What Is Energy (Work) & Why Does It Even Matter?
The word energy derives from the ancient greek word ἐνέργεια (energeia), which can be translated into something like an acting force. So although energy has lately been perceived as a bit of a modern wellness phenomenon, introducing it as somthing new and exciting, the knowledge, idea & concept of energy (work) is an ancient way of relating to yourself and the world around you, which is as old as humanity and even as the world itself. And yes, it is very exciting work indeed!
Be the energy you would like to attract.
Energy work aims to support a balance and wellbeing within the systems of energy throughout your body in order to alleviate illness, stress and other forms of aliments and unbalances. It is founded on the scientific knowledge that everything is energy and that all beings carry an energetic structure that can be positively or negatively influenced. Through the impact something has on us – an event, a meeting, an interaction, etc. – we can recognize what kinds of energy we are dealing with and can understand how it influences us. And this understanding of energy definitely goes beyond the categories of „good“ or „bad“, because in essence energy is always neutral, it just carries information for us to decipher. When working with energy we look into the whole of the body, which means we are looking into the external, internal and energetic processes that are causing an imbalance. It can be said that what manifests on the outside as an illness, a symptom, stress, you name it, can also be found on the inside within the emotional and energetic realm and vice versa. As individuals we are in a constant exchange with ourselves and how we relate to the environment around us. Influences are coming to us from the outside through our senses, our aura, our chakras, and our physical body and nervous system and similarly internally where we are constantly creating a direct exchange with our energetic system through our thoughts, beliefs and actions.
As above, so below and energy is truly never lost.
Everything is connected and how we do one thing is really how we do everything. You might have heard the saying by the famous physician Albert Einstein before that everything is energy. And it’s true, science does prove it, but we can feel it too, if we are willing to tune in with ourselves and with the world around us and simply pause and listen. Einstein also states that everything has a frequency (unit of measurement in physics). He says: „Aim at the frequency of reality that you want to invite and you are creating this reality. This is no philosophy, this is physics.“ Quantum physics supports this and illustrates this powerfully when it shows that matter in the form of the smallest particles depends on the actions/energy/intention of the observer. This means that the perspective of a person – the thoughts, expectations, etc. – has a direct effect on the behaviour of the particles and their frequency. How powerful is that?!?
If you are feeling unbalanced either physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually, energy work aims to realign & restore the body’s subtle energy vibrations, so you can reclaim, heal and empower yourself in the process. In energy work the three levels of body, spirit and soul are understood as parameters that are in a constant exchange with each other and they are ideally balancing each other out. Working with your energy therefore seeks to support your natural energy flow, your life force, your qi, your prana that connects all of who you are. It is important to keep in mind here that balance is something that we are striving for, but that we never truly reach and we are not really supposed to. The path is the true goal here. We can however have an immense impact on our wellbeing and self-knowledge, if we choose to pay attention to the signals that our body, spirit and soul are sending us every moment of every day. Energy work differentiates between the subtle and the physical energy. The unseen, subtle energy body includes the energy centers, the energy body and the chakras. Those three literally envelop our physical body and are intimately connected at all times.
Ways to invite and integrate energy healing into your everyday life.
There are many different approaches to energy healing that have orginated through different cultures and traditions and you really can’t go wrong here, if you listen to your gut feeling. In the following I am going to name a few practices and I would suggest you just let your intuition guide you to the one’s that feel most aligned with you at this time.
Mindfulness & Consciousness. Mindfulness practices are multifaceted and varied and a tremendous tool to guide you back to your center and to invite self-healing, self-knowledege and self-soothing back into your energy, awareness and life. I would always suggest starting with something easy and accessible, which is different for everyone. Simply sitting with yourself regularly (which is oftentimes not so simple to start with!) for a set amount of time and seeing what emotions, thoughts and things are coming up for you, can be a wonderful door opener to invite more meaning, purpose and energy flow into your life. A nice stroll in the woods where you are consciously taking in the environment and shifting from mind to body awareness can be amazing too. You choose. You are unique and so is your path to healing!
Ritual Work. In essence every moment is a ritual and every moment is a ceremony too. It is a conscious choice to celebrate them accordingly. A ritual can be anything you want as long as you invite mindfulness, self love and care into it. Maybe turning your first morning tea into a little tea ceremony will just set the right tone for your day!
Journaling. A regular journaling practice, can help you to connect to yourself, your wishes, beliefs, patterns, desires and needs. Often our minds work tirelessly to keep it all together. Different forms of journaling are a great tool to give that busy librarian in your head a break and to release some of what we are continuously holding onto paper and out of our energy.
Crystal Healing. Minerals and crystals are amazing and powerful agents of Mama Earth that carry strong and different energetic properties and frequencies. They can be important allies on your path and can be intuitively chosen depending on what you need in order to listen within and to support the vibrations that are present in your body. Crystals can be included into your practice in many different ways. You can include them in rituals (placing them on different chakras on your body or on spaces where you are experiencing an emotion or a tension) or wearing them as jewellry or by carrying a palm stone in your bag.
Incense and Burning. Both are such a powerful and ancient every day ally. Okay, I say this about all energy healing modalities, but I feel this to be so true! But please do try it for yourself. I would advise you to establish your own practice with burning herbs or incense and seeing which herbs and scents really connect with your heart and soul. All beings carry a frequency and you do want to attract one that really wants to work with you! You can start by asking yourself, what did your ancestors use for burning? You don’t need to know your ancestors to know this, just feel into it. The right herbs will magically come to you. All cultures have a deeply rooted history in burning things for energetic cleansing and health benefits and that has it’s reasons. Burning herbs and incense can be an amazing, cleansing, claming and empowering everyday ritual or part of your ceremonial work.
Aura Work. The aura is part of your subtle energy body and it basically is your very own bubble of energy and light. Your aura can expand and contract when it needs to and if you are aware of her, she can be a cornerstone of your energetic hygiene and wellbeing practices. Your mood, energy levels and environment influence your aura positively or negatively. Energy healing modalities, such as the ones mentioned here, can support you in clearing and brightening your aura and your life considerably.
Breath Work & Bodywork. These somatic practices aim to access, move, align and balance your life force and thus the whole of you. Breath and Bodywork are designed to access the body, where our experiences, traumas, patterns and beliefs are stored and moves what needs to be moved (no worries, your body knows and is not moving anything you are not truly ready for!) to achieve an amazing sense of clarity, so you can connect the dots that might have been missing for so long on your path. These methods let you directly connect to your intuition, soul and inner compass, while also keeping your rational mind busy, which will result in a fantastic feeling of release and blissfulness.
Reiki Healing. This powerful, yet gentle healing modality is named after and works with universal life force energy and intentional touch. It aims to work with the subtle energy body to restore the body’s innate ability to rebalance itself. It integrates stress, tension, anxiety and other ailments towards an empowered state of wellbeing.