Intake, ignition, power, exhaust. Intake, ignition, power, exhaust. Intake, ignition, power, exhaust.
Who else knows the stages of the four-stroke engine? Just me?
It’s probably the sound my heart makes. Intake, ignition, power, exhaust.
I was born in Detroit back when Detroit being called the Motor City meant something. In the fall, my dad and I would go look at the new model cars as search lights drew us from one dealership to another, like moths to a flame.
You might need to be from Detroit to know there are five events in the four-stroke cycle. It’s actually intake, compression, ignition, power, exhaust. But you don’t have to be from there to know that if one piston is working and the others are not, you’re in for a bumpy ride.
When one thing is off in our lives, it makes it easier for something else to be out of sync. It always seems to snowball, doesn’t it? You’re already running late, you spill your coffee on your shirt, you trip and stub your toe on the way upstairs to change.
When you finally get into the car you realize the gas gauge is on empty and there’s no way you can make it on the fumes that are left in the tank, but you can’t get to the gas station because of the construction detour.
When nothing seems to be going right, it feels like there’s no salvaging the day. May as well buy a pink sprinkle donut to try to sooth your frayed nerves.
Before you give in to the siren song of pastry, here are some things to try.
- List three things you’re grateful for (cotton sheets, Netflix, electricity)
- Straighten your desk (or kitchen counter) for three minutes. After each tiny accomplishment, give yourself some shine. “Threw away a scrap of paper! Yes! Took my coffee mug to the sink! Way to go! Put a book back on the shelf! You GOT this!”
- Make a to-done list. Put some things that are already done on your to-do list and cross them off.
Here are some more esoteric things to try to get your “pistons” working in concert with each other.
- EFT, or tapping. Nick Ortner is the tapping guru. Find him on youtube or get the app.
- Put your palm on your forehead. This draws the blood up to your forebrain and interrupts the fight-or-flight response.
- Place the pads of your fingers on your forehead and your thumbs on your temples. You can even massage your temples if you like. These neurovascular points will lift you out of the bad-mood spiral.
- Make a figure eight around your eyes with the first two fingers of one hand until you yawn.
- Send your negativity into the ground. Stand on grass or dirt and imagine the earth pulling the negative energy out of you. Or sit wherever you are and imagine a cord from your root chakra down into the center of the earth drawing out the unwanted energy.
- Call on Archangel Jophiel. Ask her to allow you to see the beauty and love around you. See her warm yellow light enveloping you.
- Watch a video of puppies. Puppies (or whatever baby animal is your jam) and a lousy day are mutually exclusive.