• “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 Productivity
in 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 #1
All 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
Mental
Emotional
Social
Spiritual
Occupational
One Balloon
Physical
Mental
Emotional
Social
Spiritual
Occupational
The Physical
How We Make Energy from Exercise
ATP
ATP Split Apart = Energy
How We Make Energy from Exercise
ATP=(Adenosine Triphosphate) Split apart=energy
*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
Make a Smart Goal
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Specific
Measureable
Accessible
Relevant
Time Sensitive
What physical activities do you enjoy
that enhance your energy?
What are your “stops?”
What would help you move through
the stops?
Food and Energy
Food & Energy
Consumption Quiz
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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.
Oxygen
• 4 out of 5 atoms on Earth are oxygen
• One out of four in our bodies are
oxygen
• Oxygen revitalizes but . . .
Free Radicals
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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
What do you do for mental stimulation?
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Books
Movies
Conversations
Classes
Crossword Puzzles
Games
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Travel
Conferences
Research
Teach
Join a list serve in
an area of interest
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
Feelings
Actions
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
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Solitude
Journaling/Writing
Nature
Massage
Rent a great movie
Develop a collection
of music that
inspires you
• 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
So what’s my point here?
Vision
Belief
Action
Discipline
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 Shopland
merrilee@austincc.edu
223-7885
HBC 606.2
http://www2. austincc.edu/shopland