Understanding energy leaks; or, Seven Ways to keep your Mojo

In the yoga tradition we encounter a fascinating metaphor: it is said that the milk of a lioness is so potent that no container can hold it except for pure gold. If the golden vessel has impurities, the milk will eat through the vessel like acid at those points, and drain away. In the same way, if the practitioner has too many 'energy leaks' then the spiritual energy (shakti) that is generated through yogic practice will simply leak away again.

Have you ever been to a yoga retreat or meditation weekend that was so inspiring and empowering that you felt sure your life was going to change radically, only to find within days or weeks of returning home that all that extra juice had seeped away, returning you to much the same default state you had before the retreat? If so, you're not alone. This is a very common experience. Because energy leaks.

Once you know what the main energy leaks are, you can set about plugging them. If you manage to plug most of them, you will experience something astonishing: the very same yogic practices you've been doing all along now seem to generate much more power, energy, prāṇa. In fact, they're not generating more, you're just not leaking it away.

Systematically addressing these 'leaks' shifts the playing field of spiritual practice radically. Of course, it can take time to address them — but it's time and effort well-spent, that repays its investment more generously than you might imagine.

So, what are the most common energy leaks? Here is a short explanation of each major energy leak. They are discussed in more detail in my six-month Immersionprogram.

1. Exhaustion due to overdoing/multi-tasking

Easily the most common energy leak in today's society, overdoing means having a plate that is too full, leaving little time for the relaxation, play, and social bonding that humans evolved with for most of their history. These are not only necessary for health, they create a body-mind container that can hold the energy generated by spiritual practice. By contrast, an exhausted body-mind is riddled with 'holes' out of which that energy drains away. Your conditioned mind might be convinced that you can't afford to do less; but really, you can't afford not to. (And by the way, if you use stimulants [caffeine etc.] every day, you are exhausted, though you might not feel it.) As Śākta-śaiva teacher Dharmabodhi says, “Wake up out of the dream of over-doing. Take responsibility for your runaway life. Closely examine the cultural trance of over-doing, expose it and tune into your own energies instead. Follow a simpler and more natural way of living, [which is actually] a more productive way of living.”

Oh and by the way, however proud you are of your ability to multi-task, it's now been proven that multitasking decreases your effectiveness at all tasks (see the work of John Medina).

Most importantly, according to the yoga tradition, to be healthy and sane one needs to have at least four hours off a day, at least one full day off a week, at least one full weekend off a month, and at least three full weeks off a year. When I say 'off' I don't just mean not being in the office — I mean not checking emails, not thinking about to-do lists, not accomplishing anything. Just being. Unscheduled time, free of agenda, unless it be the 'agenda' to connect with yourself, your loved ones, nature, and/or art. Just look at kids who haven't yet become addicted to glowing screens, if you can find any: they explore the world around them with wide-eyed wonder, and their creative energy flows through vivid imaginative play. We're not meant to lose that. It's part of our natural state. We need that creative energy, that curiosity, that wonder, to feel that life is worth living. You will slowly access more and more of it if you create time for agenda-free connection.

2. Dis-ease of the physical body

The second energy leak is of course intimately related to the first. When we're overdoing, we develop dis-ease (or full blown disease) quite easily. When dis-ease has set in, it draws our attention and leaks our prāṇa (vitality or life-force). Dis-ease is different from being disabled; note that someone can be disabled or have a chronic condition without having dis-ease. It all depends on how they relate to their disability (e.g. how much they focus on it, whether they form a self-image out of it, and what mental frame they view it through). Dis-ease is listed as the second most important energy leak because if it is occurring, it's a top priority to address. Your body is full of wisdom. Often (not always), illness or dis-ease is a warning sign, or is telling your something. Inquire into the natural wisdom of the body to find out what it is, perhaps with the help of a skilled medical intuitive (I can recommend someone) -- whose services should complement, never replace, those of your doctor(s).

3. Excess emotional reactivity

This is a delicate one to discuss. As a cognitive neuroscientist recently wrote, "The ability to regulate one's strength of emotional response is highly adaptive: It stops us from investing too much energy into [certain] things." While there is no degree of emotion that is 'too much' in the Tantrik View, it's important to note that some emotions are generated or amplified by believing in a mentally-constructed ‘story’ about a situation. This very common energy leak can be described as losing contact with your essence-nature, your natural Presence, through buying into a story associated with a strong emotional response, which often results in throwing your energy at someone else (usually the person you blame for your feelings). When you speak in anger and say things you later want to retract ("I didn't really mean that!"), that's a good example of emotional reactivity. When you sit (or move, or dance) with your feelings, neither owning nor disowning them, but just being with them as a form of pure energy, that's the opposite of emotional reactivity. When your assumptions seem like indisputable facts and you're filled with self-righteous indignation, that's emotional reactivity. When you're curious about where these intense emotions are coming from and can laugh at yourself in wonder, that's the opposite. When you buy right into a disparaging comment from a peer and enter a world of hurt, plagued by repetitive painful thoughts ('How could they?' 'What an asshole!' 'I can't believe s/he hates me!' etc.), that's emotional reactivity. When you keep your heart open and let yourself feel the pain in the other person and in yourself, without buying that person's story and perhaps even seeing beauty and opportunity in the pain, that's the opposite.

The opposite of emotional reactivity, then, is really just natural human Presence. To abide in that Presence is the goal of the path. Then strong emotions can arise without the emotional reactivity that harms you and others. Obviously, emotional reactivity deserves a whole workshop to itself. It's intimately related with #9 below.

4. Losing contact with natural Presence through thought/fantasy/reverie

Those who habitually dwell in the mind-world can hardly imagine how much joy and aliveness is unavailable to them. Unfortunately, that's most of the planet. Being lost in vikalpas (fantasy/reverie/mental images) is a primary way we divorce ourselves from sweet, simple abiding in our natural state. Here we're talking about a) imagining possible future scenarios in which you might be happier (fantasy); b) imagining possible future scenarios in which you might suffer (anxiety); c) remembering past 'good times' through rose-colored glasses and wishing things could be like that again (reverie); and remembering past 'mistakes' and thinking about what you 'could have' or 'should have' done (regret/guilt). (See p. 138 of T.I.) These four are, in the yogic view, simply the most common forms of insanity. Humans are simply terrible at accurately predicting how they'll feel in any given future situation, even when they're convinced otherwise (as Dan Gilberthas proven), and they are also terrible at remembering the past with any accuracy (what you think are accurate memories are largely expressions of your individual psychology, much like dreams woven from elements of past experiences). A fifth version of getting lost in vikalpas is simply focusing intently on data of any kind to buffer your existential angst or distract yourself from what you and others are feeling. Someone doing a crossword puzzle or playing a challenging video game or reading all the news of the day might claim that they are more in the present moment, but they are just as much 'in their head' — and therefore divorced from flowing Presence — as someone lost in thoughts of possible futures or remembered pasts. Inhabiting mental worlds and imagined realities is a significant energy leak for a yogī, and one that is ubiquitous in our society.

5. Strongly held beliefs or opinions

This is closely related to #4. It can be hard to believe this is an energy leak until you experience for yourself the influx of life-force that comes from finally, deeply admitting the truth that you really don't know anything for sure. That just about all your strongly held beliefs and opinions are either wishful thinking or fearful thinking. That the world is far, far too complex, and the variables far too numerous, for our little brains to justifiably hold a fixed opinion about anything (apart from your own inner experience, perhaps). Note that having beliefs/opinions is not an energy leak; it's gripping tightly to those opinions, unyielding and hard in your attitude rather than soft and open, and being so convinced you're right and you know how things really are (as opposed to the other guy) that is the energy leak. There's a lot more to reality than what any one of us can see; acknowledging that helps you be softer, more open, and therefore better at connecting with others.

6. Unclear relationships / unclear boundaries

Since the entire range of social norms pertaining to all kinds of intimate relationships is in flux in the 21st century, #6 is a pretty big one. Of course, when you're just getting to know someone, it's normal for the nature of the relationship to be undefined. However, hanging out too long in limbo where you're not exactly sure what the other person wants, needs, or feels, but you're hoping they'll come round to your way of seeing the relationship, is a powerful prāṇa-drain. Conversely, being clear about where you're at but keeping the other person in limbo by not committing to a specific form of relationship with clear agreements or boundaries is also an energy leak (because using other people depletes your shakti).

Obviously, the solution is communication, but few of us know how to communicate our feelings and needs without casting them in the form of a narrative about what the other person is doing wrong (or what you're doing wrong, for that matter). Which doesn't help. Ongoing clarifying dialogue (which doesn't descend into nitpicking, pseudo-psychoanalysis, or finger-pointing) about what you want and what you're okay with, and what your loved one wants and is okay with, is crucial to create the firm foundation for relationships that aren't energy leaks.

Except sometimes the solution isn't communication; sometimes you hang on to a relationship that is past it's 'expiration date' out of fear or attachment. This is a huge energy leak. The solution is to let go and walk away. If you need support for that, check out Conscious Uncoupling.

7. Unconscious speech / excessive speech / gossip

Another very common energy leak in our society, this one is difficult to shift because of huge social pressure to conform to how others around us use language. Yet excessive speech is such an energy drain that in Āyurveda it is said to lead to various forms of disease (mainly through exacerbation of vāta dosha). Have you ever noticed that masters of yoga and meditation speak less, and speak carefully? Swāmī Muktānanda once said, "The power of your words increases in direct proportion to the silence that you keep."

Ideally, before opening a topic of conversation we ask ourselves four questions, the so-called Four Gates of Speech: 1) is it true, this thing I want to say? 2) is it necessary or helpful to speak it? 3) have I found a loving way to say it? 4) is it the right time? (It helps to remember the four key terms: true, necessary, kind, right time). For more on this important topic, see the two chapters on 'Discipline in Speaking' in The Yoga of Discipline.

So how do you plug the energy leaks? Suggestions and leads have been given above, and these can be supplemented by your own research, your intuitive knowing, and by practicing under a qualified teacher. Specifically, the tradition of Tantrik Yoga has many tools for plugging energy leaks.

There is so much more than can be said about all of these topics than we have space for here! Below you'll find the other seven main energy leaks, which I hope to cover in another post. And if you resonate with what you've read here and want to learn more, please watch these videos.

Based on everything I've received from my teachers over 26 years, I made a list of the eight most hazardous pitfalls on the spiritual path, which when addressed are also, in my view, the eight keys to sustainable awakening. The topic of Energy Leaks constitutes just one of these eight. Some of the others are obvious, such as distorted understanding of the student-teacher relationship, and some are not so obvious, like lack of alignment of View, Practice, and Goal, or impure motive for practice. These 'Eight Great Pitfalls' which can become the 'Eight Keys to sustainable Awakening' are discussed in more detail in this video.

Other energy leaks include:
8. addictions
9. other habitual behavior patterns fueled by and further fueling samskāras
10. mismanagement of sexual energy
11. submitting to fatalism and disempowering use of divination tools (e.g. relying on astrology, tarot, or psychic readings more than on your innate intuitive capacity)
12. incorrect performance of spiritual practices (usually due to incorrect instruction)
13. becoming “possessed” by the energy and thought-patterns of other Realms ('realm' is a technical term in Tantrik psychology)
14. believing that one's conditioned view of reality is actually the way things are (ajñāna)

IMPORTANT CAVEAT: If you succeed in plugging energy leaks but have not learned to dissolve self-images and have not become conscious of the pitfalls described in the Six Realms teachings (#13 above), then the greatly increased energy and power available to you can magnify latent harmful tendencies as well as virtues. As Dharmabodhi so aptly put it, “Without having dissolved the core patterning of how one sees and 'knows' oneself to be (our self-story/concept) and how one relates, the power released through shakti sādhanā will inflate the already existing [egoic] patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting, often causing harm to the practitioner by sidetracking them with obstacles or skills/successes/powers.” This topic will be covered in a future post entitled "Does the Practice of Yoga Automatically Make You a Better Person?




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Energías de la Ascensión de Septiembre - Perspectiva de Polaridad

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REVISIÓN DE AGOSTO

Agosto fue la culminación de 3 meses (junio / julio / agosto) de enfoque amplificando nuestra conexión (familia). La ascensión es una evolución natural hacia una conexión más consciente con la energética sutil e invisible que siempre ha estado trabajando con nosotros (es decir, nuestros pensamientos / emociones), pero ahora estamos usando / dominando esa conexión de manera más consciente.

Agosto trajo la final de 3 eclipses(esos fueron fáciles; o) que provocaron muchos cambios. En definitiva, fue la nivelación continua de la espiral. La energía de 3 está representada por el triángulo. Agosto trajo una nueva claridad y empoderamiento al Merkaba (nuestro vehículo de progresión) que es la representación estática en 2D de la espiral.

Mer = Luz, Ka = Espíritu, Ba = Cuerpo. Es la resonancia / forma / geometría, forma / puente sin forma entre lo sutil y lo físico. La luz es el resultado de ese movimiento / forma. Es la información de esa resonancia.

Heart Family fue el foco de agosto, y señaló la importancia de las emociones, que conectan y mueven / transforman las cosas. Esto es constante en forma física. Ma'at pregunta: ¿cómo es la Luz tu corazón? Cuando se pesa contra una pluma, ¿es más pesada (se hunde) o más clara (se levanta)? ¿Ves cómo esta metáfora ha escrito nuestra historia? ¿Qué escribe nuestro futuro?

ENERGÍAS DE SEPTIEMBRE

Para las energías de septiembre, me mostraron 2 caminos divergentes. Polarización, separación, ¡pero no desolación! Algunos dirían que este es el cambio de línea de tiempo, donde lo bueno va en una dirección, y lo malo en la otra (¿te hundes o te levantas, piensas o conjeturas?).

Areon, el Consejo del Tiempo de Lyran, ha estado hablando de nuestra polarización por bastante tiempo, que la veríamos aumentar, incluso entre los Trabajadores de la Luz. La polarización es una forma natural de nueva creación. Saca a la gente de la cerca, toma decisiones, forma opiniones y (¡oh, no!) Juicios.

Usar tu discernimiento (la forma de juicio menos juzgada) es importante. Estás en física para experimentar y elegir. Cuando haces eso con menos polaridad y más neutralidad, estás siguiendo las reglas de la creaciónque determinan la forma. Estás escribiendo el futuro.

Este es el reino físico. Nos movemos a través del cambio en base a las reglas del reino físico. Trascendemos eso al integrar la resonancia "superior" (lo sutil, lo invisible) del amor al corazón. (¡Haga que el corazón se eleve!) Pero esos 2, el físico y el no físico, están conectados. Es tu luz, tu información los conecta. ¿Eres ligero como una pluma?

PERSPECTIVA DE POLARIDAD

El beneficio de la polaridad en el ámbito físico es que aclara su perspectiva. Lo que no se pudo identificar cuando estabas demasiado cerca de él, se vuelve claro con cierta perspectiva a través de la distancia. Con demasiada frecuencia nos hemos visto obligados a enfocarnos en problemas que estimulan el temor polarizador [los nuevos son realmente antiguos]. Sin embargo, el progreso te está llamando a neutralizar la polaridad.

August nos mostró el poder del corazón para perdonar (neutralizar) y crear lo nuevo en Amor. Septiembre nos enseña a los ojos neutrales y vemos un nuevo futuro. Ver más allá de la polarización como separación y abrazar la aclaración que la espiral siempre crea.

Permita que escinda los lazos débiles del miedo, el dolor y el resentimiento, iluminando su carga. Permita que fortalezca sus fuertes lazos de amor, compasión y valor creativo, iluminando su camino.

Compassion Connects

La energía de la Madre María , que representa el amor incondicional y la compasión nutritiva ha sido fuerte recientemente. Puede resonar con una energía similar a la de la Madre María, pero esa energía de Amor enriquecedor es la clave para que los caminos divergentes encuentren una nueva dirección.

¿Por qué?

Porque es la atracción del Amor positivo e irresistible el que el miedo / dolor / resentimiento busca calmar su giro para volver a fluir. Nueva forma. ¿Está escrito el vínculo con la luz del corazón o la difícil situación de la densidad? Los 2 no están tan separados cuando ves 3 a través de ellos. La dualidad se trasciende con amor. El coraje creativo dirá que no, que empujará / introducirá en una nueva forma, pero a través de la Luz del Amor en lugar del miedo a la separación.

Aquí es donde la linealidad, las líneas divergentes, son barridas en espiral resonante. Donde la deconstrucción y la reconstrucción se someten a las fuerzas que los rodean. El amor es una fuerza pasiva, obliga a una nueva forma. Lo hace con un profundo conocimiento interno de que las reglas de la naturaleza "correcta" (escribir) a través del tiempo.

Escribiendo el futuro

Estos meses nos han llamado a amplificar nuestro flujo creativo al ser dueños de nuestras vidas. Sé el flujo dominante en tu propia vida, es el regalo creativo del libre albedrío que la Vida te ha otorgado por naturaleza, no por nutrición. La nutrición es tu trabajo. ¿Qué estás nutriendo en tu vida? ¿Estás alimentando tu miedo o alimentando tu amor?

Septiembre es un momento de percibir un nuevo potencial. Sigue una amplificación del corazón / amor para que la mente brillante se concentre en el camino lineal y los pasos que ayudan a manifestar los deseos del corazón. ¡Es un momento poderoso para ser el cambio que quieres ver en el mundo!

Su perspectiva interna es su primera acción, cómo permite la construcción / amplificación de una resonancia para crear una nueva forma. Septiembre puede no sentirse tan enfocado en la acción como te guste, pero vuelve a ese poderoso sabiendo que estás creando desde una nueva base de amor. Busque las pistas de construcción de formularios y encontrará más neutralidad a medida que se conecta con lo nuevo.

EN RESUMEN

Este equinoccio nos lleva a un nuevo equilibrio entre 2 mundos, donde vemos el potencial de la conexión de la vida que mejora la igualdad, en lugar de la separación de la desigualdad que domina el paisaje. ¿Cómo está influyendo la escena en tu flujo? ¿O lo estás influenciando? Tal vez de forma invisible, pero percibida por aquellos con ojos para ver, y vivida por aquellos con el coraje de ser. El cambio

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September Ascension Energies – Polarity Perspective

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AUGUST REVIEW

August was a culmination of 3 months (June/July/August) of focus amplifying our connection (family). Ascension is a natural evolution into more conscious connection with the subtle, invisible energetic that has always been working with us (ie our thoughts/emotions), but now we are using/mastering that connection more consciously.

August brought the final of 3 eclipses (those were easy ;o) that stirred up a lot of change. Ultimately it was the continual leveling up the spiral. The energy of 3 is represented by the triangle. August brought a new clarity and empowerment to the Merkaba (our vehicle of progression) which is the static, 2D representation of the spiral.

Mer=Light, Ka=Spirit, Ba=Body. It is the resonance/shape/geometry, form/formless bridge between subtle and physical. Light is the result of that movement/shape. It is the information of that resonance.

Heart Family was the focus of August, and it pointed out the importance of emotions, which connect and move/transform things. This is constant in physical form. Ma’at asks, how Light is your heart? When it is weighed against a feather, is it heavier (you sink) or lighter (you rise)? See how this metaphor has written our history? What writes our future?

SEPTEMBER ENERGIES

For the energies of September I was shown 2 paths diverging. Polarization, separation—but not desolation! Some would say this is the timeline shift, where the good go in one direction, and the bad in the other (do you sink or rise, think or surmise?).

Areon, the Lyran Council of Time, has been talking about our polarization for quite awhile, that we would be seeing it increase, even among Lightworkers. Polarization is a natural form of new creation. It gets people off the fence, making decisions, forming opinions and (oh no!) judgments.

Using your discernment (the less judged form of judgment) is important. You are in physical to experience and choose. When you do that with less polarity and more neutrality, you are following the rules of creation that determines form. You’re writing the future.

This is the physical realm. We move through change based on rules of the physical realm. We transcend that by integrating the “higher” resonance (the subtle, unseen) of the heart—love. (Make that heart rise!) But those 2, the physical and non-physical, are connected. It’s your light, your information connects them. Are you light as a feather?

POLARITY PERSPECTIVE

The benefit of polarity in the physical realm, is it clarifies your perspective. What couldn’t be identified when you were too close to it, becomes clear with some perspective through distance. Too often we have been entrained to focus on problems that stimulate polarizing fear [new(s) is really old]. Yet progress is calling you toward neutralizing the polarity.

August showed us the power of the heart to forgive (neutralize) and create the new in Love. September teaches us to neutral-eyes and see a new future. See beyond polarizationas separation and embrace the clarification that the spiral always creates.

Allow it to spin off the weak bonds of fear, pain and resentment, enlightening your load. Allow it to strengthen your strong bonds of love, compassion and creative courage, illuminating your road.

Compassion Connects

The energy of Mother Mary, representing unconditional Love and nurturing compassion has been strong recently. You may resonate with a similar energy other than Mother Mary, but that energy of nurturing Love is key to the diverging roads finding new direction.

Why?

Because it is the pull of the positive, compelling Love that the fear/pain/resentment seeks to soothe its spin into flow again. New form. Is the bond written with the light of heart or the plight of density? The 2 aren’t so separate when you see 3 through them. Duality is transcended with Love. Creative courage will say no, it will push/pull into new form—but through the Light of Love instead of the fear of separation.

This is where the linearity, the lines diverging, are swept into resonant spiral. Where deconstruction and reconstruction submit to the forces around them. Love is a passive force, it compels new form. It does that with a deep inner knowing that the rules of nature “right” (write) themselves through Time.

Writing the Future

These months have called us to amplify our creative flow by owning our lives. Be the dominant flow in your own life, it is the creative gift of free will that Life has bestowed upon you by nature, not by nurture. The nurturing is your work. What are you nurturing in your life? Are you feeding your fear or feeding your Love?

September is a time of perceiving a new potential. It follows an amplification of the heart/love so that the brilliant mind is focusing on the linear path and steps that help manifest the heart’s desires. It is a powerful time of being the change you want to see in the world!

Your inner perspective is your first action, how you allow the building/amplification of a resonance to create new form. September may not feel as action-focused as you may like—but go back to that powerful knowing that you are creating from a new foundation of love. Look for the clues of form building and you will find more neutrality as you connect to the new.

IN SUMMARY

This equinox brings us to a new balance between 2 worlds, where we see the potential of the connection of equality enhancing life, rather than the separation of inequality dominating the landscape. How is the scene influencing your flow? Or are you influencing it? Perhaps in ways unseen, but sensed by those with eyes to see, and lived by those with the courage to be. The change.

Copyright © misteri1963 All rights reserved.You can copy and distribute this article as long as you do not modify it in any way, the content remains complete, credit is given to the author and this URL is included https://misteri1963.blogspot.com and the Copyright Notice