A couple of years ago while I was on a spring vacation, I was reading a book written by Deepak Chopra called Reinventing the Body Resurrecting the Soul. While reading this book, I started to learn the difference between soft and hard energy. As I was learning this, I had a thought, “what an amazing concept to start teaching the families and individuals I work with!” 

At that time, I was also teaching yoga and I could see how practicing yoga organically puts us in a soft energy place. As a result, I began to see for myself the positive mental and physical health benefits of moving away from hard energy and moving closer to soft energy. 

As I describe the differences between these types of energy, I am going to make some suggestions on how to practice moving closer to soft energy so that you can start living your healthiest, happiest life. I want to point out that our modern day environment and media messages about our health are great examples of hard energy.  

The exercise industry tries to convince us that you need to work harder, count every calorie, log every workout, and that gentle forms of exercise are not worth your time because it is not enough of a calorie burn. 

The diet industry also teaches us to use hard focus. There are messages about food restriction and there is an intense focus on weight loss numbers. Not only is the focus only on the numbers on the scales, it has to be quick weight loss to be successful. There is so much pressure and you often don’t feel like you are trying hard enough. 

Do any of these statements sound familiar?  

• ‘Try harder!’
• ‘Eat less.’
• ‘Count your calories.’
• ‘You did well today.’
• ‘You did poorly today.’
• ‘How many miles did you run? Well, that wasn’t very much.’
• ‘How come you didn’t exercise today?’
• ‘Can’t eat that – too many points/calories.’
• “This is a cheat day.”

That is hard energy at work. Many of us have lived by these hard messages for a very long time. You have rules about exercise: it has to happen a certain number of times a week with a certain amount of intensity. You judge yourself harshly if you make a mistake or break your rules. You see your setbacks as failures. Your mind is over worked; you wish you had more control and more willpower. You have a strong negative internal voice that is telling yourself that you are not working hard enough. This leads us to feel bad about ourselves, so then we amp up the hard work, which leads us to getting even more vigilant about our behaviours. 

If this sounds familiar, what I am asking you to do here might be going against many hard-wired messages you have been living your life by. But, when you move to a more soft focus approach to your health, you will transform your life! 

Here Are Some Reasons Why Hard Focus Is Not Helping You Reach Your Health Goals: 

Hard focus leads us to rigid black & white ways of thinking about our health. That in turn makes us feel bad about ourselves and we then create a stress response in the body. Hard focus is an unhealthy, perfectionistic way of trying to walk through the world. It builds negativity, decreases self-esteem, builds stressful thoughts, and drives our stress hormones. When your stress hormones are high, our appetite is harder to manage and this sets us up for unplanned overeating.

Here Is Soft Focus At Work: 

From a health perspective, a more flexible way of thinking will always lead to a more relaxed way of walking through your world. Soft focus calms the mind. It moves us away from feeling guilty and judging ourselves. If you make an error, you wonder about what you can learn from it and move on. You are not judging yourself and telling yourself that you are not good enough. You understand that nobody (or body) is perfect. You are striving for the healthiest version of yourself. You are striving for excellence and not perfection. 

When you are using soft focus, you are kind to yourself. You are exercising because you love how your body feels when you are moving. You love the sense of accomplishment when you are making healthy food choices. You are feeling great about the variety of foods you are eating. You are eating veggies and lean protein because you have the awareness of how amazing your body feels when it is fueled in that way. 

Soft focus allows you to see the amazing health benefits of going for a walk, going for a hike, going skating with a group of friends, swimming in a pond, or going to a yoga class. Soft focus helps you enjoy meal planning, cooking healthy meals, and packing great healthy lunches for you and your family. You are eating healthy because you love yourself and the way your mind and body feels when you are taking great care of yourself. 

Are you ready to transform your life with this energy shift? It takes practice, but I promise you this is a game-changer. Soften your approach and see how it impacts your health. A soft approach doesn’t mean that your health is not important; it helps show you that there are more important things than the number on the scale; it gives you the freedom to enjoy your life. It gives you the opportunity to be active and enjoy great meals with all of the amazing people that you have the privilege of knowing in this life. 

No long-term health improvements have been reached and maintained through a self hate place, you have to love yourself and feel like you are worth this effort and deserve to live your healthiest and happiest life. 

Take Care,

Laurie Pinhorn

Laurie holds a Science Degree in Psychology and Biology from Acadia University in NS, a Social Work Degree from Memorial University in NL, a Masters in Holistic Nutrition from the Edison Institute of Nutrition in Ontario. Laurie is the creator of www.lauriepinhorn.com and co-creator of www.feedingfuturesnutrition.com