When people hear about everything I do, they often jump to the conclusion that I must be overworked or stressed out.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
I consider myself one of the least stressed working people I know.
I walk in the park every day with my dog Dixie. I have time for my friends, for fun, for lying in my hammock. There’s space in my life to breathe, to reflect, to create.
What if I could explain that the secret of high performance is deep relaxation?
Back in 2014 when I was writing my second Amazon No. 1 bestseller, Unlimited Energy Now, I began developing migraine headaches.
The irony of it all was not lost on me.
There I was writing a book about how to have more energy, and if I was on the computer for even 15 minutes, I would develop a migraine so severe I would rush to the toilet bowl waiting to heave.
“Whether I want to write my book or not, I can’t,” I would explain to my friends.
It was as if my brain would flip a switch. That would be it for the rest of the day. Done!
My brother, Dr. Richard Schulze Jr., an ophthalmologist in Savannah, Georgia, got rid of my migraines completely when he wrote the prescription for my first pair of reading glasses.
At age 55, my stubbornness had to yield to the fact that the $3 cheater glasses I had originally bought from Michael’s craft shop to help with my beading were adding to considerable eye strain.
The following year I went on a cruise with Esther Hicks, an inspirational speaker and author.
I raised my hand from the audience and Esther picked me to go on stage where I asked questions about how I could take my writing to the next level.
Esther advised me to write first thing in the morning and then when I was done to get up and start my day.
So this became my practice.
I wake up, meditate and then lumber downstairs in my pajamas to get my laptop.
I prop myself up in bed and write until the words run to their logical conclusion.
This could take an hour, it could take several hours but however long it takes the time flies by.
As I wrote subsequent books, I would notice that if I become emotionally upset for any reason, the inner turmoil would shut down my creative flow.
So the practice of writing became a new kind of yoga for me, a new kind of mind-body integration.
I had to learn how to be as relaxed as possible in order to write.
The practice of preparing to write spilled over into all the other hours of the day when I wasn’t writing.
I had to learn how to live without trying but with greater ease than I had heretofore experienced.
As I practiced this inner ease, the process of writing itself became more and more enjoyable, like a secret love affair that no one can ever take away from me.
Where other people turn to alcohol or marijuana or other forms of addiction, I enjoy the privilege of putting words together so happily that when I write really really well I set the tone for the most joyous of days.
The direct connection between my inner flow and my outward production became most manifest to me in writing Unlimited Intuition Now, my favorite book so far.
I had stretches of days where the relaxation was so complete that I was able to write consecutively, evenly and profoundly.
I almost couldn’t wait to wake up at 4 a.m., go off by myself into the quietness and channel my new book.
The rest of the day I would feel so self satisfied, knowing and experiencing that I had written something so meaningful that whatever else happened didn’t really matter.
As I noticed the benefit of relaxation for my writing, I began to consider how I might be able to bring this sense of easiness to the rest of my life.
How could I excel without stress or strain?
How could I flow with my work, with my money, with my love life, with my family?
I decided that in any moment what’s happening is what’s supposed to be happening.
I concluded that I can decide not to have problems any more, only experiences.
It all comes back to maintaining this openness, this inner ease.
Not to say I have it all figured out yet.
I just attune to the inner joy and allow what needs to happen in that moment.
And it begins with the yoga of writing, of bringing my mind and body into as deep a state of relaxation as possible and allowing what’s inside to pour forth.
