Change what you’re conscious of, and your energy shifts. Alter your energetic state, and you’ll transform your entire life experience.
There are innumerable sensory stimuli you are exposed to at any given moment. But it’s what you place your attention on that expands.
Some people are wrapped up in every discomfort they feel. If there’s a little pain in their back, that’s what they glue their attention to. And their perception of pain increases.
Others fixate on other problems — financial difficulties, relationship issues, etc… And so they experience more of those problems because that’s what they’re aware of. That’s what their consciousness is saturated in, and that’s what their energy flows toward.
Thoughts and emotions are just different forms of energy. They all flow in the direction of attention. Say you’re focused on loneliness. As you absorb yourself in that, you create an inner momentum.
What’s wrong with me? Why I am always so lonely? How did I become so shy and awkward? Why don’t people like me?
The circulation of these thoughts alter your body chemistry. All the feel-good chemicals like dopamine and serotonin get blocked. Your emotions spiral out of control and pull you into an even deeper state of depression.
At this point, if you try to change your thoughts, you’re going to end up with a headache. All of your energy is heading one way, and you’re attempting to head in the opposite direction. You created this rushing torrent of energy and are now trying to swim against it. Unless you have a lot of training, you’re soon going to tire and get swept downstream.
Get Out of the Water
The solution is simple. Instead of fighting the flow, get out of the water. Kick back, rest on the bank for a while, and wait for the current to slow.
You do this every night when you go to sleep. As you rest, you process and release stress and tensions during your dreams. Your body chemistry comes back into balance, and when you wake, you’re presented with another opportunity to start anew.
But what do you usually do with that gift? You might lay in bed for a few seconds enjoying the peace and serenity, but then your attention circles back to yesterday’s drama. Before long you’re building that same energetic current and rushing toward the rapids.
It doesn’t have to be this way. You can have new thoughts, feelings, and experiences every day of your life. You can live creatively and enjoy the newness of each moment.
By consciously choosing to place your awareness on your higher desires, you can build an energetic momentum that will carry you in the direction of your dreams.
And you don’t even have to wait until tomorrow morning.
Meditation & Intention
Meditation brings you into conscious contact with Awareness Itself. It helps you take all the energy in the ego-produced currents and redirect it back toward your Source. This is what happens every night during deep sleep. During meditation you remain awake throughout the process.
There are many forms of meditation, and each technique produces different results. Some help you still the currents, others help create new, more positive flows. The most transformative do both.
Whatever form of meditation you practice, you want to avoid coming out of that expanded state and then immediately have your consciousness collapse around all the things you dislike. Even many long-term meditators I know experience this frustration.
So how do you shift your energy? How do you maintain a higher state of consciousness?
The key to avoid getting pulled back into dangerous waters is intention. You reset through sleep and meditation, then before you get out of bed or off the meditation cushion you focus your attention on the things you most want in your life — not your personal, ego-driven desires but the higher desires of your Spirit.
What is it that you really want? Why are you here? What gives you a sense of purpose and fulfillment?
Focus on that. Intend to experience it in your life. Using a gentle flow of intention, see and feel your desire within. Know that it will come to be. As you do this, you tap into the creative currents of energy that will bring it into being.
Flood Yourself with the Energy of Love
Another way to establish a healthy, positive flow is to focus on all the people, places, and things you feel love and gratitude toward.
Again, this is easier said than done when you’re immersed in stress and drama. But when you let go of that during sleep and meditation, and then absorb yourself in gratitude and love, you build new momentum. You become conscious of what you really want to be conscious of, rather than what you’ve been conditioned to perceive.
Take a moment to contemplate this. Would you rather be filled with worry about the future and regret about the past, or with the energy of everything you love?
But what if your attention keeps getting sucked back into the drama, toward those who have wronged you or others in some way?
Feel love for them too.
Knowing they are caught in their own currents, send them compassion rather than hate. This is alchemy at its best. It can transform all which used to pull you down into energy that fuels your growth.
Remember, the next time you find yourself sucked into negative currents, don’t beat yourself up. Don’t even try to fight them. Simply acknowledge the state you’re in, and know you have the power to change it.
Get out of the turbulent waters by taking a short nap, or sitting to meditate. Then once the current has stilled, begin to build a new momentum which will ferry you toward your highest dreams.
