Energy Reversals:
The IMPORTANT Lessons Of YES! And NO!
by Silvia Hartmann
Modern energy psychology has the concept of an energy reversal. We talk about "being reversed" on a topic; and it comes from the intriguing observation made by kinesiologists that when a person says and thinks, "Yes!" their muscles are stronger than when they say and think, "NO!"
This is easily testable and quite fascinating to observe.
Get a person to hold an object in an outstretched hand, something quite heavy, and have them think "YES!"
Time how long they can hold the object.
Give them plenty of time to recover, then try it again whilst they think/say, "NO!"
Something happens to the person's ability to hold up the object when the mind gives the reversal instruction "NO!" - their body becomes weaker and they can't hold the object for nearly as long.
Now we might think this is all very theoretical and quite irrelevant, but actually, it's a key to making sure we don't hurt ourselves doing things that we are reversed to.
I noticed this with great interest watching a TV show in which contestant attempt difficult jobs - logging, crab fishing, ice climbing, oil drilling, bull fighting.
It was absolutely remarkable to see how the people who were the most reversed to any given job would FAIL at that exact job in different ways.
One lady, for example, had weathered many tough jobs and done very well. When it came to the bullfighting, she said immediately, "I don't like this, this scares me, I don't want to do this!"
So she did it anyway "on pure will power" - and promptly broke her ankle.
Another lady who was remarkably fit and strong and a major competitor for the 1st prize stated, upon entering the ice climbing challenge, "I don't like the cold. I don't like this. This is not my kind of thing!"
She struggled in this task, couldn't carry the weight of the backpack, had to stop all the time and slow the rest of the people down and ended up being utterly demoralised and exhausted, when in all the other challenges, she was leading the pack with ease and on much harder and more demanding work, at that.
One man who had done alright up to this moment saw the bridge painting task, stated, "I don't like this, I'm afraid of heights!" and promptly and yet again, was eliminated because he did so badly.
Another man saw the tree felling task, declared, "This is not my thing, I can't stand this, this is horrible!" - and of course, yes, he managed to fail and was eliminated under the most ridiculous of circumstances that looked remarkably like "self sabotage".
Now HOW exactly these people failed so predictably every time they decided that "this was a horrible task" - which is the long way of saying, "NO!" to the task! - was different.
Sickness.
Self sabotage.
Physical failure.
It all adds up to FAILURE.
It is important to note that there was nothing STRUCTURALLY wrong with any of them, and all of them had proven they had the mind power, the physical fitness and prowess, and intelligence, and co-ordination, and courage, and motivation required to do these tasks.
It wasn't as though they were born to fail at bullfighting, ice climbing, bridge painting or tree felling respectively.
There was nothing wrong with them and the one thing they all had in common was that they had said, "NO!!!" to the task before they started on it.
But they made themselves do it anyway, and ended up hurting themselves in various physical, mental and emotional ways along the line AS WELL AS finally failing altogether.
This is very important to note and to understand.
***** When we are "reversed" to ANY undertaking before we begin it, we are going to hurt ourselves and increase the chances of failure exponentially.*****
And we can reverse our energy systems simply by thinking, "NO!" in all of its variations.
"This is too difficult."
"This is too heavy."
"This is too painful."
"I can't do this."
"I don't like it."
"This is horrible!"
"This is not for me."
"I don't want to be here."
"I don't want to do this."
"I shouldn't have to do this."
And these kinds of reversal can be as tremendous as covering how you handle all your finances, or all your love affairs, even an entire marriage, and as simple as walking up a hill and thinking, "This is too steep!" or picking up a carton in a supermarket and thinking, "This is too heavy."
***** Every time we act on will power AGAINST an existing energy reversal, we are essentially causing ourselves harm, and making whatever it is we are doing, much, much more difficult and exhausting than it needs to be.*****
But there are some things we can do to minimize the effects of energy reversals in our lives.
The first is to make up your mind if you are going to say YES or NO.
Either you are going to do this, or you're not.
Saying NONONO in your mind and at the same time actually doing it IS GOING TO HURT YOU.
It will lead to failure.
You need to say YESYESYES in your mind to whatever you are doing whilst you are doing it.
That's the only way to prevent damaging yourself and also, to increase your chances of success exponentially.
But don't be afraid that you now have to say YES! to everything.
You really don't have to.
You just have to make up your mind if you're going to do this thing, and then enter into it from the YES I AM GOING TO DO THIS, YES, YES, YES! position of strenghth.
If you find it impossible to find that YES!!! inside of you, then DO NOT DO IT AT ALL!
Say NO! and don't do it.
Walk away.
Do something else.
Protect your future - your body, your self esteem, your energy system and your results! - from the injury and failure potential that goes through the roof when we force ourselves with will power whilst at the same time giving the reversal command of, "NO!"
Amazingly, it takes some will power to stop the entrained responses of hating things and doing them anyway whilst constantly re-affirming the NO!!! at the same time.
If you are finding yourself struggling with something, STOP.
Ask yourself, can I say YES!!! to this activity?
If you can, then do so right away.
Repeat, YES, YES, YES! in your mind as you do it to keep yourself flowing smoothly, flowing forward and through the activity, allowing your body and your mind to be the best they can be for you and to support you with the best of their abilities.
If you really cannot find the YES! for this activity, then don't do it.
Leave it be.
If this is an activity you "have to do" or else terrible things would happen (worse than getting psychosomatic illnesses and injuries, failing miserably, and damaging your energy system and your self esteem and your future aspirations, that would be!) then you need to find a way to turn the NO! into a YES!
You can use energy psychology to cure reversals and fears, such as being afraid of bulls, hating heights, fearing the cold, and abhorring wet forests in our examples from the TV show.
With those reversals taken out, you can then say YES! to the activity, undertake it, and complete it satisfactorily and with too much pain being involved, or at least no more pain than ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.
This is only common sense, but important advice for long term mental, emotional and physical health.
So and to sum up, PLEASE watch yourself and take note when you are doing something but in your mind and in your emotions, you're shouting, NO!
STOP IMMEDIATELY.
Assess the situation.
Find the YES!!! or walk away.
You will find your life becoming much smoother, and at least you are then not doing anything that would seriously undermine you from your end, giving your systems a chance to show you just what you can do when you move forward and you're not constantly beset by energy reversals and their effects.
Here's to our flowing futures,
Silvia Hartmann
November 2009
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