« We tend to suppose that energy is dissipated with use. We think that doing extra work incurs loss. But energy increases as we use it ».
Haruchika Noguchi wrote these lines in 1984 in his book ‘Order, spontaneity and the body‘. In it, he reflects on the importance of confronting what life presents us with, in order to gain more vital energy. He believes that a person does not become stronger and healthier by avoiding – as a life strategy – what is perceived as negative or difficult.     In fact, he rejects the idea of saving, protecting or conserving our vital energy because this would make us weak and fragile, unable to face what lies outside our protective bubble.
Its purpose in life – to stimulate the vital energy in order to remain strong and resilient – could be called ‘practice‘.

Practising something allows us to improve and know ourselves better. Because sooner or later, the practice will lead us to encounter difficulties or resistances that will stimulate our strengths, our qualities and our resilience.
Obviously, it’s easier to practise when we have a strong motivation and a goal to achieve. It can be more difficult when the driving force towards a specific goal is lacking… and it’s easy to get carried away by the distractions of everyday life. Or when our goal doesn’t stand up to the test of reality and as soon as we encounter difficulties or resistances, we tend to give up. But like most things in life, it’s a question of training: at first it’s difficult, laborious, sometimes characterised by the feeling of not really knowing what we are doing or if it will bring any results. As we persevere, we improve, and as we improve, we start to get satisfaction.

A ‘general’ practice that allows us to persevere by stimulating our life energy is bodyawareness, the ability to feel oneself. It helps us to take care of ourselves by relaxing, resting and recharging. It offers us a daily goal – to feel and take care of our energy level. And we can learn what difficulties and resistances lead us not to take care of ourselves, thus learning to know ourselves better.

It can be considered as part of the competences that are called ‘soft skills’: skills relating to the way we behave or act. They can often be transposed and reused in other situations or experiences. But they are not very easy to measure or quantify. We may only become aware of their presence and importance in a specific situation.

As it’s very difficult, not to say impossible, to start practising a skill when we are in difficulty, starting before a possible difficult situation arises, so as to ‘strengthen’ yourself, makes all the difference.

The most common example I come across in my practice with clients is with the breathing techniques to practise in the event of anxiety to prevent it turning into a panic attack.
The technique works very well, but only if the person has already experienced it enough to know how it manifests in the body. Otherwise, there’s a risk that instead of helping our system to cope with an unpleasant moment, trying to practise a technique will add stress and create even more pressure inside us.

Practising is an investment: sometimes it’s very clear why we’re doing it. Sometimes it’s ‘just’ to refocus by consciously breathing and relaxing. And that will create more energy inside us.

As always, I’d be happy to support you in your practice 🙂