Managing Subtle Energy through Meditation

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Welcome to part 2 in this series of 4 articles. Last week I introduced the concept of subtle energy and how I manage this in my own life. This week, we are diving deeper into the first approach I use - the practice of Meditation.

I’ve been practicing Meditation for over 20 years. I was introduced to Meditation in my early thirties when Mindfullness Meditation became a popular practice. This form of Meditation involves becoming aware of our thoughts and learning to slow down the mind and move into our bodies to calm and relax, reducing stress. When I started learning meditation, I was using the practice to learn more about energy. I was studying the traditional Chakra system in the body which identified 7 major centers which act like generators. I was interested in not only experiencing this energy but also working with it to heal.

I began to study Healing Touch, a method of working with energy that is based more in western medicine, than Reiki which comes from Japan. I learned various ways to read energy in the body, and to channel energy through my own body so I could use it to move energy in someone else’s body, where that energy was out of balance. I used this mainly on myself, although I did practice for a bit with clients as a way to learn and grow my understanding. I read many different texts and began learning various other techniques and ways of assessing energy in the body to test for blocks and imbalance. Throughout all of this practice, I began to expand my understanding of how complex our energy body really is. I started using meditation as a way to feel in my physical body, the subtle energy moving through me and learn to work with it.

I also found that meditation provided me with a way to become more aware of my breath. I discovered that most of the time, I breathe very shallow and I would notice I would often take a huge breath that sounded much like a sigh. It was almost as if my body was struggling for air and forced me to breathe much deeper to get enough oxygen. I started using meditation as a way to become more aware of how I breathe through the day so I can become more intentional of using my breath to fuel my energy and stay well in my body.

Because meditation brings you into your body, I started to notice where I held tension in my body. It was mostly in my shoulders and to this day I still have a physical habit of tensing my shoulders when I’m resisting the natural flow of life. Through my understanding of the Chakra system, combined with meditation, I was able to learn how to ground my body. This practice of grounding is simply a way to connect to the earth so our energy has a place to flow and allows us to move any lower vibration energy out of the body to be transmuted and neutralized.

Meditation has helped me to notice how resistance manifests in my body much quicker than in the past. I have learned to be more in the moment, noticing my body many times throughout the day, giving me the chance to release any muscle tension, breathe deeply and relax. It has also become part of my daily self-care practice. Just as I brush my teeth, shower and cleanse my physical body on a regular basis, I have built in meditation twice a day to cleanse my thoughts, relax my body and notice where I need to release or cleanse my energy body.

So what does this look like? Every morning when I wake up, I spend some time slowing down my mind and getting into my body as I focus on counting my breaths. I notice my mood, and I begin with affirmations of gratitude and intention for the day. Silently in my mind, I share gratitude for the abundance that surrounds me and set an intention for the day that can be as simple as “I move into today being open to opportunities to experience joy” or “I move into today being willing to speak more kindness into the world”. Then I end my day every evening with time to slow down and relax so I can get a good sleep. I often listen to music that acts as white noise and focus on my breath so I can calm my body and begin to regulate emotions and clear out or release anything that is not mine or not for my highest good.

I’ve come to see meditation as an important part of my life and as a very useful tool for my wellness. The topic of meditation is actually fairly complex and there are many different practices than what I’ve shared here. Stay tuned for a future article where I will expand on the topic of meditation and share my most recent learning around a balanced practice which combines active and passive modes of meditation.