Rethinking Subtle Energy

I just attended a conference in Coronado, California hosted by the Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology.  I had the privilege of speaking to a delightful group of energy psychologists on Sunday morning with my colleague, EHI Ambassador and friend Rick Leskowitz.  [Energy Psychologists incorporate EFT, EMDR, TAT and other energy-based forms for supporting patients in evolving through and beyond trauma, blockages and emotional pain from life’s experiences.]

Saturday afternoon I attended a presentation by Amit Goswami – a retired professor from the University of Oregon and a renowned Quantum Physicist.

One of the themes he discussed is reframing our conception of the unseen energy that inhabits our conscious awareness and manifests our lives from subtle energy to vital energy.

I can tell you that I drank that right in.  When perceived in that light, vital energy is a lovely, evocative, inspiring, creative, engaging and manifesting force.  What’s not to like? And his reframing got me thinking.

One of Goswami’s other comments had to do with the prevalence of depression in our society – the third most common illness after cancer and heart disease.

I treat depression in my practice and regularly speak about it with EHI’s participants.  The energy of depression is something less than vital, to be sure.  And it’s also not particularly subtle.

And as I contemplate one of the definitions of the word subtle – slight and not obvious – I’m thinking it’s not quite the right strategy for treating depression.  I believe it might be better treated with vital energy – what do you think?

Don’t get me wrong, when I worked with ‘subtle’ energy, I had total conscious trust and awareness of its power, its ability to resolve, reform and restore the emotional, mental and physical body.  Nothing has changed in my reverence for energy as a foundational resource for health and wellness.  It’s simply the reframing to vital energy that has me, well, energized and excited.

This contemplation has served me well.  I recognize that words have power – they’re energy, too.  I’m going to reframe my consciousness and work only with vital energy from here forward.

I appreciate the term ‘subtle energy’ for what it means and represents.  It’s used to reference the non-physical, the unmanifest, the underlying yet intangible energy that informs our physicality and experience.  And I’m now in love with vital energy.

Years ago, I was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome – a nasty little auto-immune crisis that typically spawns from over-utilized adrenals.  More common in women than men, the adrenals are the mojo women use to pony up and git ‘er done.  Men use testosterone to saddle their horses and ride.  Women have far less testosterone available to them, and therefore we push our adrenals and whip our cortisol ponies to ride, baby ride.

While CFS is no longer my story, I run an enormous amount of energy in my life daily to git ‘er done.  I do life totally differently than before; I’m eating different foods, a leafy green fanatic, use herbs to support my body, its immunity, strengthening organs and overall, um, vitality.  And unlike my CFS days, I’m working from passion and not obligation – all major differences that have served me well.

As I meditated in the evening after Goswami’s lecture, I found myself sitting with the insight that I now have a whole different way of looking at the energy I use to manifest my life.

And my adrenals are really happy with the news.  I literally felt a release in my adrenals, a letting down of vigilance, and a taking up of the idea of vital energy sourcing my every move, my every breath.

The invitation to vitality and sourcing vital energy is pretty irresistible.  Care to join me?

Keep your vital energy flowing!