Dear HRart Workers,
The movie The Green Mile is often referred to by my Qigong teacher, Ted O’Brien. The Green Mile “is a 1999 American fantasy drama film based on Stephen King’s 1996 novel of the same name. It stars Tom Hanks as a death row prison guard during the Great Depression who witnesses supernatural events that occur after an enigmatic convict is brought to his facility” (Wikipedia).
My teacher references several scenes in this film to illustrate our need to release energy that does not serve us or what we refer to as turbid Qi. There are two scenes that he returns to time and time again, this scene when the convict heals a mouse and exhales flies as well as this scene when the convict heals a woman and chokes on what he absorbed.
The flies and choking are a visual example of what turbid Qi would look like leaving or attempting to leave the body. In the film, the main character invites this turbid Qi into his body by choosing to heal in both scenarios. What is important to recognize is that this type of Qi does not simply occur when invited, but it can be absorbed by our bodies whenever we come in contact with it, even if only by proximity. The reality is, most of us have absorbed it and currently function daily with it. Now take a moment and really absorb what I just said, the flies, the choking or suffocating sensation, we live with this within us. Not intentionally, but mostly because we have no awareness that it is there and we have no idea how to remove it. Regardless, its presence inevitably takes a toll on our physical body, emotional body and spiritual body.
These three bodies describe our energetic anatomy and how energy, when not properly cared for, can materialize as deviated physical, emotional or spiritual manifestations. We’ll continue unpacking what these mean in other letters throughout our time together, but what I want you to hear is energy is everywhere.
Thinking about this concept from an HR Practitioner’s perspective, your exposure level to energy is higher than most in the workplace because you openly enter circumstances where energy of others is often already deviated. It is part of your core responsibilities to manage deviated energies, which is often referred to as employee conflict, office drama or performance management. Therefore, caring for your energy is critical.
In this episode of the HRart Rise Morning Show, I share with you this lesson at a time when I was just learning it myself. At a time before I knew about energetic anatomy or deviations and turbid Qi, but only knew that something was wrong.
Before you watch and learn the methods of Cord Cutting and Light Showers for protecting your personal energy. I think it is important to take a moment and share that protecting your energy begins with an increased awareness of what it feels like to be in your own body. This step may seem pretty basic but it is at times the most challenging, because of the large build up of turbid Qi in your system. Turbid Qi never feels good and since we lack the knowledge to remove it, we find coping strategies (i.e. processed food, alcohol, cigarettes) which are more like numbing strategies. Know that if you have been functioning by numbing that attempting to be and feel in your body will be hard and likely unfun, so give yourself grace as you heal.
Until next time… take care of yourself!
Sincerely,
p.s. This blog post was adapted from the From the HRart fortnightly newsletter. I invite you to subscribe!
Cover Photo by Greg Grakozy
