Like so many of us, I enjoyed watching the Paris Olympics. It also brought back memories from my teenage years - while I was never an athlete, I did change schools a few times and I signed up for sports to make friends. That experience made it into my Chakra Healing & Magick book - have a look at the Solar Plexus questionnaire.
For example, in my junior year, I joined the Track & Field team. I wasn't much of an athlete to begin with, but it was the only team where you didn't have to try out. Everyone could go to practice, choose a category and only the top 2-3 students in each group would actually compete.
Every Monday we had to run sprints for 2 hours - basically races where you ran the however-many-yard-dash quicker and quicker. The rest of the week, we'd do a warm up run for 30 minutes and then practice our individual categories. I chose long jump and high jump. Both were fun and relatively easy once you got the hang of it.
So two things that I'd like to highlight....
> First, oddball happening - I did surprising well with the high jump, participating in the actual competitions and even taking home first place. Until I freaked out about the height and twist of it all - I must have panicked, or maybe my body did, and after winning first place one week, I never again cleared the starting height on that bar.
Mental clarity, objectivity and purpose are super important. I loved the idea of the high jump and I enjoyed mapping out each of my steps on my way to the bar (that's how you know where to jump), but I didn't appreciate risking my neck. And that is how it felt - you'd land on your upper back, turn your head slightly, roll through your neck-shoulder, and then roll off the cushion.
I dropped out of the high jump category and stuck with long jump that school year. It was an amazing experience and honestly, it felt like something out of a movie.
> Second ... when I think back to the training for sprints, jumping and anything else, our coach would have us improve our technique rather than put more energy and force into the race. Those infernal Mondays where we ran endless sprints, to start out he'd say: use 50% of your energy, or 70% of your energy - but never more than 85% of your energy...
No matter what happened, we had to keep 15% of our energy for ourselves. Any improvements beyond that 75-85% (which was what we competed on) had to come from your technique. How you move your legs and elbows. Getting to know your joints, and going through the movements faster, without putting in more energy.
How can we apply this in life?
The obvious answer is to keep a generous dose of energy for yourself and to do things to improve your life skills: coaching, therapy, communications training, organizational skills, or priority-setting. Say no and avoid burning out. Improve your soft skills, invest in yourself and improve your technique.
I'm not an Olympic athlete and I can't guarantee that you'll win first place in life, but we're not competing. Just doing better for ourselves. Less overdrive, more joy.
And if there is something that you love, but that you're scared of, dig deep and find out why. Maybe it's just fear, or maybe, it's something tangible that you're not aware of. In my case, about 6-7 years later, I discovered that I had a very light case of scoliosis which affects my lower back and neck (not enough to immobilize me or be visible), but that high jump probably was not the best thing for me anyway....
I thought back to this after Simone Biles’ Netflix Special where she talks about having to be mentally fit to compete.
Reiki hugs,
Regina
>>> Read my books to heal yourself, They both focus on hang-ups and insecurities that keep us down. On Amazon Global!
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Regina Chouza is an Energy Healer, Angel Medium and author of A Personal Guide to Self-Healing, Cancer & Love and Chakra Healing & Magick. She studied angel intuition and astrology at The College of Psychic Studies in London, and qualified as a healer at the School of Intuition & Healing UK. Her passion is bringing the qualities of self-love, joy and empowerment to healing pursuits. Read her books to heal yourself.
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