Energy Reboot 3
The “Energy Reboot” is a practice of checking in with yourself throughout a day, and quickly refreshing the connection to your divine source. It combines intentional breathing with a quick stretch. It’s important that it is quick (about half a minute) because it’s meant to be practiced frequently throughout the day.
I've been doing the practice since at least 2017. It’s been deeply transformational to my life and business. It has supported me through big shifts, as well as getting me joyfully through my daily work. The key, I’ve found, is to consistently do it. That’s why it is important for the practice to be quick.
Start from the beginning
Since this post is named Energy Reboot 3, you might wonder about versions 1 and 2. Here are the links:
It’s good to start from 1. It’s a deeply nourishing version that gives a taste of how powerful this practice can be. You might do it a few times a day. Then, after awhile (a few weeks or a few months - up to you), try moving onto version 2 for even more frequent practice (a few times an hour during your workday.)
What’s new with Energy Reboot 3
I’m now extending the practice to part 3 – which I’m calling Tiny Reboots – an even quicker version (just 3 seconds) instead of the original 20-30 second practice.
A “tiny reboot” is taking a quick moment for an intentional breath, to invite one’s higher self into the present.
Tiny Reboots should be done several times in-between the regular Energy Reboots. (That’s why this is “part 3” because if you aren’t yet doing the regular Energy Reboots, it’s good to build that habit first.)
I find that practicing the tiny reboots really does change the character of my breathing, and brings more intentional spirituality to my daily work, because I am now connecting more of my breaths with deeper/higher values that I try to bring into my work.
The aim is to become more aware about my state of being (and have a choice about bringing more Gratitude, Compassion, Joy, Grace, etc) throughout my work day.
Now that I’ve been practicing Tiny Reboots consistently for a few weeks, I find that it makes my day even more joyful and calmly focused. It feels like with this, I could get through almost any challenging situation in life.
Isn’t it an interruption?
The most common question people have: don’t these practices interrupt my train of thought?
Here’s my response:
- At the start of each work segment, I write down what I'm doing so it helps me stay on track.
- My train of thought really isn't that important, compared to my state of being. I always think that at my life's end, I won’t care if I’ve had many uninterrupted trains of thought and was able to work efficiently… I will instead look back and treasure the moments of Love and Growth. In other words, my state of being in any moment is way more important than what I’m actually doing.
- The more practice of Tiny Reboots, the more that mindful breathing is integrated into my usual thinking and doing, so that actually, it doesn’t really interrupt any trains :)
How to remember to do it?
The problem is that it’s easy to forget to do Tiny Reboots.
At this time, the solution I’ve come to is to intentionally practice anchoring the Tiny Reboot to another habit I already do frequently, for example, the habit of looking at my phone, which I naturally do many times an hour to glance at the clock on my phone.
Anchoring takes less than a minute…
- I look at my phone.
- I immediately practice the Tiny Reboot (3 seconds).
- I then look away from my phone.
- I repeat steps 1-3 three times.
By doing this simple anchoring practice in the morning, I find that I am much more likely to naturally remember to do the Tiny Reboot whenever I look at my phone throughout the day.
Anchoring can be used with any other habit, e.g. whenever I touch a doorknob, when I touch a faucet, when I drink water, when I look at the sky, etc.
Yet the process of remembering to do it is not yet complete – I also need to set a recurring reminder (on my to-do list software) each morning, and another one at lunch, to practice my anchoring for a minute. Just a minute seems so trivial, but because of the 3-times repetition of the practice, it creates muscle memory that affects the rest of the day – or at least, for the next few hours!
New Breathing
As I've been practicing the tiny reboot, I notice how often I breathe in a shallow way, or sometimes, barely breathe at all.
Typically, we rarely notice our breath. Now, with the tiny reboot practice, I find myself consciously feeling my breath more often (it is the simplest feel-good thing we humans do!) and connecting it to some value I cherish, such as gratitude and trust.
Because the breath is new in every moment, there is opportunity for fresh energy in any moment…. for spiritual rest, and growth.
I'm grateful for the anchoring of the mindful breath to the existing habit of looking at the clock and timer.
The magical benefit of energy reboots and tiny reboots is that it's possible to feel good all day!
It is a simple and subtle miracle that throughout each and every day, we have the simplest divine pleasure available to us: the breath, which is with you every moment of every day.
By practicing transforming the breath into a feeling of love, security, gratitude, trust, you transform your whole day 🌅