The Come Alive Project

Category: Senior Fitness

  • Energy Bite 201 – What Turns Off the Flow of Energy

    Two weeks ago, in Energy Bite 199, I wrote about what we know as Flow, and how powerful a mental and physical effect it has on the way you live your life, particularly as you get older.

    In his book, In the Flow of Life, author Eric Butterworth cites Emerson, who he said:  “had this consciousness of the flow of life which indwells each person as a Presence and which is forever bubbling forth through each person as a fountain.”

    So, when I talk to groups, I use the term “Fountain of Youth” or “The Flow of Life” or sometimes “Feeling Alive”, interchangeably. It’s a mental and physical state of being  that provides you with an abundance of health and personal energy. It’s that state of mind where you are fully alive . . . and are “bubbling forth as a fountain.”

    But sometimes the flow seems to shut off. Sometimes the energy leaves you. Sometimes you feel low, even depressed. What causes the flow to slow or stop?

    • Negative People, places and things. Whiners and complainers. Other people’s drama. When you are around them, they seem to drain the energy right out of you. Unpleasant surroundings can also sap your energy. The same with clutter and noise.
    • Fears and resentments.
    • Physical deterioration . . . POOR EXERCISE AND EATING HABITS. Even poor posture.
    • You don’t use the tools that keep your Fountain of Energy flowing . . . Movement, Good Food, Deep Breathing, Meditation, Visualization (mental imagery), and even Affirmations.
    • And finally, when you write your own story, you’ve let someone else “hold the pen”.

    And writing your own story? That’s how to turn the flow back on. That’s how to age with energy and to feel alive! And that’s the topic for next week . . .  Stay tuned.

    Thank you for reading.

  • Energy Bite 200 – The Anniversary Copy of the First Edition

    It’s hard to believe that this is the 200th edition of Energy Bites. That’s nearly six years worth of articles (including a few short term gaps), since the first issues were emailed twice a month as multi-page PDF newsletters.

    Sometimes I have had some difficulty coming up with topics, but our local paper has occasionally provided me with a topic on Tuesdays when the Health and Science Section comes out and they have a topic that is relevant.

    But not this time. In celebration of the 200th issue of Energy Bites, I am linking to the PDF version of the first edition on December 1st, 2011, a short four page Overview entitled New Energy Bites Begins Twice a Month Publication (click here to go directly to it). The newsletter evolved into a pretty nice five or six page publication with decent graphics. It changed into an online blog starting with Energy Bite 22 on March 18, 2013 and has remained a blog ever since.

    This first issue was a bit primitive. Subsequent editions were a bit more polished and even had page numbers, better graphics and more professional line spacing.

    But while the blog format is here to stay, I may start adding some short videos into the posts. That’s a little bit down the road.

    Anyhow, many thanks for reading Energy Bites over the years and I have appreciated your email comments. Keep them coming.

    Here’s that link again (Click here).

    Enjoy, and thanks for reading.

  • Energy Bite 199 – In the Flow of Life

    This may seem a bit philosophical, but read it to the end, anyway.

    We hear a lot about “Flow” today. It’s a buzz word that is making the rounds once again. The resurgence began with Mihaly Csikszentmihali’s (say that 5 times fast) book about Flow from back in the 70’s. For the purpose of this article, I’ll just refer to him as Mihaly. His work is the basis for most modern thinking about flow, but there are a number of more recent books that get into flow even more deeply and philosophically.

    Basically, “flow” refers to a mental state where someone is completely absorbed in what they are doing without regard for time or outside influences. Mihaly termed it “Flow”  when his interviewees in the mid 1970s would often describe the experience as being like water flowing and carrying them along with the current.

    Independently of Mihaly’s book, the late author and Unity Minister Eric Butterworth, wrote a book first published in 1975 called, In the Flow of Life where he describes flow as “Living life from inside – out”, and that life in “flow” echoes the theme expressed by the ancient philosopher Plotinus who suggested that “if you flow as life flows, you need no other power. Anything is evil that blocks the flow of creative action, and everything is healthy that flows with the Universe.” Butterworth uses the term “Superconscious Awareness” which seems to reflect some of the more modern interpretations of the meaning of “flow”, including a “flow mindset” as an “altered state” similar to that induced by hallucinogens.

    What has all this to do with Health, Fitness and Personal Energy for Active Seniors? Butterworth writes that “Life does not grow old. Life does not deteriorate. Life does not die. Life is an eternal, dynamic, flowing process”. He continues: “Age is basically psychological rather than physiological and that we are as young as we think we are.”

    All of this philosophy leads to this final quote from Eric Butterworth:

    “Contrary to the common human belief, we do not begin to slow down because we are becoming old. We are becoming old because we are slowing down. The cells of our bodies are like water in a river. Motion helps them to stay in the flow and thus to purify themselves. There are literally thousands of moping people who could renew their strength and youthfulness to say nothing of finding freedom from aches and pains, if they would simply stir themselves in mind and body, get into the flow in consciousness and ‘into the swim’ of activities. The wisdom of the world has conditioned us to ‘act our age’. Now we must begin to act our youth—to act our experience in the flow of life.”  — In the Flow of Life, Eric Butterworth, p. 139.

    That says it pretty well.

    Thank you for reading.