Or Why Energy Work Works
I like to wear things that have pockets: dresses, sweaters, pants, etc. If they don’t have pockets I feel a little lost. I’m not so much a “bag lady” as a “pocket lady." A coat with many pockets is ideal in my world!
When I put my mind on stream of consciousness around the idea of a coat with many pockets, I think of the biblical story of the "coat with many colors", then I think of the Dolly Parton song of the same name (I grew up with parents who listened to country music). I also think of the beloved JP Patches' coat that had lots of useful pockets. For those of you non-native to the PNW, JP Patches was a rather unique Seattle children's show featuring a clown, JP Patches, who lived at the city dump. Gertrude was his friend (a cross-dressing man in drag—way ahead of the times for a children's show that started in the 50s!)
When I put my mind on stream of consciousness around the idea of a coat with many pockets, I think of the biblical story of the "coat with many colors", then I think of the Dolly Parton song of the same name (I grew up with parents who listened to country music). I also think of the beloved JP Patches' coat that had lots of useful pockets. For those of you non-native to the PNW, JP Patches was a rather unique Seattle children's show featuring a clown, JP Patches, who lived at the city dump. Gertrude was his friend (a cross-dressing man in drag—way ahead of the times for a children's show that started in the 50s!)
But when I segue into my current life of energy work, something else entirely comes to mind.
In energy work, one of the things that becomes obvious with experience over time is that anything can be stored anywhere. Although there are themes as to where stored energy might be (love issues in the heart chakra area, for example), in actuality, an issue might show up anywhere in the fields. Why is this?
I like to think of an energy field as a coat with many pockets. Since we have many layers of energy fields and systems, we actually have many coats then, with a lot of potential pockets. When we experience something that is overwhelming, whether to due to intensity of the experience, age of development at time of experience, length of duration of said experience, etc., we are often unable to process the totality of the experience and clear it from our energy fields right away. So what happens to all the unprocessed thoughts and emotions, etc.? They get stored in our fields/coats. Now the first place some of that unprocessed energy goes might in fact be to an obvious place (truth/communication issues in the throat, for example), but if it’s too overwhelming for even that “pocket” to hold it all, the excess unprocessed energy might then go anywhere and everywhere there’s a free “pocket."
Some of us have layers of coats, filled with pockets of unprocessed energy from experiences we have yet to fully process and release. This is one of the main things energy work does. It helps to release what’s in the pockets so the energy coats you’re wearing become lighter and you become freer. Imagine being weighed down with many heavy coats with a lot of pockets filled with heavy items. Many people live like this. Talk therapy, while useful, doesn’t often clear the many pockets of the many coats. It might start the process. It might empty out a few pockets. But it can take a long while. Affirmations and positive thoughts also are useful and helpful but can take awhile to get into the nitty gritty of the subconsious and dense energy layers/pockets that reside in our coats of many pockets.
Energy work can empty pockets on multiple levels at once. Energy goes wherever it is needed to empty out pockets of memory, emotions, thoughts, experiences, you didn't even know were still there. It works faster—IF the person is ready to release what’s in the pockets, let go, and move on. The longer we wear certain energies, the harder it can be to let go of them as we get used to the feel of our energy. We attach our identity to the reality of what’s in the pockets. We hide our True Selves behind our filled coats of many pockets.
Until life teaches us, that is, and we realize that walking around with such heavy coats is harder than releasing and shedding the stored energies, and finally, finally we release and let go and move into new ways of being, revealing more of our True Selves.
Another way to release said energies beyond energy work is through ceremony and ritual, which are rich in metaphors—the language of the soul and the unconscious. The Solstice and the New Year are optimal times for such letting go and releasing the old so the new ways might emerge.
Spend some time feeling and looking around at your energy fields/coats in the coming days. Where does it feel heavy? What pockets need emptying? What is ready to be released? Writing these thoughts and feelings out and burning the paper in a fire ceremony or ritual can help. Another idea is to put your writing into a river/creek and watch it flow away. You also might try burying your writing like a seed that is buried and then transmuted into new life. You could also write symbols and words on feathers and let them go in the wind. Using any of these four elements: fire, water, earth, air can be transformative.
If you’re ready to release a lot and move into the New Year in a New Way, consider a Soul Goal Package, which is a more focused energy and intensive life work.
I encourage you in this New Year to focus on shifting your energy to the extent that feels right for you at this time. The more of us that shift, the more everyone and the Planet can move into new ways of being that more closely align with our Highest and Best.
Happy New Year!
--
If you are so moved and are able, please consider supporting my writing by making a donation (PayPal Donate button in the right hand column) or buying one of my books. Thank you!
Monica McDowell is a dynamic speaker, author, and practitioner in alternative wellness and spirituality. Find her on Thought Catalog here.She is the author of The Girl with a Gift, Confessions of a Mystic Soccer Mom, You are Light (internationally published by 6th Books in over 14 countries) and My Karma Ran Over My Dogma,and has the distinction of being the first ordained minister in America granted civil rights by a federal ruling. She lives in Seattle, Washington, USA, and can be reached at monica@monicamcdowell.com.
In energy work, one of the things that becomes obvious with experience over time is that anything can be stored anywhere. Although there are themes as to where stored energy might be (love issues in the heart chakra area, for example), in actuality, an issue might show up anywhere in the fields. Why is this?
I like to think of an energy field as a coat with many pockets. Since we have many layers of energy fields and systems, we actually have many coats then, with a lot of potential pockets. When we experience something that is overwhelming, whether to due to intensity of the experience, age of development at time of experience, length of duration of said experience, etc., we are often unable to process the totality of the experience and clear it from our energy fields right away. So what happens to all the unprocessed thoughts and emotions, etc.? They get stored in our fields/coats. Now the first place some of that unprocessed energy goes might in fact be to an obvious place (truth/communication issues in the throat, for example), but if it’s too overwhelming for even that “pocket” to hold it all, the excess unprocessed energy might then go anywhere and everywhere there’s a free “pocket."
Some of us have layers of coats, filled with pockets of unprocessed energy from experiences we have yet to fully process and release. This is one of the main things energy work does. It helps to release what’s in the pockets so the energy coats you’re wearing become lighter and you become freer. Imagine being weighed down with many heavy coats with a lot of pockets filled with heavy items. Many people live like this. Talk therapy, while useful, doesn’t often clear the many pockets of the many coats. It might start the process. It might empty out a few pockets. But it can take a long while. Affirmations and positive thoughts also are useful and helpful but can take awhile to get into the nitty gritty of the subconsious and dense energy layers/pockets that reside in our coats of many pockets.
Energy work can empty pockets on multiple levels at once. Energy goes wherever it is needed to empty out pockets of memory, emotions, thoughts, experiences, you didn't even know were still there. It works faster—IF the person is ready to release what’s in the pockets, let go, and move on. The longer we wear certain energies, the harder it can be to let go of them as we get used to the feel of our energy. We attach our identity to the reality of what’s in the pockets. We hide our True Selves behind our filled coats of many pockets.
Until life teaches us, that is, and we realize that walking around with such heavy coats is harder than releasing and shedding the stored energies, and finally, finally we release and let go and move into new ways of being, revealing more of our True Selves.
Another way to release said energies beyond energy work is through ceremony and ritual, which are rich in metaphors—the language of the soul and the unconscious. The Solstice and the New Year are optimal times for such letting go and releasing the old so the new ways might emerge.
Spend some time feeling and looking around at your energy fields/coats in the coming days. Where does it feel heavy? What pockets need emptying? What is ready to be released? Writing these thoughts and feelings out and burning the paper in a fire ceremony or ritual can help. Another idea is to put your writing into a river/creek and watch it flow away. You also might try burying your writing like a seed that is buried and then transmuted into new life. You could also write symbols and words on feathers and let them go in the wind. Using any of these four elements: fire, water, earth, air can be transformative.
If you’re ready to release a lot and move into the New Year in a New Way, consider a Soul Goal Package, which is a more focused energy and intensive life work.
I encourage you in this New Year to focus on shifting your energy to the extent that feels right for you at this time. The more of us that shift, the more everyone and the Planet can move into new ways of being that more closely align with our Highest and Best.
Happy New Year!
--
If you are so moved and are able, please consider supporting my writing by making a donation (PayPal Donate button in the right hand column) or buying one of my books. Thank you!
Monica McDowell is a dynamic speaker, author, and practitioner in alternative wellness and spirituality. Find her on Thought Catalog here.She is the author of The Girl with a Gift, Confessions of a Mystic Soccer Mom, You are Light (internationally published by 6th Books in over 14 countries) and My Karma Ran Over My Dogma,and has the distinction of being the first ordained minister in America granted civil rights by a federal ruling. She lives in Seattle, Washington, USA, and can be reached at monica@monicamcdowell.com.
