Raise Your Energy Level (Part 3)

Acts 20:35 says: "I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive." Our quote for today is from Dale Carnegie. He said: "The best possible way to prepare for tomorrow is to concentrate with all your intelligence, all your enthusiasm, on doing today's work superbly today. That is the only possible way you can prepare for the future." Today, in the Get Things Done podcast we are looking at Part 3 of Step 5: “Raise Your Energy Level" by "Doing It Now: A Twelve Step Program for Curing Procrastination and Achieving Your Goals" by Edwin C. Bliss. We have already talked about exercise being one of three factors that we can use in combating fatigue. Relaxation is the second factor. Just giving lip service to the value of relaxation ­­ which we all do ­­ isn't enough. And it's not enough, either, to plop down in front of the television set for an hour or two every evening with a beer in one hand and a bowl of potato chips in the other. That may be entertainment, it may even be recreation, of sorts­­ but relaxation it isn't! Dr. Herbert Benson, a psychiatrist on the staff of Harvard, has made extensive studies on what he calls the "relaxation response," which is involved in transcendental meditation, Zen, yoga, and various other relaxation techniques. He found that these relaxation-­producing regimens all have quantifiable physiological effects and that they have four things in common: a quiet environment, a mental device (such as a sound or word or "mantra"), a passive attitude, and a comfortable position to reduce muscular effort to a minimum. To obtain the relaxation response, sit comfortably, close your eyes, then relax your muscles, beginning with your feet and slowly working up to your head. Breathe through your nose. Say the word "one" as you breathe in, and again when you breathe out. Continue this for twenty minutes. Open your eyes to check on the time, but don't use an alarm. Try this twice a day for several days, preferably not just after eating, and see if it doesn't make you feel calmer, more energetic, more self­-assured ­­ and more inclined to tackle some of those unpleasant chores you've been putting off. ...