Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Begin.
We are energy. The movement, the feelings, the thoughts – all energy. And, as I’m sure you recall from your middle school science classes, the law of conservation of energy tells us that energy cannot be created or destroyed -– it can only be transformed.
If we know this, then we can start to see and feel how “holding in”, “pushing down”, that anger, sadness, discomfort, the grief is an unnatural and dangerous effort in the body. Energy wants to move, to flow, to transform. The energy of a moment, a thought, of history – lives lived before our own – cannot be destroyed. I believe it festers, like a dense thunder cloud fighting for space to release the weight of its water and exhale its roar. This effort to trap energy, to hold it in one spot is the process of manifesting dis-ease in the body.
Let us rest with that for a moment. Trapped and unprocessed experiences, sensation, and feelings cause dis-ease in the body. This is the exact reason why mental health professionals exist. To help people move that experience from a stuck spot into motion. There are many ways this can be supported and at the root of it all, it’s about releasing the fear of what might happen if we feel the thing we are holding in. That fear is valid and surmountable. If ever you feel a stir inside, know that you are your first and greatest healer – you are wise, capable, and intuitive to shepherd yourself into expansion.
You are the catalyst. I believe that first, the spark of dis-ease must be observed. Perhaps it comes from an anger blow up in a situation that didn’t call for the size of response you expelled. An overwhelming sense of apathy and lackluster for life and anything in between. Perhaps it’s related to a specific situation or person. Just notice – witness.
Once you do that, you can decide how that energy wants to move through you. Maybe this is the moment you seek out guidance and support. Let this be whoever and whatever feels accessible to you and for you to begin the movement of energy. A family member, a friend, a mentor, a mental health professional, anyone you feel you can be open with and hold you in a space that prioritizes listening rather than counseling or advising you. The responsibility still rests with you to own your energy transformation. Talking is one form of release. Make a goal to find at least two. It could be through journaling, meditation, appropriate movement (yoga, weight lifting, dancing, etc.).
Let yourself explore. Maybe you try journaling for a while and it sparks that you’d rather be singing or painting, or hiking. Follow what brings you peace and release. This effort isn’t about “solving the problem”, it’s about simply letting energy move. In “Decolonizing Trauma Work: Indigenous Stories and Strategies”, Renee Linklater shares the seven natural ways of healing as talking, sweating, yawning, sighing, crying, shaking, and laughing. What is it that you can pull into your life to let the body experience these forms of release on a regular basis?
The intention you put into your body and the energy that moves through and around you is yours to own. You can’t create more, you can’t destroy what’s there but you can transform it. You can plant seeds of good thoughts, loving community, and a healthy body and use the wisdom, the nourishment, the compost, to make it grow.
Talk through it. Laugh through it. Cry through it. Rest through it. Dance through it. Breathe through it. Sweat through it. Move through it.
Jasmine Linane-Booey of Kazuko Wellness is a Somatic Energy Guide. She holds two certificates in Reiki (Paris, France and Spokane, WA), over 10 years experience as a certified yoga and meditation guide (Goa, India), a certification as a Somatic Energy Practitioner (Spokane, WA), and is a trained Psilocybin guide and wellness coach. Contact: hello@kazukowellness.com or kazukowellness.com