Note: This is a process of becoming aware. You can’t do it all at once so embody a spirit of curiosity and be willing to go slow.
- Thoughts are forms of energy. Become aware of your thinking. Start with your first thought of the day and go from there. Make a list. Notice your word choice and where your thinking feels fixed (this is how it is) or flexible (this is how it could be).
- Throughout the course of your day, just stop. Close your eyes. Go inward and feel into where you are. Do you feel present? What is the nature of your breath? Are you holding it? How do you feel in your body? Restricted? Relaxed? Tired and collapsed? Awake and alive?
- Move. Move your body. Different parts at a time. What happens when you move? Notice if any thoughts or feelings come up. Are there certain parts of your body that when energized by movement, stir something up in you? Do you feel you need to contain your energy or do you let yourself move?
- Make sound. By yourself, or with others, let your voice out. Energize your “yes” and “no.” Notice if one is easier than the other. Are you even willing to make noise? Just notice without judgment.
- Where are there forcing currents in your life? Where do you feel a relentless demand of yourself or another? Where are you forcing your will onto people or situations?
- What happens to your energy in the presence of others? Take note of your breath and your body. Do you expand or contract?
- Play with boundaries. Find a friend willing to explore energetic boundaries. Stand a certain distance from each other. As one of you steps towards the other, notice when you begin to feel their energy. See what happens to you as another’s energy enters your own energy field. Do you lose yourself at all? Do you feel less grounded? Do you feel you can use your voice and speak up and ask her or him to come closer or back away?
- Make a list of different feelings. Free associate with each feeling. What is your relationship to that feeling? What are your beliefs or images about those feelings? Where do you tend to feel those feelings, if at all, in your body?
- Where are you most comfortable meeting the world? Do you lead with reason (thinker), emotion (feeler), or will (doer)? If you lead with one, how do you feel about the others? What parts of your body do you meet the world with? Your head, heart, hands?
- Seek another’s experience of your energy and observe the energy of others. How do you feel in their presence? Are you invited in or kept at bay? Do you feel they hold back, hold in, hold up, collapse, or scatter their energy? Tune in and feel into it. Don’t figure it out, feel it out.
Oh, I love this! I know my energy system well, and I can really ‘feel’ other people’s energy. I’ve had to train my hubby to pull in his overbearing energy. He was swamping me until I learned about my own energy, and how to feel others. This is not an idle exercise – this is a must! Introverts in particular need to understand their energy levels, and where the leaks are. Extroverts need to learn how their energy seeks out others, and to find appropriate people to do this to/with. Excellent article!!! Well written on an important topic.
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Thank you Alise. You are a living energy field. Your body is composed of energy-producing particles, each of which is in constant motion. So, like everything and everyone else in the universe, you are vibrating and creating energy.
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Absolutely. Thank you for the reminder. I haven’t had a conversation around energy for some time. Thank you!
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Most welcome.
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I love this. I have been exploring my feelings and energy through poetry. Trying to connect with the suppressed parts of myself and even then I find myself hesitating but I am working to push through it because it is toxic to leave that energy locked up. Thank you for all the helpful advise. I will work to apply this to my self expression
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Your physical energy naturally serves as the base. It is going to be very tough to build out your other energies without taking care of your body first. What’s most interesting is that up until now, your physical energy is the most discounted element in our day to day lives.
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