I have had a special request to write a blog on how to cultivate positive energy. As I write, there is, what feels like a collective suspension of breath; waiting for the outcomes of these transitional times to present themselves. It feels like just one more anxiety-filled step on a rather torturous path of ups and downs from COVID to economic, social and political unrest. This has been exhausting for most of us, as the “hits” just keep coming. These turbulent circumstances have pushed many into anxiety, anger, sadness and depression, feeling like they just can’t get a break with so many changes from our “normal” way of living. Add to that, the rate at which these many changes are coming at us…so much faster than we can adjust and assimilate. It is understandably difficult to feel positive and grounded in where we are currently standing. Starting from there, connecting to positive energy and cultivating it can feel like a difficult task until we first create a feeling of personal safety and stability. The problem is, until our survival needs are met, any existing urgency can block positive energy from arising. That’s the reality.
Let's explore a greater understanding. Imagine a horizontal line as a spectrum of belief. If you go to one end, the simplest, most basic end of a spectrum could be represented this way: “these events I am experiencing are not good; they are bad”. If you go to the opposite end, with a much more consciously spiritual belief system, you might propose that these events are neither one, good or bad, because they may contain potentially valuable spiritual lessons for you to learn. These lessons may be pushing you purposefully towards the choice to raise your level of consciousness awareness. If you are in the middle, you might be fiercely trying to think of a logical way to manage your current circumstances, i.e., create your Plan A or Plan B. So in order to address your own ability to connect to positive energy and actually cultivate enough of it to make a significant improvement, you may consider first and foremost, cultivating an understanding of where you fall on this spectrum of belief. It’s not uncommon, to be somewhere between two or to have fluctuations in either direction. Why does this spectrum of belief matter? Because it can point to the toolset you are using to find positive energy in all the chaos. Let me say upfront, that none of the points on the spectrum is better or worse than another. They are all very fluid states of belief, nothing more. Wherever you are comes with no judgment or criticism.
If we consider the mindset or beliefs that accompany each of the three points on the spectrum, you may have already have guessed that there will be some differences. On our first and most basic point on the spectrum, the state of being or belief is: it is not in my control to do anything to change the good or bad. It is luck of the draw, and what is on the outside is the determining factor. So here, one can be rather tossed about by circumstances being one way or the other. The challenge is that stability is dependent on sources outside of oneself. An individual can experience a lot of fear, doubt, anxiety or anger if they feel they are victims of external factors. Creating positive energy from this perspective is most challenging. This is because the individual does not truly see or fully comprehend their value and personal power to actually create positive change. They may find small nuggets of positive energy in the simple belief that “things will get better, eventually.” You can see how this mindset keeps one locked into the belief that they must wait for the outside to change to a more positive state in order to feel better, stable and safe. Therefore positivity can be fleeting and unpredictable while fear and anger-generated thoughts are the origins, forecasting a similar set of actions to follow.
Our second point at the middle of the spectrum, are those with the belief system that tells them they must figure out--with logic and action--how to create a more positive outcome. This might look like: creating a financial budget, preparing by increasing supplies, creating an emergency plan or fund, and taking additional actions that bring greater mental and physical safety, comfort or stability. It could also mean spending time communicating about what actions will need to be taken if things change, so that safety and stability can be maintained. This of course is also a pretty stressful way to go because constantly churning the “what ifs” can be negative and extremely energetically draining. But as soon as the survival needs are met, there is an opening, where satisfaction can lead to soothing of the urgency, automatically allowing greater ease in attaining a more positive mindset. The actions taken to address the fear or anger are quelled by positive actions. This gives the mind a break, to naturally stabilize. Again, once the perception of personal safety is adequately met or restored, more positive energy can resume its flow. This can be a delicate balance of support to challenge.
On the other end of the spectrum, we find the more spiritual approach. In some ways, there is a commonality here with our most opposite and basic end of the spectrum. It is that you may not necessarily always feel in charge of what is happening to you or around you. However, on the spiritual end of the spectrum there is more of a sense of conscious detachment from events and less personalizing of them. This means even though things are happening that may create a sense of fear or anger, there is belief in a Higher Power and in having access to the protection, guidance, love and direction it provides. In this case, the fear and anger that is being created by circumstances can be “given up” to the Higher Power. Although it can be, generally, this does not mean that is the only action. It is usually after one has done all they can, that they go to a Higher Power for further direction or support. Those actions can give a greater and more overall sense of security, stability and freedom, creating more room for positive energy and connection. Additions like prayer, meditation, contemplation and deeper inner work help one to make this connection, which has been described as a peace that may very well go beyond one’s own understanding. This route is likely the shortest leap to experiencing positivity if you embrace a Divine God or Deity or the sacred through Nature, Religion, Spiritual texts or Spirituality in general. A sense of positive energy can be felt through gratitude practices or music as well.
I’d like to go a bit deeper now, to help you understand in a little more detail, about positive energy and the fluctuating “calibrations” of energies that we all experience in our daily lives. This will illustrate why it might be easier or more challenging to cultivate and sustain a state of positive energy. So let’s begin by taking that line that I mentioned earlier with our spectrum of three points, two ends and one middle. Let’s say that the most basic point is on the left and the most Spiritual is on the right. In order to depict the energies that make up the three states of being, I want you to imagine standing that line upright, vertically, with the endpoint on the left being the base and the endpoint on the right pointing upward. Now, I’d like to offer that the calibration or vibration of every single type of energy that you can feel has its own unique energy “signature.” Imagine a time when you felt really happy, like when you visited a loved one or best friend that you haven’t seen in a while. In those first moments, you shared a hug and felt suspended in those moments of pure joy. You are free, happy, maybe even elated, feeling the love between the two. When you feel this way, you are experiencing uplifting energy. You might even describe these feelings as having the qualities of lightness, or brightness. These are high calibrating energies. Now, let’s consider the energies of sadness, anger, fear, shame or depression. Experiencing those types of energies, you are likely feeling dark, heavy, or slow. You may just want to be a lump on the sofa and check-out for a while. These energies are lower calibrating energies. They have the qualities of weight, seriousness and/or darkness. You may feel a sense of doom or like giving up.
If we circle back now and look at the three points on the spectrum, what we see can be a parallel pairing with the corresponding energy calibrations. The most basic point on the spectrum is where one feels victimized by outer circumstances and may spend more time in the lower calibrating energies like fear, doubt, sadness, anger or shame. This is because no one can control the outer circumstances. If we now look at that vertical line, we can see that if you were to “reach up” from that place, it would be a long reach to get to the higher energies of positivity, happiness or peace, as those are higher energies. If you look at the middle point on the spectrum, at that height, you may find the energy of confidence, achievement, resolution or satisfaction. Reaching up higher from the middle point towards happiness, peace and positivity is less of a reach than it is for the most basic from that place on the line. When you consider the uppermost endpoint, the more Spiritual state of being, you can see that it is even less of a reach toward those lighter energies of peace, positivity, hope, faith and love. You may be well familiar with the idea of Spirit or the Divine being lighter, above us, in the sky or able to be in all places at once. These all depict the quality of lightness. If we use this as our comparative data, it suggests that creating a sacred connection to something greater than your own self can make it a bit easier to reach the higher calibrating, or positive energies.
That said, no matter where you are on the spectrum by no means keeps you from positivity. There are many ways to cultivate positive feelings. However, in order to do that successfully, one important preparation step must be taken first, to activate those lighter feelings. That step is to empty out the mind. You see, in each one of the three points I discussed on the spectrum, your mind can already be “full.” It can be filled with a multitude of thoughts, emotions or information of various sorts and origins. Each type will be a part of your blended overall calibration of energy, like an energy addition math equation. This overall energy will be the energy of your accumulated thoughts and emotions in a given moment. We know that energy is fluid and can change rapidly. Think of how quickly your energy would change if you received these two phone calls just minutes apart: you just won the lottery, and a loved one was just in a serious car accident. Most folks would be pretty excited and pleasantly surprised by a big lottery win. Most would also be pretty stunned or devastated by a loved one being injured. So you see, that your fluid thoughts have a great deal to do with your state of positive or negative energy. This is, honestly, my favorite way to think of using our free will. You can choose to think positive thoughts, look for the positive, and gradually you will start flowing up the energy calibration scale to the lighter, more positive energies. The opposite is also true, if you focus on negative thoughts or energies gravity will take over and down you will go into the realm of the darker, heavier ones. In essence, it’s all in your hands.
Not only can you use thoughts very intentionally to build a connection to positive energy, you can also use your body. Research has proven that the way you hold your body in space communicates a message to your mind about your state of being. Think of a time when your emotions were low, maybe you lost your job or had car trouble. You might find your shoulders slumping forward and rounding your back in a type of protective stance. Now, think of how you would stand if you just earned that amazing promotion for which you were in the running. Wow. You would smile, stand up straight and feel like you were 10 feet tall! That intellectual message of victory was then sent to your body, which happily became a physical representation of your more positive mental state of being. What’s also powerful is that you can reverse engineer it, meaning, that even if your mind is generating negative thoughts, if you decide to sit or stand up straight, the negative stream of thoughts gets interrupted by this positive signal from the body, and you may notice your thoughts becoming more positive as well. This mind/body connection can be easily remembered in the adage, “as above, so below.” In essence, the mind and body become mirror images of the other, constantly listening to each other for cues and making micro-adjustments in order to come into balance.
The balance of mind and body creates stability. This is in your DNA. This is why when you get sick, 99.99% of the time, you will get well. The mind and body are always seeking health through balance. This is why it is so important to work with your negative feelings and not let them sit and stew too long. The reason being, it creates a sense of dis-ease, i.e., a state of imbalance. Realistically we all experience imbalance, but the key is not to stay there so long as to stop the flow of positive, dynamic energy because that is our natural state of being. What ends up happening when you stay stuck in the lower calibrating energies is, not only are your thoughts and emotions negatively affected, they will be expressed through the corresponding ACTIONS you take. If you consider the type of actions you would take if you felt sad, angry or depressed as opposed to those you would take if you felt light, happy and confident, you can see those two sets of actions are worlds apart. Yet, they are the ones that will be used to create your present and future. It’s not realistic to think you can have an amazing life if you spend little time in the higher calibrating positive energies. I hope this is landing for you. The key point is to make as many choices for your life as you can when you feel amazing, and as few as possible when you feel negative, depressed, or angry.
Let’s also look at the lower calibrating energies as being of a dense, heavier quality--more like doors than windows. It’s obviously harder to see clearly trying to look through a door than a window. So when you are feeling negative and heavy, you may find there is less clarity and wisdom available to you. Wisdom and clarity are higher calibrating energies, which give you the gift of true vision for your life. When properly applied, they help you activate a life of greater health, vitality, happiness, self-love, peace and freedom. When you begin choosing from these higher energies, you will feel an overall sense of personal integrity, where your thoughts, actions and choices bring you harmony and energy rather than depletion. I call this a state of Self-honor. Here, you are honoring more than just your ego--the small self--you are honoring the Essential Self or Soul within. You create this connection by going within to connect with this sacred space. The benefits are vast. Instead of asking everyone else what you should do, what they think about this or that, or seeking answer from other sources “out there” you can choose to redirect your awareness to your own Self, into your heart, and ask. This action, done over and over again can clean off your “rusty connections” and create a bridge to access the truth, wisdom and intuition to lead your life with the answers that are right for you, and you alone. It also allows you to see your small self through a more loving lens. A win-win.
Now that you know more about positive energies and how they work, I’d like to offer a few ideas to get you started on connecting with them more often and for longer and longer periods of time to keep you on a path of healing and wellbeing. First off, let’s consider the need for stability and safety. You can use daily routines and rituals to give your days structure. You might consider a meditation practice to start or end your day, maybe a ritual of getting outside, taking a bath ready wisdom texts or listening to relaxing music. Other helpful routines include going to bed and waking at the same time and eating meals at the same time each day. The body is like a baby and loves routine. It thrives in predictability of routine, which invites relaxation. You can also focus on what you are grateful for instead of what you fear, what you believe instead of what you doubt. Whenever you feel anxious, BREATHE! Take ten big full slow breaths at the first sign of anxiety to help clear it away. As much as you can, keep it simple. The less you complicate your life, the better. Do all that you can to remain present. Stay in the moment instead of getting lost in a sea of negative thinking about what has already happened, or what might happen.
When you get kicked off your center of “normal,” an opportunity presents itself. Pushed out of your usual day-to-day expectations, or into unexpected transitions or chaos, you may find yourself feeling vulnerable which can trigger you in unique ways. Consider using these triggers to give you invaluable information about what you still need, and need to heal within yourself. These old wounds are things you may have avoided looking at or hid from yourself along the way. They also easily block positive energy. Often it is not the happenings of the moment that are problematic, but that this present moment situation is being used to trigger something older within that is still waiting for love, tenderness, forgiveness and compassion to heal and clear. This will require you to develop your own personal awareness to accomplish, but with time, compassion, honesty and disclosure it can most certainly be done. An additional benefit of uncertainty, is that you can use it as an opportunity to retreat into connection with your inner world for a return to calm, self-understanding. The inner world is always unbroken, whole, complete, abundant and in want of nothing. It has NO agenda other than unconditional love. It is welcoming, accepting, forgiving and healing. Now who of us couldn’t use a bit of that? As you move forward on the journey to experience more positive energy and begin to mature on this path, you will naturally find yourself using more and more of your life experience as fuel on your journey to stable, sustainable happiness, peace and personal freedom. As one part of your world shrinks, another can grow larger. If you gather your courage, you might just grow your own valuable connection with the inner world of YOU, and frankly, I can’t think of a place more beautiful or infinitely positive to land.