Chapter One

 

The Energy of All Essential Þractices

Years ago, Einstein’s theories revealed that everything is made of energy. The scientific community could suddenly explain why ancient practices that employed divination, prayer, meditation, intuition, and various forms of holistic healing could so often create amazing and even near-miraculous results.

Energy is everywhere and composes everything. It flows from one state and place to another, constantly transforming, and can’t be destroyed. And because we—and everything else—are made of energy, we are all connected, influencing each other with every thought, word, and deed. Because of the interconnected nature of energy, a slight shift in the subtle energies underpinning a physical reality can bring about a huge change in the concrete world. Even better, these changes can be brought about with activities as simple as adopting a new belief or perception, rethinking a decision, or following an intuitive hunch.

I’m not relaying a science lesson simply to present data. Instead, my goal is to support you in using the techniques in this book as boldly and frequently as you desire. That is why, in this chapter, I’m going to help you understand the nature of energy. This will help you better access your innate capacity to transform reality. From there, you can more easily steer your life toward joy and health and into loving relationships.

In order to meet this objective, I begin this chapter with an exploration of the essence of energy. I then proceed with a discussion about the differences and similarities between two basic types of energy, physical and subtle, showing you why the techniques in this book are oriented toward enabling you to tap into subtle energies. Then, finally, I introduce you to a very special subtle energy structure, the chakras. I will also familiarize you with the chakras’ “kissing kin,” the auric field. These two systems, especially the chakras, will be referenced frequently here.

As you acquaint yourself with the basics of energy, remember that you’ve been interacting energetically your entire life. At some level you are already an energy expert. More knowledge can only assist you in becoming a full-on master of energy—and, therefore, a master of your personal destiny.

Everything Is Energy

What This Means for You

When I took physical science in eighth grade, I was informed that the world is made of matter. I was also told that although matter could change form, as water does when converting from ice to vapor to fluid, it was measurable and predictable.

At that time I didn’t know if this explanation of reality should make me feel reassured or imprisoned. On one hand, the assurance that physicality was predictable gave me a sense of security. If I put a glass of water on a table, it would stay put unless I moved or smashed it. I could philosophically count on a world in which outcomes were foreseeable. On the other hand, if reality was completely meted out and constant, the ability to transform what I didn’t like seemed pretty limited.

During the last few decades, science has debunked the notion that the world is staid and static. It turns out that the universe isn’t actually made of matter. Rather, it’s crafted from energy. Not only that, but energy isn’t ever concrete or solid. Nothing stays in place, nor is it ever still. Energy constantly vibrates and moves. That glass on the table? The one that seems so handy? It’s merely an illusion (Walia, “Nothing Is Solid”).

Every component of that glass is shifting around, and many of the subatomic members of that glass aren’t even anywhere near it. Sure, you can use the glass, but it turns out that this is because there is some sort of “agreement” (which I’ll discuss in the next section in regard to subtle energy) making sure you can.

Why is it so important to know that energy is king? Every technique in this book carries the potential to better your life because the world is made of continually shifting energies, not substances stuck and immobile. Think of it. It’s far easier to move a branch lying on the ground than a tree trunk stuck in the dirt. Nothing is really stuck in place, and that list can include a tumor, a bad job, or an emotional disorder.

Because energy is information that moves, there are two basic “handles,” or characteristics, you can grab when you want to create change: information and vibration. Let’s first look at the information component of energy. Information is the data that tells something to be itself. The information in the cells and particles related to a glass enable it to look like—and be used as—a glass. Within the human body, the information regulating it might be memories or aspects of our soul and mind (Pearsall 11–14). In addition, our surroundings inform our body, shaping what becomes of it. A simple example of this is the effect of sound and color on our health. It’s been shown that too much noise and glare create stressors that can negatively affect our biochemistry, lowering our immune system and making us feel sad and depressed (Center for Spirituality & Healing, “What Impact Does the Environment Have on Us?”). We are incredibly open systems, constantly reacting to the information inside and outside of us.

The implication of energy being information is incredible. In terms of your own life, it means that you can insert different information into the formula creating a problem and thus potentially shift the problem. You can also support or bolster the information underlying a desire and more easily call it into being. For instance, imagine that you can’t get a raise because your parents taught you that wealthy people are greedy and evil. If you debunk that belief, perceiving it as untrue, you free yourself from its power. Your attitudes, actions, and entire aura transform. You can now attract and respond to more fortunate opportunities. Furthermore, by inserting a new belief into your system, such as recognizing that a financial improvement would benefit you and your loved ones, you can really spread your wings. You can position yourself to receive a raise or apply for a new job with greater rewards.

The other characteristic of energy is vibration, or movement. As implied, information keeps any number of recognizable or material ingredients interacting long enough to create the semblance of permanence. But as concrete as an object or event might seem, it’s not. All atoms are in constant movement. In fact, the atoms formulating any physical substance are actually linked by vortices of energy swirling in continual spin. These vortices are made of subatomic particles that dash from place to place, even in between dimensions and time periods (Walia, “Nothing Is Solid”).

For the seeker of positive change, the fact of energy as vibration is exciting. In a nutshell, if you alter vibration, you alter reality. Break up or reassign the mini vortices holding specific atoms together, insert different vibrations, and you could potentially transform a lethal microbe into a benign one, disintegrate a tumor, attract that longed-for love, or accomplish just about any other goal.

Does this statement seem unrealistic? It’s not. Consider the strange and lovely word cymatics. Cymatics is the study of sound and vibration made visible. In general, cymatic studies show that different sounds, which are composed of vibrating frequencies, generate different shapes. For instance, if you chant a specific tone over a plate of sand, a certain geometrical pattern appears. If you change tones, which involves altering the vibration, a different pattern forms (Cymascope, “Introduction”).You can modify vibrations enough to alter the appearance of sand, and the same can certainly be accomplished with other substances.

The art of altering energy is called energy work. In general, energy work is performed to activate or direct energy toward an optimum result. Energy work has been a foundation in countless cultures across time, just known by different names. You might better recognize the other terms used, such as faith healing, hands-on healing, shamanistic healing, chakra balancing, holistic therapy, spiritual healing, prayer, meditating, integrative medicine, alternative medicine, Eastern medicine, energy medicine, and the like. Because everything is made of energy, we could even say that eating a healthier diet is a form of energy work, as is undergoing surgery, taking prescription medicines, or exercising at the gym.

This book contains techniques that show you how to be an energy worker for your own or others’ well-being. Does that mean I’m going to give you a list of preferred foods or behaviors? No, although I absolutely recognize the importance of taking real-life action to improve your life. Instead, the energy work techniques in this book are focused on helping you shift a particular type of energy to create more happiness, health, and prosperity. I call this energy subtle energy, and I’d like to explain it to you.

Subtle and Physical Energies

Why “Go Subtle”?

We’ve established that everything is made of energy, which is information that moves. These two characteristics are true of all kinds of energy. Energy further breaks down into two types of energy: subtle and physical energies. Knowing the differences and similarities between these energies will help you understand the reasons for using the techniques in this book, which are aimed at interacting with subtle energies.

Physical energies are those that appear solid and concrete. Their actions have traditionally been explained through the lens of classical physics. Sir Isaac Newton, one of the founding fathers, would basically have insisted, “What you see is what you get.” In this worldview our oft-referenced glass remains on the table until it’s picked up or broken.

Subtle energies are deemed invisible and immeasurable. Miracles, telepathy, psychic activity, spiritual awareness, and other mysterious events are usually attributed to subtle energies. These are the hard-to-describe energies that transcend time and space, let us talk with the dead, and experience all forms of intuition and mysticism.

Subtle energy has been assigned dozens of names over the centuries. It has been called vril, shakti, and prana in Hinduism, hasina in Madagascar, pneuma in Greece, mana amongst Polynesians, orenda by the Iroquois, waken by the Lakota, tummo in Tibet, ki in Japan, and chi in China. Relatively recent scientists have assigned it labels like biomagnetism, bioplasma, orgone, od, deltrons, time density, biophotons, the bioelectromagnetic field, the biofield, torsion fields, and dark matter. Obviously, the idea of a miraculous super energy isn’t anything new and is also ever-evolving.

Today most experts examine subtle energy through the lens of quantum physics, the study of the smallest bits of matter. These tiny subatomic particles are called quanta, and you met them previously when I described the vortices in between the atoms of a glass. Remember the so-called glass? It was glued together—and could be found anywhere at once—because of ever-shifting subatomic particles, or subtle and immeasurable energies.

Subatomic particles aren’t visible. We can’t technically see them, and yet they are there, operating in ways that are often called “spooky.” This adjective has been assigned because the rules of quantum reality are as mysterious as the quanta themselves. Becoming acquainted with a few of the quirky by-laws of the quantum world will pinpoint the reason that the techniques in this book are powerful.

You see, we live in a quantum, or subtle, reality. Knowing a few of the quantum rules, those most applicable to our transformational efforts and expressed and explained in everyday language, will reveal the opportunities available to us. In short, three of the most vital quantum laws are these:

• • Quantum particles act more like waves than discrete units.
• • Everything and everyone that has ever been connected continues to remain interconnected and affect each other. However, quantum rules allow for loving disconnections and changes in the types of energy being exchanged.
• • What you perceive consciously will help shape physical reality (Orzel, “Seven Essential Elements”).

Why is it important that quanta operate like waves rather than particles? Unlike particles, which are distinct, waves interact and affect anything they touch. The easiest way to understand this is to picture a pebble thrown into water. The water responds immediately and interacts with the pebble, but also the fish, plant life, and more. Subtle energies, or quanta, are similar. If you make a tiny subtle change, whether in information or vibration, all kinds of changes ensue. Subtle energies ripple through space and time, and keep on rippling. In other words, it takes very little effort to potentially transform your life by altering the subtle energies rather than only struggling to alter the obvious physical energies.

Entanglement is the term used to explain the fact that once two objects, particles, or even people have intermingled, they continue to affect each other. Obviously, this law might affect you positively or negatively. If a friend on the other side of the world unexpectedly wins the lottery, you might, too. But if this friend is stricken ill, you might find yourself sick as well.

Essentially, we’re all connected to everything and everyone else. Have you heard about six degrees of separation? It’s the theory that you only have to contact six individuals through someone you know to link with anyone else in the world. In the subtle realm, you’re similarly bonded to everyone alive—and anyone or anything they’ve ever been in relationship with, dead or alive, animate or inanimate. Not only that, but you can theoretically snap your finger and be immediately in touch with any of these beings or things.

One of my favorite studies proving this point was conducted by a team of physicists led by Juan Yin at the University of Science and Technology of China in Shanghai. This team assigned a speed to the communication between photons, or quantum wave-particles of light, that were separated after being linked. They examined the state of one photon and timed how long it took for a change to be reflected in its partner, which was about ten miles away. They asserted that the slowest speed of the communique was 10,000 times the speed of light (Emspak, “Spooky!”).

In relation to the techniques in this book, you’ll learn how to analyze your subtle connections to make sure that they are beneficial rather than harmful. You’ll also learn how to only link with people or beings, which I’ll call “sources” in chapter 2, who are guaranteed to be supportive. I’ve found that many of my clients’ problems disappear when they clear out the negative bonds and open to only positive ones. This statement is an offshoot of the second quantum law, which states that you are affected by—and produce effects in—everyone you are connected to. If you alter your own energy positively, you start picking up or sending out only beneficial energy. For instance, one of my clients was stricken with one condition after another, including fibromyalgia, arthritis, high blood pressure, and more. We discovered that through the subtle realms, she was bound to several deceased ancestors and was actually experiencing the maladies they’d undergone when alive. Once we lovingly released these connections, an activity enabled by many of the techniques in this book, my client recovered. She scarcely gets so much as a cold these days.

Finally, in terms of subtle energy, it’s important to acknowledge that shifting subtle energy can frequently alter physical reality and even create a new and improved version of it. This statement relates to a quantum law that states that the observer affects the outcome. In fact, many quantum physicists suggest that an aspect of physical reality can only come into being if an observer chooses to have that aspect appear.

This observer is your conscious self. I define consciousness as “active and conscientious awareness.” I use this definition for several reasons. First, we can’t be conscious if we aren’t aware. Of course, a person can be self-aware and care less about anyone else. This sort of selfishness has created misery on this planet. Many of our problems also are due to a sort of group consciousness agreement, a “meeting of the minds” or a compact between souls allowing cruelty, discrimination, and hatred. The truly conscious person therefore must be conscientious, or able to make decisions based on their conscience, the innate sensitivity to goodness. Finally, a conscious person (or being) must be able to act on their conscientious awareness, otherwise they are merely gazing at their own navel. Love, the goal of consciousness, is the highest of all goals. We are here on this planet not only to give and receive love, but to consciously create more love than is already here.

The main tool of the conscious person is intention, the ability to serve in the role of an observer affecting an outcome. Every technique in this book is designed to help you become a wise and conscientious observer for yourself or another. In most of the exercises you’ll be setting an intention to cause a specific change. You do this by formulating a statement that supports positive change. This statement then steers subtle energies in order to create the highest possible outcome. Since subtle energies interpenetrate all levels of reality, including other times and spaces, to consciously first shift the subtle energies and then pay attention to physical activities is to empower change across the board.

One of the vehicles that enables the steering of subtle energies are the chakras. Chakras are multidimensional centers of power. They can be easily piloted with intention, or consciousness. In turn, the laser focus we direct through the chakras, especially using my techniques, will bring about the highest outcome for all concerned.

In order to familiarize you with these vessels, the next section presents a general overview of the chakras. It also outlines the twelve-chakra system I have developed and constantly use in my personal and professional life.

The Chakras

Vehicles for Transformation

Chakras are subtle energy organs, also called centers and bodies, that compare in many ways to the bodily organs. One of three members of a greater subtle energy anatomy, they partner with subtle fields and channels to manage subtle energies and, through them, the physical self.

Each of your physical organs manages a set of functions and is located in a physical site. In a similar fashion, every chakra governs a set of concerns and is anchored in the physical body. Because the chakras are subtle organs, however, they can relate to more than bodily concerns. They also interrelate with your mind, soul, and spirit. Because of this, they manage psychological and spiritual tasks in addition to physiological functions.

There are seven main in-body chakras, each anchored in a nerve plexus and associated with an endocrine gland. Simplistically, these seven in-body chakras operate and respond to the body parts in their vicinity. For instance, the first chakra, found in the coccygeal area and linked with the adrenals, corresponds to parts of the hip, coccyx, urogenital system, rectum, and, of course, the adrenals. The main seven chakras are located in the hips, abdomen, solar plexus, heart, throat, forehead, and the top of the head.

Most Western chakra systems feature these seven in-body chakras. There are dozens of cross-cultural systems, however, that include anywhere between three and hundreds of chakras. In addition to the seven in-body chakras, I work with five out-of-body chakras. Knowledge of these powerful chakras exponentially increases the ability to support progressive change.

These out-of-body chakras only loosely connect to the spine, but—like their seven in-body kin—are each anchored in an endocrine gland as well as an area of the body. As do the seven in-body chakras, the external chakras manage particular psychological and spiritual interests. And spiritually, each of the twelve chakras accomplishes specific intuitive functions. You’ll learn more about these intuitive faculties in chapter 2.

As implied, one of the main reasons that chakras are vital to energy work is that they interact with your soul, mind, and spirit, in addition to your body. Your soul is the part of you that travels from existence to existence to gather wisdom and gain experience. Most likely this hasn’t been your only incarnation. You’ve probably experienced several other earth lives and also dwelled upon different planets and within a variety of star systems. As well, you’ve existed in-between lives on various planes of existence. Your soul carries the memories from all of these experiences, as well as your conclusions about them.

These memories are anchored in your mind, a matrix, or energetic net, that stores information for your soul. It threads into a greater matrix, which some call the nexus. The nexus passes through all realms and dimensions and acts like a gigantic Internet, gathering and disseminating information.

You have two parts to your mind. Your non-local mind easily taps into the nexus to upload and download information. It’s called “non-local” because it’s not located in just one place. Linked to the nexus, it’s actually everywhere at once. Your local mind is primarily composed of your brain and neurological system. While your local mind is intricately linked to your non-local mind, we’re not trained to access the interdimensional nexus. As well, our dysfunctional beliefs, cultural prejudices, and other factors limit our ability to access the resources of the nexus. Chakras act like doorways into the nexus. Because of this, the techniques in this book will frequently encourage you to perform energy work through the chakras.

Ultimately, your soul originates many of your beneficial and harmful capabilities and beliefs. The sum total of your soul’s experiences is called your karma. This Hindu word is nonjudgmental and recognizes that your soul carries all information with it, lifetime after lifetime, and also transfers this information into a body with every incarnation. Upon entering this lifetime, your soul’s issues were programmed into your genetics, subconscious, and other influential parts. Many of your life challenges mirror the soul’s karmic data. For instance, if you were hung in a past life because of your intuitive gifts, you might experience neck pain in this lifetime. Psychologically you might also resist activating your intuitive abilities, as you fear a repeat performance.

Many of the processes in this book will help you remember past or in-between life experiences and clear the karma that may be creating shame, fear, or challenges. You’ll frequently interact with a chakra or several chakras to accomplish these goals.

The other important aspect of the self is your spirit. You’ll learn more about this term and the various meanings of it in Chapter Three. Basically, your individual spirit is your essential self, which is always giving and receiving love. All the techniques in this book are aimed at inviting a full embodiment of your spirit in your this-life self.

So that it will be easier to select a chakra to work with while performing a technique, or understand the one I’m recommending you use, I have included the following table on the twelve-chakra system. See Figure 1 for an illustration of these twelve chakras as well as a general portrayal of the twelve auric layers that surround the body.

The table references the chakras by number. Described are each chakra’s location, which refers to the associated bodily area and endocrine gland; color, which depicts the related electromagnetic frequency; physical, psychological, and spiritual functions; and the spiritual purpose, with a focus on the available intuitive insights.

Some systems assign different colors than I do to the sixth and seventh chakras, describing the sixth chakra as indigo instead of violet and the seventh chakra as violet instead of white. Many people prefer the alternative because it follows the rainbow spectrum, which is based on nature. As well, violet is commonly perceived as kingly and regal and a suitable color for the top chakra, which is the most spiritual of the chakras. Because of this debate, the table first lists the color I use and then the alternate color. Through the rest of the book, I’ll use my preferred colors, but you can substitute a different color if you want.

Figure 1: The Twelve-Chakra System

The Twelve-Chakra System 

chakra	location	color	physical functions	psychological themes	spiritual purpose
First	Hips/ adrenals	Red	Governs hips, urinary and genital systems, the rectum, anus, and adrenals. Also manages all security needs, such as finances, career, sexuality, and life partnerships.	Deservedness and worthiness; the right to exist and thrive.	Physical empathy. Empathic ability to sense what’s occurring outside of the self in one’s physical body.
Second	Abdomen/ testes or ovaries	Orange	Manages ovaries, testes, intestines, and sacrum.	Creativity. Rules feelings and our sensual and emotional expression.	Emotional empathy. Ability to empathically sense others’ emotions within the self.
Third	Solar plexus/pancreas	Yellow	Rules most digestive organs and digestive processes.	Willpower. Runs our belief system, affecting our self-esteem and self-confidence, and matters of power and work success.	Mental empathy. Empathic ability to know others’ thoughts and motivations.
Fourth	Chest/ heart	Green	Manages functions of the heart, lungs, breast, and arms.	Love. Regulates exchanges in relationships involving self, others, and Spirit.	Relational empathy. Ability to relate to others with love. Also the center of healing.
Fifth	Throat/ thyroid	Blue	Interacts with the throat, ears, mouth, jaws, and teeth.	Communication. Controls issues related to self-expression and all forms of verbal communication.	Verbal gifts. Ability to intuitively hear and express verbal messages.
Sixth	Forehead/ pituitary gland	Violet/indigo	Linked to eyes, sinuses, hormones, and pituitary gland.	Strategy. Monitors self-image and our long-term goals.	Visual gifts. Ability to intuitively perceive images, pictures, shapes, or other pictorial messages.
Seventh	Top of head/ pineal gland	White/violet	Associated with higher brain functions, pineal gland, sleep, and mood.	Spirituality. Determines connection between self and Spirit.	Prophecy. Our empathic ability to sense Spirit’s will and carry it out.
Eighth	Thymus. Is also an energy field located 1–2 inches above the head.	Black or silver	Linked to immune functions.	Karmic. Inserts our past and in-between life issues, feelings, and needs into this life.	Mysticism. Reflects our shamanic abilities to time travel and connect with spirits from all realms.
Ninth	Diaphragm. Is also an energy field found a foot over the head.	Gold	Governs breathing and oxygenation.	Idealism. Carries the ideals and spiritual laws we are supposed to live by.	Harmonizing. Carries all our soul’s positive attributes and supports us in using them.
Tenth	Bones. Is also an energy field found a foot under the feet.	Brown	Runs bones and skeletal health, as well as our reactions to natural and inorganic substances.	Ancestry. This center holds our ancestors’ memories and serves as our link to nature.	Natural knowing. Allows us to communicate with ancestors and all beings of nature.
Eleventh	Muscles and connective tissue. As an energy field, it is also concentrated around the hands and feet within the auric field.	Pink	Manages muscles and connective tissue.	Connections. Manages our beliefs about connections and how to make use of them.	Commanding. Holds our ability to command natural and supernatural forces.
Twelfth	Links to 32 points in the body. Is also found in the auric field.	Translucent	Regulates relationships between all parts of the body.	Spiritual. Holds our essential beliefs and qualities. If we activate this chakra, these higher truths can be programmed into the bodily self.	This chakra holds intuitive gifts that are unique to each person.

Your Chakras’ Main Partners

The Auric Layers

Every chakra is partnered with one of twelve auric layers that compose the auric field, also called the aura. Overall, the auric field, or aura, is a set of subtle energy boundaries that assure safety through the filtering of subtle information. Specifically, each auric layer is an extension of a chakra and is the same color as its kin.

Figure 2: The Twelve-Chakra Auric Field

The job of the aura is to form subtle energy boundaries. These energetic boundaries screen incoming information and send information into the world, ultimately formulating the relationship you have with the external environment and everyone in it. Every layer is run by the information in its partnered chakra. This means that your first chakra, located in the hip area, manages the first auric layer, and so on. All auric layers “decide” how to purify and disseminate information depending on the programming in the related chakra. For instance, if your first chakra carries the belief that you deserve money, its related auric layer will attract money-making opportunities and supportive people. If the belief is the opposite, the layer might deflect prosperous situations or helpful individuals. Bottom line, you could say that the chakras manage the “you inside of you,” and the related auric layers regulate the “you outside of you.”

Several of the techniques in this book will reference the auric field. Because of this I would like you to be acquainted with the major twelve auric layers. As you can see in Figure 2, the first auric layer emanates from the skin. Next comes the second auric field. From this point on, the auric fields encircle each other in numerical order, the third atop the second, the fourth atop the third, and so on. The eleventh and twelfth auric layers are not pictured but extend outward beyond the surrounding eighth auric layer.

Now that you have a sense of how energy works—and what energies are available for your use—it’s time to learn the basics of intuition and sourcing. After Chapter Two you’ll be ready to practice what’s preached in this book.

Summary

Everything in (and outside of) this world is made of energy, which is information that moves. While subtle energies are immeasurable, they underlie physical energies, which are concrete and predicable. Energy work involves directing and managing subtle energies so you can better alter your everyday existence and create more joy, health, and love. Chakras and their partnered auric layers are subtle energy structures that can be accessed to work through the issues that lie in your soul, mind, or body and prevent the full expression of your spirit, which is your true self. The techniques in this book are aimed at enabling the embodiment of your spirit.

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