Living Energy Blog

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Happy Sunday! Love this video as it is not just fun to watch but is also a great trigger to feel lighter, brighter feelings that generate happy flowing energy. It reminds me that the ordinary can become extraordinary if seen through creative eyes. What are some things you have done to turn “ordinary moments” into extraordinary?

Share the fun–leave your ideas in the comment box so we can all more ways to bring lighter, brighter energy to each day!

Video from KarmaTube

Image via Wikipedia

The Sacral Chakra is located in the pelvis approximately three finger widths below the navel and it develops between 3 and 8 years of age. With proper support at this stage we learn about feelings and how to express and manage them. With adequate guidance, modeling and mirroring a healthy sense of entitlement (deserving) and self worth are developed. The second chakra is the seat of our emotions and regulates the flow and distribution of energy.

Physically the sacral is associated with the health of the reproductive organs and hips. It also governs the body’s liquids, E. G. blood, lymph, mucus, saliva. Health issues that reflect an imbalance in this chakra occur in the areas mentioned.

Metaphors From Water
The sacral chakra’s element is water. As we think about the qualities of water we can get a felt sense of how second chakra energy functions in our lives. Nature clearly demonstrates both the power and attributes of water and reflects the possible states for the manifestation of our energy.

Water can be smooth and flowing as in a river stream, it can pack the power of ocean waves crashing on the shore; it can be stagnant as a pond that receives no fresh and cleansing input. Water can be as refreshing as a mountain lake, cold as the frozen tundra or volatile as steam exploding from a too tight container. Water can be refreshing, life giving and life enhancing. However, too much or too little water can be a problem as can stagnation, or the lack of containment. These, as we all know, can be harmful or destructive. And so it can be with the emotional power of the second chakra.

Construction or Destruction—Your Choice
The sacral chakra has been described as a dark interior cave where all manner of demons lie but it also holds some of the most profound raw material for the creation of our lives. The negative interpretation arises as the second chakra is where our most challenging shadow material is registered. It is up to us whether we choose to work with these energies so they become our allies or leave them unconscious where they become our inner enemies.

At best this energy center is the womb of creation. It is a place where new life gathers its power and is gestated until it is ripe and ready to be birthed into the world. It is a profound, complex and powerful center of our core nature.

My opinion is that a useful and productive way to approach this energy center is that of getting to know a multifaceted friend full of meaning who has wisdom and great gifts for us hidden beneath some pain. This friend needs kindness, compassion and acceptance. Once embraced in this way the full power of this mysterious interior spring can nurture our lives and be a source of resilience and emotional intelligence.

Emotional Symptoms of Imbalance
One clue that something is amiss in this energy center is feelings of shame or of having done something wrong. This feeling is different than the healthy guilt that comes from having actually broken a law, done harm or crossed a line that is against one’s own integrity. Shame is a sense of BEING wrong, flawed or bad in the deep inner fabric of your being. There may be confusion and lack of understanding of where this feeling came from. Often the origin of shame is the result of projected emotions from others early in a person’s life. These feelings are rooted deeply in the disowned feelings of others that got absorbed into the field of a growing child. Once something is inside us we feel it and that being so, we believe it is ours to own.

Other signs that there are issues or blocked energy in the second chakra are: difficulty appreciating life’s goodness; nothing seems good enough and depression can result. There can also be a sense of being stuck, of having no ability to adapt or change; there may be insensitivity to one’s own feelings and emotional needs and an inability to express emotion; there may be denial of pleasure with unyielding, strict and rigid self imposed boundaries—this can include healthy practices done in the extreme. An excess of energy in this center may show itself as a compulsion for pleasure and being extremely emotional.

At its best the sacral chakra is liquid and flowing providing an ability to be flexible and adaptable. However we can go too far in this direction as well and create imbalance. You know this is a problem if you feel in a constant state of flux with an inability to ground or set boundaries; there also may be a tendency to be overly emotional and dramatic.

Opening and balancing the sacral chakra fundamentally involves letting go of shame, unhealthy guilt and frustration and learning to go with the flow of life. Balancing the sacral chakra allows emotion to freely move through our systems. Just as flowing water is purifying, refreshing and revitalizing so it is with feelings set in motion without resistance that includes proper channeling. When the energy here is open, flowing and balanced we are responsive, intuitive, buoyant, and full of dreams and healthy desire.

For Sacral Chakra Meditations:

Energy Aerobics http://bit.ly/wWnQ2J

Chakra Guided Meditations http://bit.ly/w1D4sN

Related articles

• Chakra energy system (windowsofmeditation.wordpress.com)

Image via Wikipedia

Developing your consciousness to be aware and tuned in to what thoughts and feeling states are running you sets the stage for being able to release them and the accompanying stress.

Engaging a method that allows for the release of resistance to difficult feelings and compulsive thgought loops and letting that energy flow…allows it to go! You then have a real choice to generate positive emotions and feeling in your body-mind.

1. Today I will remember that it is my choice which thoughts and feelings I allow to flow through my body-mind.

2. As I open to release the pain deep in my heart, there is more space for wisdom and love to flow through me.

3. Consciously choosing to feel love and compassion improves my health and well being.

Image via Wikipedia

Many people have commented to me that they find it hard to know where to begin to focus on gratitude or appreciation when there is so much stress in the world. So if you are in a dark or stressful time how can you begin?

Some simple questions can begin to help you turn the corner to feeling more gratitude and to get a positive flow of energy coursing through you being!

What or who can I be grateful for?

What or who in my life can I really appreciate?

Remember to think broadly. We live life moment by moment; the huge awards, recognition, and great ‘deals’ are not daily fare. While it is wonderful to celebrate those and enjoy them, there is something about feeling the emotions of gratitude and appreciation that connects you to the deeper rhythms of life and offers more juice, feeling and vitality—the real stuff of being human — a source of a different type of meaning, satisfaction and fulfillment. That it not to say that material success is wrong, or to be turned away from, only that too much attention in that direction can result in dissonance that leaves a person empty and longing rather than fulfilled.

So find something wonderful about the moment you are in …the warmth of the sun, the crispness of the air, the beauty of the sky. Where can you find beauty today? Where can you find the touch of peace? What do you see that warms your heart? Do you have a favorite memory that brings feelings of love, peace or happiness to your heart?

Before you go to sleep tonight identify five things that made you happy, feel complete or that you appreciated. Remember to count yourself … things you value about YOU!   Use your memory to call up images of times when you felt grateful…play those over and over instead of the wouldas, couldas, shouldas that tend to rumble around in our minds!

Lack anywhere in your life is a reflection of the state of your vital life force and how you are managing it. Energy flows where your attention goes.  So, focusing on feeling appreciation for what you do have, including the special people in your life and
expressing gratitude for your blessings regularly, builds healthy energy and paves the way for more good to come to you.  The same thing happens with stress, frustration, anxiety, worry, anger, etc.  Whatever you focus on is what shows up.  It’s similar to the glass half-full/half-empty concept.  We can choose to consciously focus on the beneficial things that are happening and create a way for more of them to come or we can dwell on all of the things that aren’t perfect and encourage a negative stream of events.

Related articles

• Findings: A Serving of Gratitude Brings Healthy Dividends (nytimes.com)

I (Peg) am fascinated with the energetic aspects of money and what is does to us, what it does to society. For some time I have been thinking about the value of work and goods and services. Why do people work at jobs they don’t like? What factors go into deciding that an hour of time from one person is worth more or less than an hour of time from another? How did we get to the point where so many people are not earning a living wage while others have more than they will ever need or use? There are many reasons for all of this, on multiple levels.

What is interesting about our current times is that these topics have reached the mainstream and we are beginning to have intelligent conversations about them in many spheres of influence. Last week I started reading Debt: The First 5,000 Years, by David Graeber. Within a few days, a friend told me about Sacred Economics: Money, Gift and Society in the Age of Transition by Charles Eisenstein. Interestingly enough, they were published on the same day: July 12, 2011, just ahead of the Occupy Wall St. movement. As I was scanning my email today, a third link came in. The Daily Good posted a story called: “When Generosity Meets Venture Capital.” When I delve deep into a topic, things often come to me in groups of three.

A public conversation about money, debt and humanity is emerging. It’s a growing movement and it’s exciting. During Biblical times, Jubilee years were held periodically where all consumer debt was cancelled. Just imagine how things would shift if we did this today! The time is right to envision a world where we all live in peace, health and happiness … and we can all contribute in one way or another.

Related articles

• Debt: The First 5,000 Years, by David Graeber (theglobeandmail.com)

Happiness is the absence of the striving for happiness. — Chuang Tzu

After I cleared my incoming email recently of non-essential messages, five remained. “How curious,” I thought as two of the five messages pertained to happiness. One was from the Daily Good, which opened with the above quote from Chuang Tzu. Simple, refreshing and clean. The other was from publishing coach, Robin Hoffman, with details about another happiness book.

Next I typed “happiness” into the Yahoo search engine and noted 227,000,000 results! A Google search on the same term yielded 54,300,000 results. Far fewer, yet overwhelming.

What is it about happiness, I thought? The more we seem to pursue it, the further from our grasp it seems to be. Then I returned to the Chuang Tzu quote. It’s all right there. Stop doing and start being. Experiment with withdrawing your attention from the pursuit of happiness and decide to BE happy. Experience happiness in the moment, in every moment. Try it and share your experiences with us via comments to this blog or on our Living Energy Facebook page.

Related articles

• Livia Kohn, Ph.D.: Chuang-tzu: The Tao of Perfect Happiness (huffingtonpost.com)

Image via Wikipedia

We all spend some part of our lives chasing happiness in one way or another. Typically we have beliefs that tell us that we will gain happiness when we have something that we desire or crave. We may not even stop to process what is going on when the thing we wanted and got does not do it in any lasting way. We unconsciously tend to assume that we need bigger, better or duplicates of that which we craved and we are off and running again! At some point we realize that happiness is an inside job and we are responsible for creating it. This may be surprising but it is also empowering. Research into happiness provides us with some guidelines for helping to shift our minds  in the direction of greater happiness and inner peace. The excerpt below presents one idea for using daydreaming to feel what it is you would like to feel…the brain does not really know the difference between real and imagined! Perhaps those of us in the northeast can imagine electricity flowing in our homes once again and the happiness that will bring!

From the Daily Good:  http://www.dailygood.org/more.php?n=4777

Enjoy experiences without spending time actually doing them. Research in the field of neuroscience has shown that the part of the brain responsible for feeling pleasure — the mesolimbic dopamine system — can be activated when merely thinking about something pleasurable, such as drinking a favorite brand of beer or driving a favorite type of sports car. In fact, this research shows that people sometimes enjoys anticipating an activity more than actually doing it.

For example, reading guidebooks in advance of a big vacation and anticipating the food you’ll eat and the activities you’ll do while there could actually give you more pleasure than the vacation itself. In short, research suggests that we can be just as well — if not sometimes better — off if we imagine experiences without having them. So to increase happiness, spend plenty of time happily daydreaming.

Photo courtesy of Terrapun: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=2629

The October 25th, 2011 Daily Good” brought us a very inspirational story about generosity and an anonymous project called 52times52.com.  Giving for the sake of giving is very good for your heart and soul. Giving freely to others … without expectation of anything in return is even better.

Giving to others is an expansive energy. When we freely give to others, the energy returns to the giver multi-fold, in untold ways. The project 52times52.com was established to give 52 dollars anonymously to a different recipient or cause each week of 2011. This unique idea is gaining momentum. You can join the movement if you’d like or consciously incorporate generosity into your own life and those you touch in whatever way works best for you.

There are many ways to give to others, including good deeds, kind words, extending compassion and forgiveness, thank yous and acknowledgements, charitable actions, money and more. Think how different your life could be if you freely and consciously gave something of value to another person every day. If that sounds like too much of a stretch, consider doing something out of the ordinary once a week, performing 52: good deeds, acts of kindness, thank you notes, random donations … you decide.

I often hear that it takes at least 21 days to create a new habit. As we approach the beginning of November, the month of traditionally giving thanks, there is time to amplify and solidify this concept of giving for the sake of giving. There is time to make it a habit.

We are living through an evolutionary shift in consciousness on this planet and giving to others is a simple way to contribute. Whatever you do, give from your heart and soul in ways that bring you joy. Energetically, Joy is a high vibration (higher than love, according to David Hawkins in  his book Power vs. Force) that counterbalances a wider circle of low energy. So as more and more Joy coexists with the chaos that see and experience in today’s world, we are bound to see a visible shift in the collective. We are bound to see a happier, more loving and generous world around us.

It is time to lighten up. The unprecedented changes that are affecting every level of society are also being felt by each one of us at the individual level. One way this is manifesting is through a deep need to let go of what we may have once loved in order to make room for new opportunities, possibilities and circumstances.

In recent months, many people, myself included, have experienced accelerated shifts. Some have done this proactively and consciously, others taken action in response to feeling too much pressure, and some were forced to change due to unanticipated or unexpected have events.

One of the keys to shifting for the better or attracting new opportunities to you is to lighten up. There are many ways to do this. Recently a friend of mine mentioned how much lighter she feels since closing her business.  In addition to her spirit being lighter and brighter, she is feeling healthier, more motivated and excited about her future. Her family relationships are much stronger and happier. Although her business was a life dream, within a year it became a huge drain on her finances as well as her physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health. She knew something had to shift. She took a huge leap and shut it down entirely. Rather than just walking away she took tremendous care to honor her creditors and maintain trust in all of her relationships. As a result, amazing things are happening for her. Now that her burden is lifted, new opportunities are coming her way. What a life lesson!

Change is inevitable. What can you lighten up or release in your life to help align your energy with the times we are in?

There is a bit of controversy at Harvard University about the voluntary “Kindness Pledge” the institution has asked incoming students to sign this year. Some of those in opposition have indicated that kindness conflicts with intellectual freedom and that the pledge does not have a place at Harvard.

The Kindness Bus

I can understand this perspective. Kindness is a virtue that emanates from the heart, not the mind or the intellect. In my opinion, kindness is an automatic response when we cultivate love within our hearts, within ourselves. I can see where too much thinking about kindness might get you all mixed up inside. If you are arguing a point, the rational mind might suggest tossing aside civility and going for the jugular … win your argument at all costs.

What is “kindness” anyway and why is it important? The dictionary defines kindness as the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate. Wikipedia indicates that kindness is the act or the state of being kind —marked by goodness and charitable behaviour, mild disposition, pleasantness, tenderness and concern for others. It is known as a virtue, and recognized as a value in many cultures and religions. In his book “Rhetoric,” Aristotle wrote that kindness is an emotion that is defined as being helpful to someone in need, not in exchange for anything or for an advantage to the helper. Kindness is about caring. Kindness is important because it holds the possibility of all of us creating a better world. We are all human and we are one global community. What we do to one another, we do to ourselves.

While Harvard debates kindness, the rest of us can model kindness. Act according to your heart. Do what feels right. To learn more, check out Random Acts of Kindness, One Million Acts of Kindness, Carry Out Kindness. They’ll take you to even more resources and sites.

Be kind to yourself today and be kind to everyone you meet.

Related articles

• Harvard’s ‘Kindness’ Pledge: (huffingtonpost.com)
• Harvard Pledge Values ‘Kindness’ Over Learning: Virginia Postrel (businessweek.com)