3006: How to Release Negative Energy Before It Overwhelms You by Cylon George of Spiritual Living For Busy People on Emotional Management

[00:00:00] This is Optimal Living Daily, episode 30.06 How to Release Negative Energy Before It Overwhelms You by Cylon George of Spiritual Living For BusyPeople.com And I'm Justin Malik, your very own personal narrator today and every day.

[00:00:15] It's not the typical podcast you would hear because there are no interviews and it's nice and short so you can listen daily and start the day off on the right foot. And with that let's get started as we optimize your life.

[00:00:30] How to Release Negative Energy Before It Overwhelms You by Cylon George of Spiritual Living For BusyPeople.com Quote, Unknown.

[00:00:48] Now how you could be having an amazing day one minute and a horrible day the next, like the time a friend made a careless remark or that time your music streaming service selected a song that reminded you of a negative experience or the day you became infected with a random wacky thought like nobody will like you because you have stained teeth, that snowballed into a full blown crisis?

[00:01:08] Yeah we all experience times like this. Sometimes on a daily basis. And it's incredibly frustrating because of how quickly it can happen. So quickly that most of us don't have a clue what's happening to us before we're awash in negative energy.

[00:01:22] We like to think of ourselves as rock solid individuals but often our experiences are more like leaves getting picked up and blown around by small gusts of wind.

[00:01:31] Before we know it every little thing fills us with dread and overwhelm. Casual conversations become fraught with danger. Replying to an email feels as difficult as doing calculus. And going outside your house can feel as deadly as stepping on the moon without a space suit.

[00:01:47] Such negative episodes can last for hours even days if we let it. But life is just too short to devote large portions of it to such needless suffering. How can we gain better control over our feelings? How can we learn to release negative energy before we're overwhelmed?

[00:02:04] The Care Cycle While attending a marriage intensive experience with my wife, I learned about a pretty effective strategy for diffusing negative emotions in intimate relationships. It's called the care cycle and it can be applied to just about any situation where negative emotions may arise.

[00:02:19] It's a five step strategy each beginning with the letter A. This makes the steps easy to memorize and put into practice. Here they are. Aware

[00:02:30] The first step involves becoming aware of your physiological state. What is your body doing? Are your muscles tense? Is your heart beating fast? Are you shallow breathing? Are you sweating?

[00:02:40] The wonderful effect of becoming aware of your body is that it gets you outside your head. Your body tends to react well before your mind realizes what's happening.

[00:02:49] If you stay inside your head, you miss important cues to what's going on in the moment. By becoming aware of the body, you have a chance to catch the negative energy before it gets out of control. Number two, accept

[00:03:02] For most of us, once our minds catch up to what's happening to our bodies, we get mad at ourselves for feeling the way we do. We also tend to blame our external environment or other people.

[00:03:13] This step is meant to address these problems by giving us permission to accept and take responsibility for our feelings. If you're feeling angry, embarrassed, or sad, just acknowledge how you're feeling in the moment. Understand, no one can make you angry. Number three, allow and ask

[00:03:31] In this step, you get to exercise the option of allowing others to walk with you and assist you in processing your negative emotions.

[00:03:39] You can do this through prayer or seeking the listening ear of a trusted friend or family member. The truth is that you don't have to go it alone. Even if it feels more vulnerable to reach out, doing so can have immediate positive benefits. Number four, attend

[00:03:54] Here you get to attend to your feelings. You can do so by asking yourself questions such as, what am I feeling? Is this familiar? Am I making my feelings bigger than they need to be?

[00:04:05] What is the truth? What story are you telling yourself? For example, when small talk with friends is awkward, it means they don't like me.

[00:04:12] What is the truth? What is the real truth of the situation? For example, I don't know what's going on in that person's life at the moment. Maybe they're distracted, upset, tired, overwhelmed with their own thoughts. What do I want? What are my options?

[00:04:27] These last two questions are powerful because they help you see that you are not as powerless as you might think or feel. Number five, act

[00:04:35] This is where you get to create your own care package to help you create the feeling states you want and release the negative energy.

[00:04:43] Your care package can include prayer, meditation, journaling, listening to or playing music, taking walks in nature, exercise, reading, volunteering, taking deep breaths, medicating pain, hugging, eating or resting and sleeping. The possibilities are endless. Take some time to come up with as many self-care options as you can muster.

[00:05:05] When you run out of things, push yourself to come up with a few more even if they seem outlandish. The more options you give yourself, the more easily you release negativity and embrace positivity. Take care of yourself

[00:05:18] How do you release negative energy before it overwhelms you? You must be willing to take care of yourself. Become aware. Accept it all. Don't be afraid to ask. Get into your feelings and take action.

[00:05:31] If you commit to these steps and develop your own care plan, you'll no longer feel like a leaf blowing in the wind. And negative energy simply won't have a chance to stick to you as it once did.

[00:05:46] You just listened to the post titled How to Release Negative Energy Before It Overwhelms You by Sillan George of Spiritual Living for BusyPeople.com Take it to Sillan and come by SpiritualLivingForBusyPeople.com for more from him.

[00:05:59] As I was reading this one in the beginning at least, I kept thinking about meditation because that's what has worked for me in the past. If I go from a happy or even normal day to a really bad one, having practiced meditation can help me understand that shift

[00:06:13] and then check in, see what's going on, see those thoughts for what they are, just thoughts and reassess or look at things from a new angle, faster than what would have happened otherwise which would probably be dwelling for days.

[00:06:26] And I think his 5 As that he talked about is really similar to that. It's almost like a meditative practice in itself. It's a way to check in, that's the awareness and then process.

[00:06:36] Definitely something to try. Let me know how it goes. Thank you for listening and sticking around until the end and I'll see you tomorrow as usual. We're optimal life. Awaits.