Ever enter a space and all of a sudden feel angry or sad?

Or have you noticed that when you are feeling depressed you start to feel physically sick?

In Chinese Medicine Qi (chi) follows Shen.   Qi is vital life force energy in Chinese Medicine.  Shen is the most insubstantial of energies and represents the energy of spirit. Shen is an energy that is more insubstantial than Qi.

If Shen – spirit goes out of balance it follows that Qi will go out of balance and this can then lead to physical disease.  Emotional instability can lead to an imbalance in the movement of Qi which may result in some physical disturbance.

As an example, what happens while in-utero can have effects on the development of a child in his early years.  Medically we know that early nutritional issues or the introduction of drugs in-utero can affect the child’s emotional and physical development.

I have seen an effect on the child due to emotionally significant events occurring in-utero as well; mostly as a result of my work in adoption.  Over a 5 year period I worked with several hundred birthmothers who were considering placing their children for adoption.  For some of those babies that were placed with adoptive families, as well as some that remained with their birthmothers, I was able to observe the children as they matured through various developmental stages.

One of the anecdotal themes that I noticed concerned those children whose birthmother made a loving connection to their children.  The birthmothers who communicated that they were giving their children to an adoptive mother to raise because they perceived this as an act of mothering love, to best serve their children, made a real connection.  They said hello and goodbye to their children.  The children from those situations seemed to have less adjustment issues in their adoptive homes and through their developmental growth stages than those where this did not occur.

I think this is directly connected to the idea that energy is dynamic and has some degree of substance.

Intense fear emotions affect energy and can create internal should equations that can lead to habitual reaction patterns.

Strong emotional outbursts can leave leftover energy in a space.

If you go outside after having an argument with someone, you seem to have a better sense of yourself and may be able to even think more clearly.  When you return to the space where the argument happened you may find that the energy of the argument spins that cleared mindspace away, and you may feel a sense of resentment you didn’t have when you were outside.

Why is that?

The leftover negative energy has charged the space in some way.

If you are sensitive you may actually feel the change and be able to identify it.  This will allow you to get mindful and make a choice to follow though with your positive reconciliation with the person.

When you pay attention to habitual reaction patterns, you can use our mindfulness skills to

• get into the moment,
• be mindful,
• and focus on the figure and  ground perspective to see the whole picture.
• Then you can use this information to help you shift out of these patterns and act mindfully in the present moment.

The issue with energy breath and balance is to use your breath and mindfulness to reset the way energy flows through your body.  This is the philosophy behind acupuncture to reset the balance of the channels and the levels within your multi-level spirit, mind, body (shen, Qi, and xue).

From a therapeutic perspective I have observed how the energy of the original situation, (the story, beliefs, and thinkings behind why you act in these habit reaction patterns) that developed the coping strategy holds the reaction patterns into place.  Much like the way a muscle can hold a trigger point.  Being mindful is a way of seeing more clearly, just as changing your environment changes your mindspace.

Cranial sacral energy-work actually works with energy that may be holding a person physically in a certain pattern; it’s like bringing the concept of mindfulness to the muscle and energy system so it can let go of the held pattern.  It’s really interesting to witness, and experience, such a release.

Breathing through these experiences helps to release and move the stuck or held energy.

Qi follows Breath.

In fact, breath has a unifying quality for spirit, mind, and body.   That’s the great thing about meditation, yoga and other forms of focused breathing.  Because Spirit, Mind, and Body are interconnected, Breath has the ability to shift the flow of energy and bring balance to these energies.

Sound is another great container energy releaser, especially in spaces like your home or office.  That’s one of the reasons that practitioners of Feng Shui, a Chinese art of creating balanced energy in spaces, use wind chimes to shift and keep energy moving.  I use bells, toning bowls, and chimes to clear the field of my clients as well as my office and home.  It has an immediate effect to clear-out negative, stuck energy.  It is a great way to clear out negative energy after disagreements.

You can set this up in your own environment as an effective clearing ritual.

Smell is another way to shift the energy of a space.  Rose, lavender, and chamomile have wonderful calming, centering, and clearing actions to bring a person into their own center and release left over, negative energy.  Frankincense, sandalwood and myrrh help with painful emotions  and various citrus essences help clear away anger.

This is my daughter’s favorite ritual at night to bring balanced energy to her room so she can have sweet dreams.  Sometimes after a disagreement she will request to ring the bells and spray her special spray to clear out the bad energy.

Singing is another wonderful way to shift energy in one’s personal energy field.  This is a function of the words of the song in some instances, however, the sound of the notes can have a healing effect on our chakra system, clearing out stuck energies and assisting you to align yourself energetically with strength.

So breath, sound, smell, and mindfulness are wonderful sensing rituals to bring you to neutral, offering a feeling of reset so that you can relate in a mindful, present moment, balanced way to your environment.

See if you can create rituals to help you with clearing out the negative energy and bringing balance to your life.  Remember to use your senses to guide you. in love and light, bg

(reblogged from 3.11.2010, on june 22, 2014)

You can find out more at http://www.bethgineris.com.  Even More outlined in Beth’s upcoming book, 6 steps to transcending conflict and elevating consciousness, due out in 2014.  You may participate in seminars to learn these techniques through her website.  This book is the HOW TO companion book to Turning Me to WE: The Art of Partnering with Mindfulness(2013). Discover where you are in the Temperament and  the MAAPS section.  You can see how you see the world, and whether you have an attachment that is creating problems in your relationships.  MAAPS will help you to discern your insecurities and understand how and what underlies how you developed your insecurity driver (Money,  Achievement,  Attachment, Power,  Structure). You can find ways to simply connect to yourself in a loving forgiving way through theTurning No to ON: The Art of Parenting with Mindfulness Book (2011). If you want to change your life, see how you can bring mindfulness to your parenting and relationships.  One being at a time you can elevate the way in which you treat one another and elevate the consciousness on the planet so that equality, balance, and freedom BEcome the norm for all.  in love and light, bg