Chances are you have some idea of how to answer these questions. These days it's easy to find helpful advice on how to change your life for the better.

But, even though you might know a lot about being happy and healthy, it doesn’t automatically make you truly healthy or happy. In fact, sometimes you'll find yourself stuck “knowing” something without acting, and, as a result, you doubt the value of what you know. How, then, can you turn understanding into action? What transforms ideas into usable energy?

One key practice in Body & Brain is the activation of willpower. To some people, activating more willpower seems like a burden. “I’m already exhausted and overwhelmed,” they think, “and now you want me to try even harder?” This is a negative perspective of willpower, often based on the idea that we have limited energy.

At Body & Brain, we describe a different kind of willpower. To us, willpower is a form of energy that can be cultivated and refined, a lot like physical strength.

Just like the body needs exercise to grow stronger, willpower can only be strengthened through training. If you want to have more willpower, start by developing your physical and energetic core. Making your core energy strong will help you feel motivated and resilient. For beginners, try sleeping tiger exercise. It’s a simple posture that you can use to build up your core energy.

As your energy becomes stronger, you might notice, surprisingly, that you still have stress and emotion. Perhaps you have experienced this in your practice. Sometimes the stress and emotion actually increase as you get healthier. Some people get discouraged, thinking, “I’m supposed to be feeling more peaceful, how come I still have stress?”

At this point, it’s important to turn your energy into willpower. Energy is only useful if you apply it in the proper direction. Otherwise, it becomes a distraction or even an obstacle that discourages even the most motivated individuals.

Find Your True Self

Fortunately, Body & Brain provides a special workshop called Finding True Self (FTS) to help you through this step. This workshop guides you to unblock negative emotions and habits, and in so doing, reconnects you with your life purpose. FTS does not just provide an intellectual understanding of purpose. Rather, at FTS you'll experience how to actively bring your consciousness deep inside to create willpower.

Many people, even those who have done a lot of self-reflection, feel an unusually strong sense of conviction after FTS. When you connect with your true self you will notice that things which once seemed overwhelming are now more manageable. People who made you angry or scared no longer trigger the same negative reactions. And when your emotions do arise, there is space to observe them. This is all evidence that your true self is awakening and your willpower is growing stronger. These phenomena are commonly reported after Finding True Self.