When master healers conceptualize an energetic imbalance, they think of an interruption in the flow of Universal Life Energy through the body and mind. To understand how an energetic imbalance affects our health, we must become more familiar with the delicate balance of this energy and how it can alter us on many levels: emotional, physical, intellectual, and spiritual.
There are many names for this energy, described repeatedly throughout history by many different cultures. In Ancient Greece, they called this energy simply, “breath,” but it is not to be confused with the act of breathing, though this can increase the energy flow in the body.
The Hindus called this life-force energy prana, and those who practiced Traditional Chinese Medicine for centuries called it “qi.” African tribes called this energy “kung,” and many other ancient people knew that this energy was palpably real.
That doesn’t mean it is fully understood.
“There must be some primal force, but it is impossible to locate. I believe it exists but cannot see it. I see its results, I can even feel it, but it has no form.” – Zhuan Zi, Inner Chapters Fourth Century
No matter our struggle to define its parameters – as there likely are none – qi, Cosmic Energy or Life Force permeates every cell in our bodies and even helps to organize our DNA and RNA. Any impedance to the flow of this life force energy can result in a shift in mood, a change in our thought patterns, and eventually disease or unrest in the body.
In my book, The Power of the Elevation of Consciousness: Soul Restructuring, I describe the function of qi or Life Force Energy in depth, and all the ways in which it can become clogged or stifled. Too much qi in a body that is not prepared for it can cause havoc – as in a premature kundalini awakening – and too little qi can cause sadness, anxiety, disease, and health challenges of every variety.
An energetic imbalance will start to affect the body and mind before we become aware of it, unless we have developed very astute and highly conscious awareness. Just as Zhuan Zi admitted, he knows this energy is present but he cannot see it, and as such, we have a difficult time without a high level of discernment to understand how an invisible energy can cause us to get stuck in negative thinking, find it difficult to forgive others, or even eventually cause inflammation in our bodies which can lead to depression, chronic pain, and even cancer.
Addressing your energetic imbalance is a new frontier in modern healing, but it is old news. Healers as ancient as time have understood that if we correct the way energy flows in and through us, simply by getting out of its way, in most cases, the faster we can heal. The physical body is, after all, the last bastion of health. Disease and imbalance show up in the emotional, etheric sheaths of what yogis called koshas of the body far before they manifest into a physical illness.
In fact, all alternative health modalities (which should likely be called simply healing modalities) from acupuncture, to herbal medicine, to meditation and reiki address the body from an energetic perspective.
If we can learn to understand this life force energy and start to address it in its purest, most subtle state, we can affect our bodies, minds, and lives in amazing ways.
Really then, this is a remembrance of our ability to heal ourselves. To take responsibility for our lives and health in ways that we have long forgotten we have immense sway over.
We can keep popping pills, or we can get still, start having a conversation with that energy and help ourselves experience a heightened flow of Life Force.
Try this exercise to start getting familiar with your Life Force Energy so that you can release pent-up energy or unblock areas of constriction in your energetic body:
- Sit in a quiet, still place. Take in several deep breaths allowing the exhale to be at least twice as long as the inhale. Find a comfortable position and then resolve not to change from this position for the next five, ten, or twenty minutes.
- Pay close attention to any discomfort or pain that arises in the body. This is usually an indication of energetic obstruction. Instead of shifting your position and trying to mentally avoid this physical pain, instead go deeper into it. Be present with it and ask what it is trying to tell you. Is it tightness in your chest? A constriction of the throat? Are your feet or legs feeling uncomfortable? While you need not endure this discomfort if it is really bad, do try to sit with it at least for a few moments. This is your body’s way of communicating with you.
- Send thoughts of love and acceptance to the places in your body that feel this physical pain. Then notice if there are any emotions or memories that are attached to the physical pain. Again, simply observe them, without judgement.
- Finally, take several more deep breaths and send love to yourself, the memory, the emotion, and the physical place that you feel pain. This will begin to allow qi or Life Force to flow again.