The Power of Energy

Be Transformed by Understanding How to Use the Power of Energy to Improve Your Life

The words "let your energy flow" came to me many years ago in response to some difficult times in my life. Everything seemed to be challenging. My teaching job was stressful, my relationships were up and down, and my finances were a source of concern. It seemed I was always fighting some kind of battle.

One summer, when I felt I had to get away and think about my life, I decided to take a road trip to visit my son. I do my best thinking on road trips, and even though I don't like to be alone, I find driving and looking at the scenery therapeutic. I began my trip by driving east from San Diego to Phoenix to see family. Then I continued on to Colorado, where I have some property in the Wet Mountain Valley. It is a place that renews my soul. When I visualize it, it takes my breath away and calms my spirit, and at times, it can move me to tears.

From there, I drove to Boise, Idaho, where my son lives. At the time, he was in his early thirties and a student of aikido (which translates as "the way of harmonious spirit"), a modern Japanese martial art developed by a man named Morihei Ueshiba. Ueshiba's goal was to create a martial art in which a person had the ability to defend him or herself without injuring the attacker. It has a spiritual quality that I found intriguing.

On Saturday morning, my son took me along to observe and participate in some of the instruction of the day. I watched him put on his white robe, and we walked into a pleasant, large, sunny room. There were several others there, and my son introduced me to them and to his instructor. The lesson of the day was self-defense. The demonstrations were amazing. Attending the class was a turning point for me, although at the time, I didn't realize it. I just knew that I had found the experience stimulating and thought provoking.

As the sensei was teaching self-defense moves, he mixed in information about how energy can work for us and against us. Now, that isn't a new concept, but it turned on a dim light for me, and the longer I thought about it, the brighter that light became.

The sensei talked about relaxing the tension that you hold in your body. Then he gave some background about energy. He was setting the stage to show his students a self-defense move. First, he had us stand facing a partner. Then he instructed us to reach out and take hold of the partner's hand — right hand to right hand, like a handshake. We practiced in a back-and-forth pulling motion. I would pull, and then my partner would pull. The instructor wanted us to get the feel for this motion.

The sensei demonstrated that if someone comes up to you and grabs your hand in a hostile fashion, ordinarily, you would instinctively pull back to get away. This is a natural reaction to being pulled. It might turn into a tug-of-war in hopes of having enough strength to pull the other person down or to free your arm and flee. This becomes a battle that determines who is the strongest.

The lesson of that day taught a different way to react to this type of scenario: the best defense is to give in to the one who is doing the pulling, to move in his or her direction. Rather than pulling against your partner's force or energy or countering it, you go toward it or with it. Now, stop for a moment, and think about the difference. In one scenario, you are using your energy to pull against someone and in the other scenario, you are pushing toward him or her, letting all of the energy — both yours and your opponent's — go in one direction.

This action throws your opponent off balance, because he or she is expecting you to try to pull away. Instead, you send all of the energy in your opponent's direction. Your adversary is prepared to brace for a pull, when in fact, he or she gets a push of double energy — the energy from both the puller and the one being pulled, all moving in the same direction at the same time. Needless to say, the attacker is not expecting this reaction and is surprised to have his or her own energy used against him or her. The assailant is not prepared to counter this type of response.

By going with the opponent's force, the one being attacked becomes the one who is in control, and the one in control of the energy is the one with the advantage. This experience made me more aware of energy and its properties. It began to change my thinking process about energy. I didn't know it at the time, but it was going to fundamentally change the way I perceived the world and lived my life.

The thought of using the energy from the other person to add to my own energy to create an even greater force was something I had never thought about before. As I drove home from that road trip, I began to pay more attention to energy. What exactly was it, and where was it? How did it affect me in my everyday life? Most importantly, how could I use it to improve my life?

As I said, that was many years ago, and it has taken me a long time to begin to understand the power that energy can have in our everyday lives. We can choose to fight it and stop it, or we can choose to flow with it and maximize it. That sounds pretty easy, doesn't it? Well, it isn't particularly effortless, but the benefits are remarkable.

How do you stop age-old habits of fighting, defending, and trying to control? Where is the energy, and how can you use it to your advantage? These are important questions. Most importantly, they are the beginning of awareness. It might take many years for you to begin to understand the power behind this idea, or the understanding might come quickly.

The important thing to remember is that getting in touch with the energy in your life and understanding how it works and can work for you will be well worth the effort. This understanding will give you back control and help you find a way to move through daily challenges with grace and dignity.

Understanding Energy

Energy cannot be created or destroyed — it can only be changed from one form to another.

— Albert Einstein

Energy wasn't a new concept to me. I'd learned about energy in school, but I had never applied it to myself personally or to the way I lived my life. I knew that energy was all around me, but I hadn't thought much about the fact that I was made up of energy or how powerful that energy was.

I did understand that everything is made up of atoms that come together to form molecules and that these atoms and molecules make up our universe and beyond. But the question remained: What did that have to do with the energy in my life? I became more aware of the many sources of energy and how important they are in our daily lives. Most importantly, energy causes things to happen around us. Look out the window during the day. The sun gives off light and heat energy. At night, we use electrical energy to light our houses and streets. When you think about it, energy is pretty amazing, and it is everywhere.

I decided to look at how people use energy in their everyday lives. You know how important energy is. Where would you be without it? There are endless ways you use energy. You need energy for your lights, television, refrigerator, clocks, telephones, cars — I could go on and on. You get energy from the sun and wind. Now, I know that it is likely none of this information is new to you. See what I mean about being aware of energy in our world? Most of the time, we take the energy around us for granted.

In society, we spend a great deal of time trying to understand how to harness the power of energy, how to make it work for us, and how to get more of it. We buy caffeinated or energy-boosting drinks to get more energy when we feel as if we're running out of it. Merriam-Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary defines energy as "the ability to do work." Another definition is "natural power vigorously exerted." Where does this natural power called energy come from? How can we get more of it? How can we better understand it and use it to make our lives happier and healthier?

In school, most people learn that energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can only be changed from one form into another. The total amount of energy in the universe always remains the same-so much for getting more energy.

"There is a fact — or, if you wish, a law — governing the natural phenomena known to date. There is no known exception to this law — it is exact so far as we know. The law is called the conservation of energy. According to volume 1 of The Feynman Lectures on Physics, this law states that "there is a certain quantity, which we call energy that does not change in the manifold changes which nature undergoes. That is a most abstract idea, because it is a mathematical principle; it says that there is a numerical quantity which does not change when something happens. It is not a description of a mechanism, or anything concrete; it is just a strange fact that we can calculate some number, and when we finish watching nature go through her tricks and calculate the number again, it is the same."

Energy, however, can be changed. Humans utilize heat energy, light energy, mechanical energy, electrical energy, thermal energy, radiant energy, and nuclear energy. You watch energy change from one form to another every day in every aspect of your life.

Let's focus on some of the energy sources in your life that you are likely familiar with. You know that you can get light and heat energy from the sun. This is called solar energy. You also know that you cannot survive without the sun. As a matter of fact, you, as a human being, would not be able to physically grow if it weren't for the sun's energy. You need vitamin D for your body to utilize calcium. Calcium builds bones and teeth and mends nerves, among other things. Your body makes vitamin D when sunlight hits your skin. The sun's energy is also necessary for plants to grow. This process is called photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the process by which plants use water, carbon dioxide, and the sun's rays to produce food, leaves, stems, fruit, etc. You eat the plants and your body utilizes the energy from the plants to fuel your need for energy in your life. These are some examples of how energy changes from one form to another.

Energy — in the form of food — is made and stored in plants, which are then eaten by animals. The body converts this food into energy. Predatory animals eat their prey. This gives the predator energy. This is called the food chain. When you eat, your body transforms energy stored in the food into energy you can use to do work, such as walking or running. Remember, the definition of energy is the ability to do work. Your brain also needs energy. The neurons in the brain are electric charges darting around from one synapse to another so that you can make meaning out of your world.

Now, I don't want to bore you. You likely studied most of this in your basic science classes in school, so consider this a review, because the more you understand energy, the better you will understand how it can work for you to change your life.

Energy is all around us, and energy is powerful. For example, the atom has a tremendous amount of energy in its nucleus. Albert Einstein invented the theory of relativity, and scientists went on to split the atom and create the atom bomb. The amount of force released from such a chain reaction has enough power to destroy cities. If you study the atom, you know that every atom has electrons in constant motion revolving around the nucleus. There is space around these electrons as they move around the nucleus of the atom. I know this is hard to visualize, because when you look at a desk, for example, you can't see the atoms in motion. Nevertheless, every electron in every atom that makes up that desk is in motion. In the same way, you get electricity from electrons that are moving around the nucleus of atoms. They are stored behind your outlets, and when you plug in your appliances, they travel down a wire to provide the power — the electricity — to run that appliance.

To review, you change food into energy, but this process doesn't create new energy. Even though you say you are running out of energy, you are really just running out of converted energy. You need more converted energy that your body can use. At that particular time, you might not have the resources to access more energy. This explains why you need to eat properly in order to have an ample supply of energy available to you whenever you need it.

With all of that energy inside your body — inside your cells — imagine the problems that are caused when something gets in the way of the flow of that energy. You can look at the energy of the wind. The destruction of property can occur when you have high winds, especially if they are revolving winds like in a tornado. If the winds are strong enough, they can knock down anything in their path. It doesn't matter how solid the obstacle is. We might be able to slow down the wind, but blocking the wind completely can be almost impossible.

If you apply that same principle to yourself, all of your stored-up energy — or what I will call blocked energy — is potential energy. Too much stored-up or potential energy becomes harmful to your body. You become out of balance — uptight and in the process of fight or flight. Having some potential energy in reserve is a good thing, but if there is no outlet for this stored-up energy, it becomes a danger to your physical and mental well-being.

The reason for this quick overview of energy is to bring it into your awareness. Once you start paying attention to it, you can begin to use it to enhance your life. One more point about energy and to clarify: I have only scratched the surface of what energy is all about.

How Does Energy Work in Your Life?

Humans are energy transformers. We are alive and developing in proportion to how much of this universal energy we accept and how freely it flows through us.

— Norman D. Livergood, Spiritual Energy

Let's review what you know about energy. You know that energy cannot be created or destroyed. You know that energy exists everywhere. The energy in atoms is powerful, and if these atoms are split, the reaction releases enough energy to create an atomic explosion. You know that blocked energy can be destructive. Let's take our knowledge of energy one step further. How can you use energy in ways that will change your life? How can you make sure it is a positive force in your life? How can you keep it from being blocked and becoming a negative and destructive force for you?

First, let's look at how you hear the word energy used in your everyday life. You often hear people talk about positive and negative energy: "That is a waste of your energy," or "I need an energy boost." I am one of those people who occasionally will use caffeine and sugar to boost my energy. However, as I started exploring the energy around me, I became aware of times when other things would boost my energy level, such as getting involved in an interesting conversation, working through a new idea, or completing a project. I would also get an energy boost from going to my property in Colorado and being in the middle of all of that beauty. I began to think more and more about why these things gave me an energy boost and made me feel like taking on the world.

Have you ever felt that way? It sometimes happens in a new relationship when you connect with someone who seems to understand you and value you. Perhaps all of these examples have something in common. Perhaps they are all situations that help you let your energy flow. When you allow your energy to flow, you stay in balance. When you are in balance, you are healthier, and you feel good and energetic. Your energy is flowing freely.

Think about this, and think about how this might apply to your life. When your energy flows freely — when it isn't blocked — it becomes a powerful force. When I talked about that lesson in the aikido class, there was a big difference between resisting and blocking the energy flow and going with the energy flow. On the one hand, you are stuck in a tug-of-war, and on the other hand, you are moving forward. You are in control. Let's look at an everyday example. Maybe you were having a disagreement with your boss the other day. Think about what would have happened if you had given in instead of pulling against him or her. Would that have made a difference in the outcome? Would you have been able to come to some middle ground? Would that have given you some of the power in a situation that often feels powerless? For example, your boss wants you to work overtime, and you feel taken advantage of. Instead of using your energy all afternoon practicing what you will say to him when he comes into your office or how you will make it clear that he can't take advantage of you, what would happen if you said yes? Not yes with an attitude, but yes with a pleasant smile. He is bracing for a confrontation, and you throw all of your energy in his direction — just like in our aikido example. He is pleasantly surprised and caught off guard. You have the advantage. The next time, he might be willing to spread the workload around or be open to a conversation about how you feel about being asked to put in the extra hours.