Adjustment

“When we realize that we are choosing our perceptions and reactions, we can loosen our rigid attachment to an unproductive viewpoint and shift our energy away from people who drain us of our vitality.”

-David Simon, M.D.

Vital Energy: Seven Key Ingredients for Invigorating Body, Mind and Spirit

Emotional• Neurotransmittors, in the form of

biochemicals, (Endorphins, seratonin, dopamine) are turning

emotions into physical form

Emotional/Spiritual

• Activities produce chemicals:• Daydreaming - Produces

dopamine• Water – produces endorphins• Laughter - produces endorphins

Thoughts

Actions

Feelings

R & R

What activities help you feel good?

Occupational

• “Do What you Are”• “Do What you Love, the Money Will Follow”• Feed your interests

Awareness

Tools for Gaining Productivity

?

Question

• What’s the one thing that comes to mind that you could do that would bring you more energy and productivity?

Summary• We are a bundle of biochemicals.

Our energy level and productivity is dependent on making choices that enhance our health and vitality

• Awareness and discipline and often a structure is required to break out of negative habits

Summary

• Focus on what you want to occur not what isn’t working

• Follow your heart/instinct/hunch

Summary• Pick one area to revitalize at a

time• Bring some kind of physical

movement into your life• Eat foods that lighten and energize• Pursue a dream or hobby• Cultivate relationships with people

that energize you

Other Ideas

• Go off on an adventure weekend alone

• Sign up for a class• Have a dinner party

– catered• Create a cd of music

that inspires you

• Solitude• Journaling/Writing• Nature• Massage • Rent a great movie• Develop a

collection of music that inspires you

So what’s my point here?

VisionBeliefActionDiscipline

Nourished by challenge

The value of an ambitious goal is not measured by what it will bring to you. The worth of a goal is measured by what it will make of you in the process of following and attaining it. An outrageous and impractical goal can be just as valuable as a prudent and pragmatic one. What matters is not how realistic or practical your objective may be, but how much it compels you to push beyond your limitations. There are stunningly brilliant possibilities for your life that you've never even imagined. Set yourself on a meaningful and ambitious course, and the best of those possibilities will begin snapping into focus. It pays to dream big dreams. And it certainly pays to follow the biggest and most ambitious of them. For the biggest dreams will put you face to face with the biggest challenges. And those challenges, difficult as they may be, will nourish you in ways that nothing else can.

The End

Merrilee Shoplandmerrilee@austincc.edu223-7885HBC 606.2

http://www2. austincc.edu/shopland