Vitality
For something to be vital means it is absolutely necessary, or of upmost importance.
The vital supply of oxygen needed on a plane crash.
The vital seconds and minutes taken for the ambulance to arrive at an emergency.
The vital rain needed to restore the Earth admits drought.
The vital food supplies to nourish people suffering starvation and famine.
There is a seriousness and importance to that which is vital. An urgency to take action.
Whilst these examples may be external representations of what is vital, within each of us exists our own stream of vital energy that is of equal necessity and importance to maintain.
In yoga this is called prāṇa, a Sanskrit word that embodies many meanings and translations; ’breath’, ‘life force’, ‘wind’, ‘vital energy’. In its simplest form, prāṇa can be thought of as a continuous current of energy that flows through each and every one of us nourishing, restoring and refuelling the physical, mental and subtle layers of body, mind and consciousness.
The significance of vitality and prāṇa is something I have recently come to understand more intimately. To be honest, this insight has come from feeling completely depleted and devoid of such energy! But with anything in life, “there is no failure only feedback”, (a mantra I live by). Rather than running from myself when life feels uncomfortable I have been able to cultivate a practice of compassion which allows me to turn around and face that which feels scary. In this case, my own depleting prāṇa.
When I was able to pause and tune in to the signs and signals my body was giving me, through the act of listening inwards and noticing with non-judgement, I was able to understand what was draining my vitality and the actions I can take to restore it. Perhaps this may inspire you to pause and ponder your own vitality. If that journey feels as foreign to you as taking a rocket to the moon then here are the steps I took in the hope they may inspire your own vital energy check in.
Steps:
1 - The Art of Noticing and Observing
This stage might take time… Allow it to… Remind yourself there is no rush… Remind yourself to be compassionate and kind to yourself as you sit with yourself exactly as you are.
For me, it started by slowing down and getting quiet. Tuning into what was really ‘going on’. Sitting on the floor, in meditation, breathing. Feeling the way the breath travelled through my body. Noticing how my bones felt, how my muscles felt, how my joints felt, the way the breath flowed. This first step was an unconscious decision guided instinctively because in the days and weeks leading up to this vitality deep dive (for want of a better phrase) I had physically been feeling like an 80 year old in a 24 year old body. Not ideal for someone who promotes the practice of yoga for health and energy! My ego was definitely in self-denial. As humans I think it is hard for us to acknowledge that our current habits, routines and choices are no longer working for us. Perhaps because it means we are then forced to make changes which often looks like leaping into unknown territory! It can feel easy to stay in the comfort of the known. Even if it is the known comfort of our own self-inflicted suffering…
The insight from my inner landscape went from meditation to pen to paper. It looked like sitting, with a coffee, in bed and writing what I had observed. Stream of consciousness descriptions that highlighted to me the physical impact of lacking vitality.
“My joints feel airy and achy.”
“My bones feel brittle and dull.”
“My muscles feel dehydrated and depleted. Like in osmosis when all the water travels out of the cell leaving the cell wall concaving inwards, shrinking into empty space. Like on old, stale raisin stuck to the bottom of one of those old red raisin cartons.” (does anyone else remember them?)
Zooming outwards I looked at what in my life was contributing to these physical symptoms. Overcommitting myself to work, over simplifying life, under fuelling for the amount of energy I was using in life, under nourishing my own creative desires to write, paint and create and being too dogmatic in my own asana yoga practice were the key points! Interestingly most of these ‘negative’ behaviours that result in our depleted energy actually have a positive outcome for us. Through the work I did training as an NLP practitioner I have learnt how to get to the bottom of what this positive intention is and then identify new behaviours that can fulfil this positive intention more fully! (As a side note I am beginning to work 1-2-1 with individuals again so if you are feeling stuck and would like supportive guidance then please do get in touch!)
The benefit of getting all of this out of my head and on paper is that it made it SUPER CLEAR change was 100% necessary in order to restore my vitality. The discomfort of change and leaping into the unknown finally outweighed the discomfort of staying the same. A tipping of the see-saw. Time to take action.
2 - What is it that you really want?
Dare to dream here. Allow yourself permission to be bold, brave and bountiful because the only person holding you back is you. It also doesn’t have to ‘make sense’ to anyone else. Use metaphor, pictures, descriptions to discover what vitality is for you.
Warm, orange, pink sunsets over the ocean.
The way the body sighs and softens when kissed by the warmth of the sun. Like the unfurling of a flower. Soft.
Plump, fullness.
Radiance and glow.
Grounded, rested, comfortable in your own skin and body.
Safe, held.
3 - Permission to Make Changes.
This stage is about identifying any hesitations or limiting factors that may be keeping you stuck in the cycle of leaking vitality. It can often be ways in which we have interpreted the belief systems and perspectives of other people, adopting them as our own. For example, seeing other people maintain certain routines / lifestyles online then believing that we should then be able to copy and paste them into our lives despite our own unique needs and individual differences which mean they may not work for us in the way it works for them. Additionally it could be interpretation of family expectations that results in us overusing our energy to please others.
From my experience this permission to make change often comes back to identifying your own core values and then building the confidence and self worth to know you are deserving of these despite how they may differ from that which influences you externally.
4 - Plan of Action
What are the physical steps that need to be implemented. Try to make this as simple as possible. Doing less of that which sucked your prāṇa and doing more of that which restores it. For me I identified what this looked like, or rather a few starting points to get vitality back into my body and spirit…
Start taking personal responsibility to fuel and nourish my physical body better.
Allow my yoga asana practice to be more fluid and intuitive rather than adhering to a dogmatic approach myself as that is not how I would be to others. There is a lot to learn in broadening our perspectives.
Be mindful of how much work I say yes to on top of my own projects. To practice the art of observation in what feels too much for me.
Prioritise my own creative ideas (if I actually write this post about vitality you know I am taking action…) and to share my art for the love of what I am creating rather than for the expectation of a response.
5 - Take Action
My glorious friend and NLP mentor Claire said to me once, “Either stand up or sit down, don’t hover half way in between.” It has always stuck with me as a reminder to do that which needs to be done. You have to take different action to get a different outcome.
Poem by James Pearson
I hope this act of sharing inspires you to do a stock take on your own vital energy. An honest and open inquiry into where you may feel depleted and what actionable tools or techniques you can implement to provide nourishment to mind, body and spirit.
Sometimes this process can feel tricky to navigate on your own. I offer 1-2-1 NLP sessions that provide support and guidance through the journey of behaviour change and moving out of that feeling of stuckness. Do get in touch to find out more so you can start to live a life that feels more full and nourishing to you.
*I deeply believe through the sharing of human vulnerability and stories we are liberated from our own feelings of loneliness and self-doubt. We able to feel more seen and heard ourselves and better relate to the world around us. To me, honesty and transparency can feel like a breath of fresh air in a world portrayed as polished and perfect. The impact of which reinforcing a belief of not being good enough as we are. I hope that in sharing posts like this it acts as a reminder that we are all human beings trying to do our best in a world that can feel confusing and hard to navigate! These experiences are based on my own experience of life with the knowledge that yours will be unique to you entirely but perhaps there is one nugget here that may have helped, in some small way. With love and tenderness, Steph xx