The Laws of Inner Energy

devabritow
12 minutes ago
7 min read

"The energy of the mind is the essence of life." (Aristotle)

**How powerful our minds are... how powerful they can be.**

Over the last two weekends, I have had the pleasure of hosting two beloved family members for a few days. Last weekend, my sister (my older brother's wife, Karen) was in town for a work trip and spent four days with us. Much of her time was spent in the office, but we did get to hang out, and it was terrific. It's good to have a bonus sister. Karen has been in our family for so long that I rarely refer to her as an in-law.

My youngest nephew, Jason, arrived on Thursday (the day Karen flew back to the Gold Coast, where they both live), and while he's spending a fair amount of his time with friends (as young people do), he's based at our house, so we get to spend good quality time with him, too. The blessing of their presence meant a slight (and welcome) shift in focus, so this week's post will be short.

I learned a little about our inner energy over the last few weeks. It was mentioned in that magical book I'm still working through, and one of the things that stood out for me was the extent to which we ignore this innate energy. I'm going to write a little about this, but would like to save most of what I have learned for 'that book'.

Inner Energy

In numerous cultural, spiritual, and holistic traditions, inner energy is described as a subtle, vital life force that supports bodily functions and links the mind and spirit.

This inner energy is referred to by various names, including Chi (in Chinese medicine/Qi Gong), Prana (in Yoga and Ayurveda), and Spirit (in Western, specifically Christian cultures).

Experts assert that this energy can be developed and harmonised through practices such as meditation, mindful breathing, exercise, and emotional awareness to attain overall wellness.

However, unresolved emotional patterns, negative self-talk, or chronic stress can "block" this energy, resulting in feelings of exhaustion or depression. Until I picked up this phenomenal book, which I hope to cover before the end of the year, I didn't know that this inner energy has associated 'laws'. In the lead-up to writing this blog post, I decided to read up on it, and like so many of the new concepts, ideas, studies and experiences I have learned over the past few months, it is fascinating.

The "Law of Focus"

The law of focus is yet another concept I wasn't familiar with until recently. Also known as Einstein's Law of Focus, it is a contemporary business or self-help term, not a scientific principle discovered by Einstein. It is typically used to imply that productivity and significant success result from devoting substantial attention to a limited number of crucial projects.

This self-help journey is a crucial project for me, but I don't think that I have devoted substantial attention to it. Yes, I pump out these blog posts weekly, but I am not as immersed in the journey as I want to be. And, I think it warrants more time and focus than I currently afford it. There are few things I enjoy more than holding a book and savouring its contents, then sitting at my computer and putting the proverbial pen to paper. I have other responsibilities, of course, but I do think my time management skills are lacking. Add to that the hindrance of still having to contend with the black dog sometimes, and the bouts of anxiety that often take the wind out of my sails and my journey can be a case of two steps forward, one step back. It can also be three steps forward, no steps back or zero steps forward, two steps back. It's just how it is, and I have had a particularly erratic two weeks in this regard.

"Depression is a prison where you are both the suffering prisoner and the cruel jailer." (Dorothy Rowe)

Gosh, some of these quotes hit hard. If the last fifteen months have taught me anything, it is that the answers rest within me. I just need to tap into my inner energy.

There isn't a universally recognised number of laws relating to inner energy, since the idea doesn't belong to a formal scientific discipline like physics. The number varies by source, and for connecting it to the piece of literature I'm working through, good old ChatGPT offered the best source of information on the topic. The AI chatbot lists the following laws:

Energy Flows Where Attention Goes
Suppressed Energy Doesn't Disappear
Energy Moves in Cycles, Not Straight Lines
Open Energy Expands - Closed Energy Contracts
Resistance Amplifies What You Resist
Your Body Is The First To Know
Energy Seeks Expression
Coherence Creates Power
What You Accept Transforms - What You Fight Persists
Presence Is High-Energy, Mind-Spinning is Low Energy

The highlighted points above are concepts and ideas I have encountered on my self-help journey, while the others will require a little more exploration. Again, this reinforces how all this literature is connected, and I maintain that the different, though equally brilliant people I have read and listened to can't be wrong.

"Energy flows where attention goes" is mentioned in James Redfield's The Celestine Prophecy, which isn't a book I have covered on this blog (it's on my bookshelf, though). In a previous post, I mentioned that I had contemplated writing about it but opted not to. I think I have a better understanding of the book now, so I may post about it at some point.

In his book, When The Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress, Gabor Maté cautions that suppressed emotions don't disappear and can manifest in physical illness (see below, too).

The phrase "what you resist persists" is often attributed to Carl Jung, but in The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle writes that "Whatever you fight, you strengthen. What you resist, persists."

Bessel van der Kolk's book The Body Keeps the Score is on my reading list. Just like Caroline Myss's book Anatomy of the Spirit, which I covered on the 8th of December last year, the book is about how trauma physically affects the body and brain. Incidentally, the aforementioned Gabor Maté book covers the same topic.

I think my approach to self-help has been a little misguided, in that I may have been waiting for things to coalesce when I should be taking individual lessons and incorporating them into my day-to-day. Once I got my head around the laws of inner energy, my next search was how it could benefit me, and it can - if used correctly. For today's post, I'll focus on just one of the benefits of inner energy.

Channel Don't Battle

Inner Energy is essentially your attention, emotional charge, internal state and motivation. Many of us expend energy struggling with our own thoughts and emotions. However, inner energy becomes beneficial when you direct it, rather than suppress it.

I'm going to use anxiety as an example because it's the emotion I have had the most trouble with. Emotion is another word for energy, and it isn't the problem. The laws of inner energy suggest that the problem lies with how you direct it. Instead of spiralling (like I did when I had the panic attack in February, and two more after that), shift focus, prepare, gain clarity and set sharper boundaries.

To break this down:

Shifting Focus: It takes effort, but moving one's thoughts from the problem (real or perceived) to a solution shifts you from ineffective worrying to productive action. Transitioning from a mindset centred on anxiety and problems to one that is solution-focused requires initially controlling your current emotional state, followed by participating in organised, practical problem-solving.

Preparation: Being prepared can effectively manage anxiety by instilling a sense of control, boosting confidence, and diminishing the fear of the unknown. This involves a combination of short-term coping strategies and long-term lifestyle changes, typically aimed at staying grounded in the present and controlling your physical stress reactions.

Achieving Clarity: Achieving clarity to reduce anxiety requires a blend of mental, physical, and emotional approaches that help organise your thoughts and soothe your nervous system. Essential techniques include mindfulness, exercise, and specific thought management strategies.

Setting Sharper Boundaries: Establishing and maintaining clearer boundaries helps manage anxiety by reducing stress, preventing burnout, and fostering a feeling of safety and control within your relationships and surroundings. Well-defined boundaries offer predictability, enabling your nervous system to unwind and reducing the release of stress hormones such as cortisol.

I gained so much from just these few tips and strategies. I have covered only a handful of the Laws of Inner Energy and focused on just one of their benefits. That book I've been going on about for the last couple of weeks deals with this, amongst many other, wondrous things.

I look forward to finally writing about it in next week's blog post, but for now, I see a light emerge that's been dim for a long time.

"YOU'RE GOING TO BE OK"

Have we had about enough of serendipity? Of course not. I want it by the truckload.

I dipped into both Mark Nepo's The Book of Awakening and Dr Julie Smith's Open When for inspiration as I started writing this week's blog, but while I couldn't find any there, I found it in Ryan Holiday's The Daily Stoic. His Meditation for November 29th (the day I wrote this blog) is focused on the Marcus Aurelius quote. "Don't lament this and don't get agitated." (Meditations, 7.43) and Holiday's interpretation is wonderful. He writes:

"There's that feeling we get when something happens. It's all over now. All is lost. What follows are complaints and pity and misery - the impotent struggle against something that's already occurred. Why bother? We have no idea what the future holds. We have no idea what's coming up around the bend. It could be more problems, or this could be the darkness before the dawn. If we're Stoic, there is one thing we can be sure of: whatever happens, we're going to be OK.

I almost feel like the above quote is enough to end with this week, but here's one anyway. Topped and tailed by Aristotle and Marcus Aurelius ❤️