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    • Two Energy Exercises to Empower Yourself

       by Keith Sherwood

      (Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

      After emerging from Universal Consciousness, creative feminine energy began to function as the driving force of evolution. It is feminine energy emerging from every corner of the universe and from every female of every species that provides the power to create and procreate.

      Feminine energy is universal and life-affirming. It motivates humans to unite and to experience intimacy with one another. It can never be taken away from you; because of that, it makes everybody a healer; a lover; and, on the deepest level, a radiant, transcendent being who has the capacity to transform the world through their work and relationships. The energy we’re talking about goes by many names and has been venerated in many societies. Taoists in China call it Chi or Ki. In India, it's called Prana and Shakti. It doesn't matter what name it goes by; this extraordinary energy can be used to heal trauma and physical disease. You can use it to empower yourself and to heal restrictive patterns that limit you and disrupt your relationships. And, most importantly, because it only has universal qualities, it can be used to heal your soul and spirit on the deepest levels so that you can experience the transcendent love and joy that is your birthright.

      Below are two simple ways to increase the amount of feminine energy available to you; first by finding your strong center in Hara, and then by learning to perform the empowerment mudra.

      Finding Your Strong Center
      Your Hara is located four finger widths below your navel and about one inch (four centimeters) forward from your spine. In Japanese, the word "Hara" means abdomen. Hara is often linked with another Japanese word, Tanden, which means "elixir field." Hara can therefore be understood to be the place in your physical body where you can find the elixir of life. It's also the place where you can reclaim your powerful center in your physical body.

      Most people in the West are unaware of the importance of Hara, which is one reason why so many people still lack all the vitality and healing energy available to them. It also explains why so many people are out of balance—and why they're suspended from a point just above their shoulders and dangle there like puppets. Their physical body, its posture and the way it moves, reflects the fact that they have not made Hara a part of their everyday life. Problems such as poor posture, chronic muscle tension (which inhibits the flow of prana through the human energy system), compressed and twisted spine, cramped body organs, and poor circulation can be directly linked to being balanced from the shoulders—and not from Hara. Not being centered in your strong center can create additional problems. It can put strain on the joints and ligaments, which can contribute to mental and physical fatigue—even depression.

      So, what is to be gained by Hara? A great deal. Finding your strong center in Hara will empower you. It will connect the energy centers in your abdomen with those in your heart and head. Your reproductive organs will receive more nourishment and will function better. And, by liberating the energy in your abdomen you will have greater access to your deepest emotions and feelings.

      Therefore, it should come as no surprise that most spiritual traditions agree that a solid foundation is a prerequisite for personal growth. Even nature itself reflects this principle. For a tree to reach the heavens it must have a solid foundation in the earth. Without this, the tree is liable to remain weak and reactive to each small change in the weather.

      Exercise: Hara Breathing
      To center yourself in Hara you will use a breathing technique that has been practiced in the Far East for centuries called "hara breathing." If you feel alienated from your body or empty and in need of inner strength, agitated or overwhelmed, or scared or angry, breathing into the hara will ease these feelings by bringing you back into your strong center and into balance with the rest of the world.

      You can practice hara breathing in any position as long as your back is straight. For now, we suggest you perform hara breathing while you're lying down on your back. As you progress, you can practice the exercise in a sitting or standing position.

      Begin hara breathing with your arms at your sides, palms up, and your fingers loosely extended. Your eyes should be closed and your jaw kept loose by allowing your mouth to drop open comfortably. From this position, begin breathing deeply through your nose for about three to four minutes. Then bring your mental attention to your hara, four finger widths below your navel.

      Once you've brought your mental attention to hara, use the middle finger of your positive hand (right hand if you're right-handed, left hand if you're left-handed) to make small clockwise circles around hara. In a short time, you'll notice sensations emerging from that vital point. You could experience warmth, tingling and-or throbbing sensations, coolness or pressure. None of these sensations should worry you; they're all normal. After a few moments, place both your hands directly on your hara. At the same time, touch your tongue to your upper palate, directly behind your teeth. This will connect the female and male currents of prana in your energy field and enhance your experience.

      Once your hands are in position, you will use the prana entering your energy field on each inhalation to activate your hara even further. To do that, inhale deeply through the nose into hara for a count of five. As you fill hara with prana, visualize that a fluid is flowing in, filling that vital point with energy and light. Retain your breath for a count of five while your mental attention remains focused on hara. During the retention, as the level of prana increases, you will begin to feel your hara heating up and your center of balance shifting into vital point.

      After you've retained the breath for a count of five, exhale through your mouth for a count of five. There should be no separation between exhalation and the next inhalation. Only in the retention is the natural rhythm broken.

      Perform this exercise two to three times a week for about twenty minutes. By mastering hara breathing, you will return to your true center which is in hara.

      The Empowerment Mudra
      Another way to enhance your power is to perform the empowerment mudra. The empowerment mudra is designed to enhance the transmutation of feminine energy into power and to distribute it uniformly throughout your subtle energy field.

      A mudra is a symbolic gesture that can be made with the hands and fingers or in combination with the tongue and feet. The word "mudra" comes from the Sanskrit root "mud," which means "delight or pleasure." Although new to the Western world, mudras have been used in the East for centuries to enhance the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Taoists in Ancient China used them to find inner peace; Indian mystics used them to attain samadhi (enlightenment); and healers have used them to heal everything from headaches to arthritis.

      Mudras work because they stimulate the flow of subtle energy, prana-chi, through specific energetic centers and meridians in the subtle energy system. By stimulating these points for extended periods of time, usually for five minutes or more, it's possible to release blocked energy that can heal self-limiting and destructive patterns and lead to enhanced levels of self-awareness.

      Exercise: The Empowerment Mudra
      To perform the mudra, find a comfortable position with your back straight. Then place the tip of your tongue directly behind the point where your teeth meet your upper gum. Put the outside tips of your thumbs together to form a triangle. Then put the tips of your index fingers together to form the second triangle. Once the tips of your index fingers are touching, put the outside of your middle and ring fingers together from the first to the second joint. Then put the inside tips of your pinkies together to form a third triangle.

      When you look down at your hands, you will see three triangles. The first triangle has been created by your thumbs. The second triangle has been created by your index fingers, and the third triangle has been created by your pinkies. Hold the mudra for ten minutes with your eyes closed. After ten minutes, release the mudra. Then count from one to five and open your eyes. Your will feel wide awake, perfectly relaxed, and better than before.

      By practicing the two exercises in this article regularly, for even a short time, you will experience the power that emerges from feminine energy—that's because all the universal feminine energy you will ever need is already within you.

      Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2015. All rights reserved.

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    • Double Vision: Psychic Bonds to Former Lovers

      57Grateful

      In a continuing quest to understand energy and how psychics read it around you, I am wondering how much a person contributes to keeping a past love around them in terms of energy. I am often told that I still have a very strong connection to my last lover, and that relationship ended three years ago! I am still having a hard time getting over it, however, and am wondering if in continually thinking about him, I’m keeping him in my energy. Or am I thinking about him because he is keeping me in his energy? Would my trying to forget about him move him out of my energy field, or is he around me because he hasn’t gotten over me either? How much of this is conscious, and how much is subconscious? And will we remain in each others’ field of energy until we can come to some kind of closure, or are we meant to come together again to work something out?

      Roseanne

      Dreamchaser:

      First and foremost, I want you to understand that the situation you’re in with this man is very common. I can’t tell you the number of people I talk to on a daily basis who still feel someone elses’ energy, even if they haven’t spoken to that person in a very long time.

      What you are calling energy, we might just as well call emotion. You two have ties that stem from past lives. You are members of what I call the same “soul family.” You were with each other in some form in every life you have lived as humans. Some lifetimes were pleasant and fulfilling, and some were not. You both have emotions left over from either one or more past lives.

      The strong emotions from those past lives are making the ties that bind you in this life really strong. Things are unresolved not only in this life but from past lives as well. That is why your souls are still so enmeshed.

      I have no doubt that he still feels you as well. You can still feel each others’ touch, smell each other and hear each others’ voice in the form of your own thoughts. You are very real to each other.

      However, remember that men are physically based; they get turned on by what they see, touch, taste, feel, etc. They can turn off their emotions but never their bodies. Women are emotionally based. We get turned on by what we feel in our hearts. We can turn off our bodies but never our hearts and emotions.

      So he can walk away from these feelings and carry on with his everyday life. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have these feelings, it’s just that it’s easier for him to ignore them than it is for you. You find yourself “continually thinking about him” because you’re much more aware of your feelings, especially those that have yet to be resolved.

      If you really want to be free of him, I can give you an exercise to try. I want you to lay down on your bed, the floor, the sofa, or any place that is comfortable and feels safe to you. Then I want you to picture him in your head.  Get a really clear picture; see the details of his face, his hair, and so on.

      At that point, picture the silver cord that binds you two together coming out of his navel and reaching across the miles to your navel. Mentally picture yourself with a big pair of shears and then cut that cord. Call to Michael, the Archangel, to guard the cut ends and to help that cord stay cut.

      Then when you do think of this man, actively exhale and push him out of your mind. In a matter of days, you should start to feel the connection start to dissipate. Do not do this unless you are really ready to let him go, however.

      I wish you wholeness.

      *****

      Astrea:

      You’re right; constantly thinking about an ex will keep him in your energy and in your heart. Three years is a long time to do that. It takes a lot of your energy away from you to keep on loving him.

      You’re being told that he is still in your energy because you are consciously working very hard to keep him there. Virgos have a very difficult time releasing old loves.

      It isn’t your subconscious and it certainly isn’t him. If he spent one tenth of the time thinking about you that you do thinking about him, you would probably be back together now. He has moved on with his life, however, and is in a whole new place. The Jim you knew from three years ago is not the Jim he is today.

      Trying to forget him is not forgetting him. Forgetting him isn’t the point, anyway; forgiving him for hurting you and forgiving yourself for allowing that is the point.

      We have all chosen the wrong people at some point in our lives; that’s how we learn what we don’t want in relationships. Virgos are so hard on themselves when it comes to forgiving themselves for a mistake in judgment. While three years is not unusual in Virgo time, since you’re talking about it and asking about it, I’m betting you’re ready to move on.

      Here is a ritual that may help you leave Jim behind and get on with your love life:

      Buy three scented candles: one blue bayberry, one red cinnamon and one white vanilla. Cast your circle, call in your corners, and invite the appropriate deities in to witness and help with your release. You may also invite your guides if you’re close to them. When you’re releasing an ex, it’s good to have a lot of help!

      Light the blue candle and say, “I release the need to feel sadness about Jim.  What is done is done. I forgive him for any sadness he caused me and any pain I caused myself and him.”

      Light the red candle and say, “I release the need to feel that I will never have physical passion with anyone else like I had with Jim. I forgive him for stirring that in me and then leaving me, and I forgive myself for thinking that it was my fault that he left.”

      Light the white candle and say, “I welcome new, authentic, pure and joyous love into my life, and by forgiving Jim and myself, I welcome it into his life too. I am free of all pain and cleansed by white light and joy. I wish us both a happy life.”

      Take a deep breath and let it out slowly as you feel all the pain and resentment leave your physical body and your spirit. Do this three times in all. Blow out your candles in the order you lit them, release your corners and open your circle. Be born anew into a life that that is ready for big authentic love!

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