How to make your message meaningful.

When we communicate with someone, it’s natural to think about the message we want to convey to them. It might be to…

• Share the work we do that will solve a problem or inspire transformation
• Tell a story about personal triumph that people will relate to in their own lives
• Speak to a committee or board to reach an important outcome
• Have a difficult conversation with a family member to mend long-broken fences
• Perform your poem or music to touch emotional heartstrings through creativity

Do we ever think about the best possible way to ensure our message will LAND for that person with meaning and impact? I find that most of us don’t.

From my professional experience, the most powerful way to communicate with meaning and impact is to pay attention to your energy.

We can have the stage, the mic, the outfit, the tickets sold, the person in front of us waiting to receive our wisdom…all of this!? Yet if we don’t bring our energy with us, we are short-changing ourselves and the people who need to hear what we have to say.

Why? Because when we’re feeling grounded and centered, we are able to present ourselves from a place of confidence, openness, passion, and as who we fully are.?

The energy arts, particularly Qigong, are all about drawing in and drawing UP your own resources so you feel authentic and true to yourself as you calmly and confidently deliver your message.

And here’s the exciting part: When you’re in this place your audience FEELS that energy. The message lands. You’re not just throwing information out, or sabotaging yourself with your doubts and fear. You’re exchanging, giving and receiving.?

Once we realize how vital our energy is to communicating meaningfully, anyone can learn how to tap into it – because it’s right there inside you ready to serve.

Two quick tools to tap into your energy, anytime and anywhere:

Stand tall. It’s simply taking a few moments to tune into your body and posture with intention, inviting energy to travel from head to toe. That clear energy flow will open up inspiration, passion, and strength. There’s no force or pushing through required!

1. Stand with your feet planted firmly, letting the floor beneath you support you, ground you and give you strength.?
2. Think and feel that you’re “standing tall,” lengthening your spine, giving space between each vertebra (you might imagine you are a giraffe with a very long neck).?
3. As you lengthen, lift the crown of your head – not the chin, you want your head level and looking straight ahead.?
4. Now think of opening your lungs like a bellows, allowing your breath to expand your heart and lung energy. Take a few breaths in this power posture, with the intention of each breath filling your body with calm and flowing energy. You may feel really good after you do this, or you may not feel anything very different at first. Either way, know that something IS happening – your energy is flowing.
5. Practice this anytime, anywhere, in your chair at your desk, waiting in line at the grocery store, etc. and you’ll begin to feel its power to energize you.

Pay attention to your externalized energy. In Chinese medicine it’s called wei qi, the way that each of us radiates out energy. We can be in charge of the energy we express, being aware that there’s you and the other person or people who will be hearing your message. We’re in this together!?

What is so powerful about this concept is that, especially when we’re about to deliver a speech or have a difficult conversation, we tend to get inside our heads (what I call ‘brain mutter’)? – self-critiquing, feeling nervous, playing out all the embarrassing “what if’s,” even experiencing stage fright.?

Instead, when we think about our purpose, which is our connection with the other(s) through our valuable message – the positive wei qi we’re going to exchange – we’re able to better appreciate the gift of this encounter, rather than our own unproductive emotions and fears.?

I hope you have fun playing with these simple yet potent tools! I’d love to hear how it’s going, and answer any questions you might have.?