The Energy Within
Try the following exercise to practice heightening your awareness of the energy field within:
1. Bring your focus and attention into your body and to your breath. Begin taking deep, slow breaths. And notice as you breathe in a very slow and methodical way, that your mind slows down, your emotions become still, and you begin to feel more peaceful with each passing moment. As you keep your attention in the body longer, you can begin to feel very subtle tingling sensations, or a slight vibration within—this is the essence of Life Energy within you. In order to feel it, however, your mind must be relatively quiet. Slowing down the breath helps develop the sensitivity to this energy.
2. Now bring your attention to the energy within your hands, keeping your attention on this energy no matter how subtle it may feel at first. When thoughts arise, take a deep breath and bring your attention back to your hands. Continue to keep your attention here for as long as you are able. When the mind wanders bring your focus back to the breath, and then back to the energy within. Now see if you can feel this energy in your wrists and forearms...how about your upper arms? Now move your attention down into your feet, can you feel the energy there? It will take some practice to keep your attention on the energy in your body, but the more you do it, the more your awareness of this energy will grow.
Notice as your thoughts begin to become active again, what causes you to lose awareness of this energy? It is when your attention is consumed with concepts, thoughts, and the mind-made reality, that you miss the actual experience of reality occurring within you in each moment. The true power that we each possess rests in our ability to be in control of where we focus our attention. Wherever you focus your attention—whether it be on your thoughts, the energy of your emotions, the subtle energy in the body, or on the world around you—will determine which experiences in your life become more energized and actualized. This reflects what has commonly been described as the "law of attraction," a principle that describes how the subtler energies of our thoughts and emotions manifest into the world of form.
This breathing technique is simple and easy to do throughout the day. Practice feeling your inner energy whenever you begin to feel energetically drained, negative, or less than peaceful in any way. I first learned this technique through the teachings of Eckhart Tolle. Although, these energy practices have been around for thousands of years in various spiritual lineages. By bringing your attention within, you begin to cultivate greater awareness of who you are in your essence, beyond the limitations of the mind, emotions, and body. I teach these techniques through holistic counseling, and spiritual counseling.