The 3 Fundamentals of Living In Life In Flow
Become a conscious creator of life rather than a passive participant by remaining plugged in.
Read Time: 7 mins
When you think about your future self and dream about the person you want to be, what energy does he or she radiate?
I assume you imagine yourself to be someone who is energised and radiating with vitality. Ultimately, you want to feel good and feel alive. You don’t dream of being a couch potato, and if those people do exist, you wouldn’t find them reading my content!
Even though we dream of this, we often stumble when it comes to maximising our energy levels given our lifestyle. So, what keeps us from realising our most radiant selves? There is no reason why you can’t start being this version of you, today.
In this article, we'll delve into 3 things:
A way of thinking about ourselves as lightbulbs
The 3 fundamentals to remain plugged in
Practical tips to remain energised daily
The Light Bulb Metaphor
In his enlightening book "Falling Upward", Richard Rohr recalls a conversation with Desmond Tutu who said, "We are only the light bulbs, Richard, and our job is just to remain screwed in."
WOW. I love that!
This profound metaphor speaks to the truth that we have an infinite energy source that continuously shines through us. It’s always there. The same cosmic intelligence that fuels our heartbeat, keeps our immune system working, and orchestrates Earth's orbit around the sun.
Our role is to remain connected to this source, thus allowing its energy to flow through us— one could call this living in a state of 'flow'. Many philosophers have spoken about this including Loa Tzu and scientists such as psychologist Mihay Csikszentmihalyi have put science to it.
The Importance of Staying Plugged In
Despite our natural potential for energy and vitality, modern culture often dims our inner light. It tempts us away from our core energy with distractions like smartphones, processed foods, sedentary lifestyles, and the endless hustle culture. We often find ourselves feeling confused, lacking confidence, feeling stuck, and wishing we could be more and do more. It's crucial to recognise these traps that block your inner light and learn how to stay plugged into our energy source.
“It is not a measure of health to be well-adjusted to a profoundly sick society.”
- Krishnamurthy
Want to know the most spiritual thing you can do for yourself? It’s not meditation. It’s ensuring your light bulb is plugged in so the greater intelligence can express itself through you.
Anything that blocks this light from shining is holding you back and you may be working hard on 10 watts thinking you’ll achieve more, yet it would be less effort with 1000 watts.
The Three Fundamentals
The word “fundamentals” fundamental has its roots in the Latin word fundamentum, which means "foundation” and foundation is a word rooted in the Old French term “fonder” meaning to "lay the basis of, establish"
Below, I share 3 core fundamentals backed by science that’s required for you to live a life of being plugged in. This is inspired by Brian Johnson at HEROIC who’s had a profound impact on my life and Tom Rath's book "Eat, Move, Sleep",
I present three core principles that serve as this foundation of remaining plugged in:
Sleeping
Eating
Moving
You may think you “already know this” so bare with me here and notice that little voice! There’s a difference in knowing intellectually and actually knowing by embodying it.
Let's break down each principle and provide practical, science-backed tips that you can gradually incorporate into your life.
1. Sleep: The Ultimate Self-Care Habit
Sleep is the foundation of all other healthy habits. Without sleep, you simply cannot remain plugged in.
In his book Why We Sleep, Professor of Neuroscience, Matthew Walker of UC Berkeley shares how sleep is universal.
“Without exception, every animal species studied to date sleeps, or engages in something remarkably like it. This includes insects, such as flies, bees, cockroaches, and scorpions; fish, from small perch to the larger sharks; amphibians, such as frogs; and reptiles, such as turtles, Komodo dragons, and chameleons. All have a bona fide sleep. Ascend the evolutionary ladder further and we find all types of birds and mammals sleep: from shrews to parrots, kangaroos, polar bears, bats, and, of course, we humans. Sleep is universal.”
To optimise your sleep, consider these three tips:
A. Meal Timing: Aim to have your last meal 3-4 hours before sleep to allow the glymphatic system, which cleans toxins from our brain, to function effectively.
Dr. Steven Gundry, author of the Longevity Paradox, shares “researchers had discovered a system that allows cerebrospinal fluid to flow through the brain, cleaning out the spaces in between cells, just as lymphatic fluid does in the rest of your body” this is known as the glymphatic system it’s responsible for getting rid of all the toxins, waste and other unwanted materials from our brains:
“If you eat too soon before going to bed, your blood will all flow to your gut to aid in digestion and will not be able to reach your brain to complete the all-important brainwash.”
He recommends eating your last meal 4 hours before you sleep. I personally do 3 as this is what fits into my routine.
B. Pre-sleep Rituals: An hour before sleep, unplug from digital devices, avoid stimulants such as caffeine and practise some form of relaxation - even if it is simply breathing for 10 mins.
“One of the earliest studies found that using an iPad–an electronic tablet enriched with blue LED light–for two hours prior to bed blocked the otherwise rising levels of melatonin by a significant 23 percent….Unsurprisingly, individuals took longer to fall asleep after iPad reading relative to print-copy reading.” - Prof. Matthew Walker
Stimulants like caffeine which have a half life of 5 to 8 hours mimics and adenosine which is released when the body is waking / working. Caffeine masks fatigue as it slides into the receptors of adenosine ignoring your body telling you to rest.
C. Track Your Sleep: Use sleep tracking devices such as an Oura ring or Whoop band to track your length and quality of sleep. Or you can simply track your sleep time with a pen and paper to monitor your sleep times. It’s important to note that your time in bed isn't the same as the time you sleep. It’s generally an hour less. So, if you’re in bed for 8 hours, most likely that’s a maximum of 7 hours of sleep. As with anything you track, the more you become aware of it, the more you can start to make conscious choices.
2. Eat: Food As Fuel
What we eat impacts our mind. Your gut produces 90% of your serotonin and science continues to show how your gut is pretty much your second brain. What you eat affects how plugged in you are.
Here are 3 things tips for a food perspective:
A. Mindset shift: See your food as fuel, as it affects both your physical health and mental wellbeing. As you start seeing food as fuel you’ll start to notice all the things you’re putting in your mouth you deeply know is not fuel! Start becoming aware of how you feel after eating certain foods.
As Hippocrates wrote: Let food be thy medicine
B. Avoid Sugar: Especially in beverages, as sugar can significantly affect your health.
In his book The Food Fix, Mark Hyman, one of the world’s leading functional medicine doctor writes “Cutting sugar-sweetened beverages from your diet is the single-biggest thing you can do to improve your health.”
C. Keeping it real: Eat more real unprocessed food: Cutting out refined sugars and processed foods can have a positive impact on your wellbeing.
This year, I cut out refined sugar from my diet and it has been easier than I thought - maybe another blog post for me to write and share more about.
3. Move: The Antidote to a Sedentary Lifestyle
Humans were designed for movement, not a sedentary lifestyle. Regular movement and exercise help stimulate the production of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), promoting nerve cell health.
In his book “Go Wild” Harvard Psychologist shared that wild cavemen moved 8 hours a day. Hunter gatherers had moderate to vigorous activity 1 - 2 hours a day. Compare that to our lifestyles today!
Here are 3 tips to consider for movement:
A. Incorporate Daily Exercise: Try to get at least 15-30 minutes of exercise each day. The days where I am not heading to the gym, or running, and I’m tight for time, my minimum standard is 15 mins worth of moving in my living room. I play music, dance, and do push ups, burpees, jump squats consistently for 15 minutes.
B. Track Your Steps: Science shows walking for at least 6,549 steps a day helps in warding off anxiety.
C. Get Up and Move: Break the cycle of sitting by moving around during meetings or taking short breaks. Stand up from your desk every 45 mins - even if it means taking 2 or 3 steps and sitting back down again! MOVE.
These are a lot of tips…my intention is not to overwhelm you, but to give you some ideas that you can try out and implement one at a time. I recommend picking one in each category of sleeping, eating, and moving.
You don’t need science to prove to you that stuff works - your own life experience will teach you this as you experiment.
Eliminating Your Kryptonite
Part of ensuring that your light bulb remains plugged in involves identifying and eliminating the habits and activities that dampen your energy. It could be easier to start off with dropping a bad habit that you know is keeping you plugged out.
Changing How You See Yourself
True transformation begins from the inside out. See yourself as an 'athlete of life' and your daily routines will start to feel like gifts rather than chores. I’ll share more about this in the near future.
Conclusion
When you allow your inner light to shine brightly, you will align with a higher intelligence and be inspired to take steps towards realising your dreams. You'll become a conscious creator of life rather than a passive participant. Start with small steps, and through patience and long-term thinking, experience exponential shifts in your energy and vitality.
This is the foundation of alignment, powerful self expression and leadership.
Reflection
Identify one habit that is dampening your light and one practice you can start today to keep you plugged in.
Share your insights and reflections in the comments below – not only does it solidify your commitment, but it also inspires others on their journeys!