Manage Energy We Bring To The Space

                             Linda Belans, EdD.

                                              4 Steps For Managing Energy

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• Step 1: Silently notice and name the strong feeling(s) you are experiencing.​

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• Step 2: Smile in recognition that the feeling likely feels familiar.​

 

• Step 3: Inhale 4 counts, exhale 8 counts.

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• Step 4:  Silently ask myself: What is my end in mind and how can I communicate it?

 

                                                               

 

                                                         Why this works

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Step 1 We stay stranded in our feelings when we don't acknowledge them. Strong feelings like anger, fear, frustration, can eclipse thinking.  Noticing and naming the feeling helps us release it.  As Carl Jung wisely noted: "What we resist persists. ​

 

Step 2 Genuine smiling (the Duchenne smile), and feeling the smile, can release mood-enhancing endorphin hormones and the stress-reducing cortisol, adrenaline, and dopamine hormones.

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Step 3 Intentional breathing helps us reduce the emotional response in our amygdala and can reset the prefrontal cortex. In other words, calm down.

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Step 4 Asking ourselves what our end in mind is and how to communicate it, helps take us transition to our brains, making it possible to be present. ​

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Read how this played out in a coaching session on Page 26 in States of Being:  Leadership Coaching For Equitable Schools.

 

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