Do you sometimes find yourself feeling frustrated and moody for no apparent reason?
This can happen when we are not being as productive as we would really like to be.
Sometimes we can lose the inspiration and enthusiasm for our projects, both at work and at home. And it does happen. To all of us. That’s just part of the fun of being a human.
But it can be difficult to work on your projects when you are in that kind of mood where nothing seems to be really flowing very well. Whether you have your own business or you work in a company or even outside of work in your free time, it can be so annoying when you just can’t seem to get into your flow.
You can end up feeling irritable, crotchety, and fidgety.
It doesn’t take much to distract you from what you are supposed to be working on. You can find yourself chatting, or wasting time surfing the internet. Maybe you tell yourself you’re looking for inspiration, but you just end up bouncing back and forth between your email, your social networks, and frivolous webpages.
Before you know it the day is almost over and you have very little to show for it in terms of productivity. You reach the end of your day feeling restless, unfulfilled, and moody. It creeps up on you like one of those dementors from Harry Potter, and if you don’t catch it in time, you can find yourself getting stroppy with others and arguing over petty things.
Living with that kind of frustration and irritableness only leads to more friction in life and is not good for your health.
So what do you do when you find yourself struggling with such emotional blocks?
Would you take some advice from a former monk…?
Have sex.
I mean some really good quality, hot, steamy, love-making, with someone you care about!
I know what you’re thinking… funny advice coming from an ex monastic!
But it’s true! As a monk I learned all about how the energy in my body and mind functions. How it flows. And how and why it can result in emotional blocks.
Feeling frustrated, irritated, moody, restless, and unfulfilled are all symptoms of blocked energy. The energy in your body can change form when it is not being expressed. If you don’t express it physically it will find some other way to manifest. It may express itself in your body, or in your emotions, or in your spiritual consciousness.
When you are suffering from blocked energy it is advisable that you let it out in some way. Blowing off steam so to speak. A raunchy night of fun, light-hearted sex with your partner is highly recommended to de-stress and make you feel more relaxed.
Of course in the monastery that wasn’t an option for us monks (well not in our monastery at least… I don’t know what goes on in some other monasteries!).
A monk – at least a good one – finds other ways to channel and express the energy which flows through the human being. This is important for any spiritual aspirant, not just monastics. For someone who is on the spiritual path, this becomes an extra challenge as you begin to receive greater inflows of energy from your rapidly growing connection to the Divine.
Although sex is a great way to let off steam and cultivate more love and affection for your partner, it also momentarily depletes your physical energy.
A productive alternative for clearing those frustrating emotional blocks is to create.
Creativity is the flip side of sex.
Being creative is so very similar to making love. You channel your energy into the creation of something new which retains a part of yourself. You become totally absorbed in the pleasure of what you are doing. You can, momentarily at least, feel complete and purposeful.
And importantly, you allow your energy to flow freely which clears blocked up emotions. You release the feelings of frustration, irritableness, and restlessness. When you have finished creating something you feel deeply relaxed and satiated. You can kick back, light up a cigarette (unless you don’t smoke of course), and with a deep sigh of satisfaction say to yourself “Wow!”
And in case you’re wondering, yes, I do know what both sides of this coin are like… I’m not a monk anymore you know…but that’s another story!
As a monk, creating things is very much a part of one’s vocation. From simple things such as building a fence for the animals, to more elaborate things such as designing intricate tapestries to decorate the interior of the temple.
Creating is the way to allow your energy to flow unblocked.
It’s the lubrication needed for body, mind, and spirit to move together harmoniously, without any nasty friction sores. It keeps your chakras clear. It releases pent-up emotions. It helps you maintain balance and peace throughout the whole of your human and spiritual nature.
The difference between creativity and sex, is that when you create you tend to receive more energy. Especially if your creation is something that other people will appreciate or find value in. In such cases the Divine increases the inflow of energy into your being. It is a kind of Divine Grace that seems to take away your tiredness and enables you to work day and night with very little sleep or food.
In hinduism this energy is known as Shakti. When you create for the benefit of others Shakti surges through your being like high-voltage electric current flowing off the national grid.
In sexual intercourse, Shakti can be experienced in an equally powerful way, but in a much shorter burst that lasts only for a few moments. In love-making the power of Shakti is being harnessed for the miraculous purpose of creating life.
Aside from these two acts of sex and creativity, Shakti can also be channeled in a third, distinct way, to awaken your spiritual consciousness. But that topic is too big to go into here, so I’ll leave it for a future post.
Creativity is essential for everyone.
Even if you don’t regard yourself as being a creative person. Creative expression is vital for a healthy, balanced, and fulfilling life. By allowing that energy to flow freely you’ll have less bad moods and you’ll feel more content with things in general. Creative expression, in whatever form, is a highly fulfilling way to release those emotional blocks in your life.
It doesn’t matter if you think you can’t paint or draw. You don’t need to be a gifted musician or best-selling writer to find your creative expression.
You can be creative in anything you do. From decorating your home, to educating your kids. From gardening, to cooking. If you put your passion into whatever you’re doing you’ll be able to access that creative flow. And in doing so you’ll find yourself being far more productive than when you were struggling with pent-up, unexpressed energy.
But it isn’t always easy to get that creativity flowing.
Especially if you aren’t used to doing particularly creative things.
When you find yourself in that irritable frustrated mood, lacking inspiration and unable to connect with your creative passion, you need some strategies which you can fall back on.
The reasons that lead to such creative blocks will vary from person to person. It can depend on many factors, including the underlying beliefs you have grown up with. It can also depend on how mindful you are of your own emotional and physical well-being.
Empath and creativity consultant, Katrina Pfannkuch, has dedicated a significant portion of her life to understanding creativity and how to move past the kind of blocks that can throw you off course in life. For anyone interested in learning practical ways to connect with yourself at a deeper level and access your creative self, I highly recommend checking out some of her work. This article explains how to deal with perfectionism as a creative block. She also writes in this post about how background noise, as both external distractions and internal negative self-talk, can result in creative blocks. And for those moments in life when we can get overwhelmed by sudden and unplanned events, her post about keeping your creative faith shares some deep insights about how to cope and come out on top.
And for anyone who doesn’t believe they are creative, or has self-doubts about how to become more creative, check out this post by writer Harish Kumar. He shares some great inspiration and practical steps to kindle your own creativity.
So if you are feeling in a stroppy mood, frustrated, irritable, and unfulfilled, remember that those are most likely symptoms of blocked up energy. If you can connect to your playful, creative inner self, you will be able to free up those emotional blocks and start living a more fulfilled and harmonious life.
And if you can, definitely have some fun, playful sex with someone who you feel close to. And if you aren’t able to, don’t worry… in any case that’s more of an added bonus! The most important thing is to learn to embrace your creative side.
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