Learning to Sense Subtle Energy

In my last blog post I wrote about shamanism as energy medicine.   At the end of that post I told you that I would share a couple of ideas about learning to sense subtle energy.  We are going to look at the following:

• Chakra Testing
• Applied Clinical Kinisiology
• Qi Emission

You will need a partner or willing victim to practice the first two of these skills because you are going to test someone else's energy.

Chakra Testing

To perform chakra testing you will need a pendulum.  I prefer wooden pendulums, they are less likely to cut the spinning energy of the chakra than will a metal pendulum.  Have your partner lay flat on the floor,  massage table, or bed.  Make sure you know where the chakras are located (see image above).  Hold you pendulum several inches above the root chakra.  Hold your pendulum as still as you can, wait for your partner's energy field to start to spin the chakra.  A circular, clockwise spin, as seen looking down from above, indicates a balanced and correctly.   A non-circular spin indicates an out of balance chakra.  An immobile pendulum or one that moves horizontally across the body indicates a blocked chakra.  Often all of the chakras above a blocked chakra will be blocked, weak, or out of balance.  Finally, a chakra the spins counter-clockwise indicates a chakra that is emitting or sending energy out of the body, rather than pulling it in.  

Applied Clinical Kinesiology

Applied clinical kinesiology, also called muscle testing, has been around for a long, long time.  It was one of the first techniques that I learned as an N.D. student 20 years ago.  This is a good tool to show the effect of thoughts and substances on the body.  Ask your partner to stand tall and hold one are straight out to the side.  Ask them to think and happy or truthful though, place your index and middle fingers on your partner's arm midway between their writs and elbow and ask them to resist as you push down.  Most people should be able to hold their arm horizontal while you press down.  Relax.  Now ask them to hold the same position and to remember one of the saddest moments in their life.  Tell them to resist as you press down.  You will most likely be able to press their arm all the way down to their side with little effort.

You can use the same technique to test for allergies or the usefulness of supplements.  Ask the person to hold the substance in question in their other hand over their heart center, ask them to ask the question, "Is this what my body needs right now?" while you tell them to resist and press down.  If their arm is week then their energy system is telling them that the substance will reduce their energy level, ie, not so good for them.

In our shamanic energy healing course we go through a set of applied clinical kinesiology tests that use acupressure points to test different body systems, to test the wellness of each system.

Qi Emission

This final tool is one that you can experience alone.  Qi follows the breath which follows the mind.  This means that you can lead Qi with you mind and with your breath.  Stand relaxed but straight and tall.  Feel as if a this string is pulling your head up so that your spine in vertical.  Hold your hands, palms facing each other and about an inch apart, in front of you navel.  As you inhale visualize energy flowing up from deep inside the earth, rushing up your legs and up to your shoulders.  As you exhale visualize the energy rushing down your arms and out your palms.  Think of your palms and emitting energy to each other.  As you do this you might want to separate your palms a little with each inhale and bring them close together, but not touching, with each exhale.  Practice this for about five minutes.  It's a good meditative practice.  Most people start to feel a tingling sensation on each palm.  This is often followed by the feeling that there is something almost solid between the palms.  When you start to feel resistance when you move your hands together on an exhalation, then let them move a bit farther apart.  As you continue to feel resistance and the shape of something between your palms know that you are forming a Qi ball, a real ball of energy.  When you finish bring the Qi ball towards your navel and place your palms on your lower abdomen about two inches below your navel to store the Qi in your lower Dan Tien.   If you don't feel the Qi ball the first time then keep practicing.  I have found that about 50 percent of people are able to feel it the first time they try to form a Qi ball, and that it takes others a few more times to feel it.

I have placed a free pdf document on Qigong for Health on the resource page if you would like to learn more about Qi andQigong (Energy Practice).  

Peace,

Dr. Dave