Are you ready to boost your health and revolutionize your energy with some new and surprising tactics? The best part about these tactics is they aren’t the subject of diverse and opposing opinions or scientific review. They won’t cost you a thing either. Are you ready to lift your energy and keep it strong now — and forever?
Let’s start by reviewing the obvious energy boosters in your life. Adequate sleep. Check! Bountiful exercise and movement. Check? Healthy nutrition and hydration. Check(mate?). It’s indisputable that those are the elements and foundation of living an energized and fit life. The dispute comes in with what is required for each element to make it right for your well-being and energetic life, and since that’s not the topic of this article I won’t go further here.
Maybe I overstated that these tactics are surprising or new. You may do some or all of them already, though possibly not with intent of revolutionizing your energy. I love these techniques because they are fast and easy, and can be done almost anywhere and any time.
You ready to join your own personal energy revolution? Let’s go, then! If you are taking care of your health with sleep, exercise, and nutrition, then you can consider these as bonus steps to take. They are so easy, though, that maybe they should be considered foundational steps.
Revolutionary Energizing Tactics:
Stretch
The first tactic you can adopt is stretching. Stretch as you wake up, and the last thing you do before going to sleep. Stretch during your hourly work breaks. Stretch anytime you feel stiff, foggy, or sleepy. Stretching isn’t just for yoga classes or your yoga practice. Stretching increases your blood flow so that your body is getting nutrients and oxygen. That improves your muscle tone and joint comfort, balance and flexibility, mental clarity, mood, posture, and of course your energy level.
You may do a double take at the suggestion that stretching before sleep helps you sleep better. I find that stretching before sleep helps me sleep better. Test my experience for yourself with this tactic, for a month, a week at the very least, and see how your sleep improves.
Start your stretches with the body part you’ve been abusing most or using least. When I’m waking up I love to stretch my back by arching it. Cats taught me how important this is — they are lithe and agile creatures, like I want to be. Stretching your arms up while lengthening your back also stretches your back muscles. Extend your feet, flex them up and down and all around, to get your feet and legs alert and ready for action.
When I’ve been sitting or somewhere else such as in a car, airplane, or theater for very long I find shrugging my shoulders is a good stretch to wake things up. The same is true when I’ve been standing at my desk for extended periods. Twisting at your waist, rotate your shoulders to the right and left to keep your thoracic spine limber. Circle your shoulders front to back and back to front, stretch your fingers, flex your feet, stand on your toes then heels — move various parts of your body so they all wake up. Make up a routine for regular use, or create a movement plan on the fly to ease what’s feeling the tightest. Have fun with this and enjoy your energy boost.
In addition to these through-the-day stretches I start my morning with an isometric stretching routine I modified from the back of a 1959 Wheaties box found when my folks moved. The routine stretches and strengthens my muscles, giving me an overall workout to add to the daily exercising I do. I can tell when I skip that routine; the day just doesn’t start off with the same energy boost. You can use isometrics, where your body is your exercise machine to stretch, strengthen, and tone your body so you can be more energetic from head to toe.
Posture
Sitting, walking, or standing, your posture impacts your health and energy in many ways. If you are crunched over, you don’t breathe deeply enough or have good digestion. Rounded and stooped shoulders put undue pressure on your neck and back. Bad posture also impacts how well your knees, ankles, and hips, work for you and thus how they feel through the day.
To achieve good posture, imagine having a string attached to the top of your head that gently pulls you upward, allowing your spine to hang straight — that’s the sensation you can work with to help support your good posture all day. Another clue for keeping your head straight is to keep your ears aligned with your shoulders, hips, and ankles. Pulling in on your abdominals helps, too. Keep your posture erect and relaxed. With your shoulders back, your arms hanging naturally at your side, and your head and chin level with the floor, you have a good start to an erect posture.
When sitting, adjust the height of the chair so your thighs are parallel to the floor and your feet flat on the floor. Allow for a small gap between the back of your knees and the front of the chair, and place your tailbone at the back of the chair, supported if necessary. Remember that imaginary string holding your head up so your chin stays close (not tilted up, down, or sideways) and your neck straight, allowing your shoulders to stay relaxed.
Pointers for a good walking posture include keeping your stomach and buttocks aligned with your body, and your chin parallel to the ground. Look forward, not down, and keep your chest out. Let that string hold your head up so your body can naturally stay erect.
Standing pointers include keeping the bulk of your weight on the balls of your feet, feet about shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent, shoulders squared, head straight, and stomach pulled in.
I know my posture still needs further improvement, and yours probably does, too. (I have a bit too much curve in my lumbar spine, based on the following test.) To test your posture, take the wall test. Why don’t you do it now, while we’re talking about it? Here’s how to take the test: Stand two to four inches away from a wall and then lean back against it with your head, shoulders, and buttocks touching the wall. Reach your hand back and slide it under the curve of your back, palm flat against the wall. Your hand should just comfortably fit that space. If it’s too tight, you don’t have enough curve in your spine, so arch your back until the space is comfortable for your hand. If it’s too loose, you have too much curve in your spine; tightening your stomach muscles will flatten that curve. Do that until the space is comfortable against your hand. Now step away from the wall, holding that corrected position. Repeat this exercise throughout the day as a way of training your erect standing posture. When your energy is sagging, test and correct your posture so you can have a start to an energy boost.
Breathe
Let me pass on one valuable lesson from my EMS/First Responder Training classes: “O’s are good.” That translates to: Getting oxygen is a good idea. You knew that, of course, yet I suspect you could be getting even more than you are. So let me remind you that a big part of what you are going to do during your hourly break is to breathe deeply. Sure, it would be good to do that all the time, but the breathing you do during your break is especially focused on deep breathing for energy production.
Take a moment to enjoy 10 slow, deep breaths. Gently breathe in deeply through your nose and out completely through your mouth. If you are feeling highly stressed, add the repetition of “Release” to your breathing (not necessarily in synch with the breathing, just as it naturally flows). This technique both relaxes and energizes you. I love that kind of oxymoron!
Here’s another breathing technique. For a count of 20, breathe vigorously in and out through your nose, clapping with each breath as you go. Finish that off with five more hand claps. You’ll feel every cell in your body tingling with the oxygen and energy you just delivered throughout your body. To cap that off, if you want an extra energy boost, throw your hands in the air, saying “Let’s go!”,“I’m ready!”, or “Energize me!” — or anything that will invigorate you and charge you up further. That’s not an exercise for just anywhere, unless you don’t care how you behavior is viewed in public, but it’s free and works great. This breathing tactic is the major energy revolutionizer!
Feel free to develop your own deep breathing and energizing techniques that will support you through your day, if you want more variety than these approaches give you. And share what you develop so we can all learn.
Speak With Power
Speaking with power includes passion, vocal variety, and “gestures” along with your clear message. “Gestures” is a broad category of body language that includes posture, hand and arm movement, facial expression, and body motion. Your passion is conveyed through your voice and your body as well as your choice of words. Weave the three elements of power together and you will feel the energy surging through you. Others will, too. And when others feel it, they reflect it back to you, increasing your energy level. What a great self-feeding system!
Continue The Revolution
You’ll find that as you use these energizing techniques, you’ll feel more energetic throughout your day. Others will take note of your changes and want in on your secret. If you are a true rebel in this movement of living in focused energy, you’ll share your energizing techniques so they can join the energy revolution, too!