[chaotic13]

I am interested in how many of you hold the belief that we each emit energy and that that energy can be felt / perceived by others or can affect our environment.

I’m sort of interested in this concept. I’ve read where some people can actually see these “energy” fields. I’m curious about what you all think about this concept. Do you think it is just another description of intuition? Just part of our ability to interpret body language and more subtle communication cues?

I guess I am just curious about when my body seems to detect one thing, but my brain or conscious thoughts seem to be picking up something else. I get this disconnect a lot especially with therapy and am just interested in it.

If you seem to be a person who perceives the existence of these energy fields… have you ever talked about it with your T? What kind of response did you get? Did you end up getting another pathology label added to your medical chart, LOL?

[Doh2007]

Yes. I'm sensitive to the energy of people around me. I believe this is something that has eluded measurement, but exists. Dr. Judith Orloff is a professor of psychiatry at ucla.

http://www.drjudithorloff.com/

She has lectures on youtube which you can find on her web site. Someone here at PsychCentral told me about her. (Thank you P.)

[SpottedOwl]

Originally Posted by chaotic13

I am interested in how many of you hold the belief that we each emit energy and that that energy can be felt / perceived by others or can affect our environment.

Our senses have the ability to take in a lot more information than our conscious mind realizes. It is totally normal, and something that has been recognized in Eastern traditions for thousands of years.

From a personal point of view -- I've often had 'gut feelings' about people or situations. I've learned to listen to that 'gut' over the years because it is almost always correct despite what my conscious mind perceives. My best explanation is that I'm picking up on those energies.

I guess I am just curious about when my body seems to detect one thing, but my brain or conscious thoughts seem to be picking up something else. I get this disconnect a lot especially with therapy and am just interested in it.

Try an experiment, and focus on the message of the body when you get that disconnect. In trauma work, it is often by focusing on the body that blockages can be released.

If you are looking for a 'scientific' explanation -- trauma has the effect of freezing the limbic system in a state of fight/flight. The problem that trauma brings *is* the disconnect between what the body feels and what the conscious mind can process.

If you seem to be a person who perceives the existence of these energy fields… have you ever talked about it with your T? What kind of response did you get? Did you end up getting another pathology label added to your medical chart, LOL?

Believe it or not, two weeks ago I 'came out' with T, and started talking about my 'intuitive experiences'. I was so worried about being pathologized, because receiving 'messages' or 'seeing things' is not generally accepted in Western medicine.

I took that risk, because it is a part of who I am, and part of my unfolding in therapy is to accept and honor every part of myself -- whether it can be read about in a textbook or not.

I have also done a lot research into different areas of psychology that go beyond the traditional approaches. There are quite a few different doctors who have done work in this area, and it is slowly gaining some more acceptance.

Dr. Arnold Mindell has done amazing work with the 'dreambody'.
There is also a whole field called 'Transpersonal Psychology'.

(((chaotic)))
How exciting! I could go on, but feel free to ask questions or PM me.

[Lenny]

When dealing with infinity anything my tiny little mind can imagine,,,,is real.

When there are far more stars than there are grains of sand upon our sphere,,how can I possbily believe I have any answers. I have not even visited one.

Your thoughts upon energy chaotic are wonderfull. Everything you see is made of the same thing..stardust. And stardust at the sub atomic level are waves.

We are all waving at each other in some fashion or another.

And please never fear to share an idea. Ideas are foundations to all reality.

IMHO.

Lenny

Originally Posted by Lenny

We are all waving at each other in some fashion or another.

[chaotic13]

Originally Posted by SpottedOwl

If you are looking for a 'scientific' explanation -- trauma has the effect of freezing the limbic system in a state of fight/flight. The problem that trauma brings *is* the disconnect between what the body feels and what the conscious mind can process.

This kind of makes sense to me. Often I feel like I receive sensory input from the periphery but it get messed up when processed (interpreted) in the brain.

I know we all use our various sensory receptors (touch, auditory, visual, taste, olfactory, etc) in different ways to perceive our environment. I think our bodies are truly more amazing than we realize.

For me...I don't visually see peoples energy fields. But when I am able to move my focus out of my head and into my body, I feel a lot of things--it scares me sometimes. I also definitely get into situations, especially in therapy, where it feels like my neural connections suddenly become hypersensitive and it feels like the trillions of individual cells in my body start vibrating on a higher frequency. Maybe it is just like you say... a triggering of the fight/flight response. My body just maybe has a systematic release of ACh that turns one every neuron.

Believe it or not, two weeks ago I 'came out' with T, and started talking about my 'intuitive experiences'.

What was your T response? I know they are good at hiding their "your really freak'en nuts, response", but how to you really think she received this information?

[chaotic13]

Lenny,
If you feel something, it is me waving my energy at ya.

[chaotic13]

I am thinking about this at the moment because after my last therapy session, I experienced a very strange phenomenon. I couldn't really connect it to a particular topic we discussed, because last session was not very.... insightful or traumatic. Only after I sat down later that night did I realize that the strange sensation seem to start during the therapy session and then slowly escalated following the session and peaked when I was around others that evening. It only started to abate when I finally sat down completely alone and tried to deliberately calm myself and interpret what was going on. I wasn't successful in reaching any type of conclusion about what it was or what might have triggered it, but I was able to record the experience. It wasn't a flashback, it didn't feel like my typical anxiety, it wasn't fear, if anything it was more like aggression. At the time I was more curious than afraid. It is just hard to explain the whole thing.

Anyway... with my new, more open T communications... after I recorded the details of what I was experiencing and was unable to come up with no real conclusions about the experience on my own, I EMAIL everything I had written to my T that night. Basically said,.. I have no idea what just happened but I think it means something. Copy & pasted that part of my personal journal into the email message and clicked send.

That was 3 weeks ago, what ever it was, it was over with that night. Now I am wondering... do I now have a new label in my chart? I know my T will not outwardly respond negatively to it, but I am kind of concerned about the whole thing.

[SpottedOwl]

For me...I don't visually see peoples energy fields. But when I am able to move my focus out of my head and into my body, I feel a lot of things--it scares me sometimes. I also definitely get into situations, especially in therapy, where it feels like my neural connections suddenly become hypersensitive and it feels like the trillions of individual cells in my body start vibrating on a higher frequency.

I don't see aura's either, but I am sensitive to people's energy. I've always been that way. After my trauma I felt like I was numb, and it really freaked me out. At one point I found the book 'Waking the Tiger' by Peter Levine, and he explained how the body responds to trauma.

He gives the example of a bird that flies into a window. It will lay there stunned, then get up and flutter around and fly off. If you pick up the bird before it shakes off, it will die. After a trauma, the body needs to release all that energy.

I know what you mean about feeling like I'm going to explode. T helps me by focusing me in on the moment -- getting in touch with my body. Just noticing where in my body I feel something, and describing it, or focusing on it. I *think* it is using some gestalt techniques. It has been very helpful, and slowly I do feel like I'm able to release.

What was your T response? I know they are good at hiding their "your really freak'en nuts, response", but how to you really think she received this information?

T was wonderful. He did the best he could to validate my experiences, and I think he was really honored that I trusted him enough to share. It took me a long time to work up to this, and I tested him plenty along the way.

Anyway... with my new, more open T communications... after I recorded the details of what I was experiencing and was unable to come up with no real conclusions about the experience on my own, I EMAIL everything I had written to my T that night. Basically said,.. I have no idea what just happened but I think it means something. Copy & pasted that part of my personal journal into the email message and clicked send.

That was 3 weeks ago, what ever it was, it was over with that night. Now I am wondering... do I now have a new label in my chart? I know my T will not outwardly respond negatively to it, but I am kind of concerned about the whole thing.

I see this as such a great opportunity. IMHO, what happened does mean something, and your instinct is correct. Since you did such a great job writing down what you felt, you may still be able to find some meaning in the experience.

((chaotic)) I'm so sorry T hasn't said anything for 3 weeks. I think I'd burst if that happened to me! I would definitely bring it up with T, and talk about it. As I mentioned above, there are legitimate schools of therapy that pay attention to body sensations, and there is nothing pathological about being aware. If *anything* the fact that you were so aware of the feeling is a positive sign.

[pachyderm]

Originally Posted by chaotic13

I’ve read where some people can actually see these “energy” fields. I’m curious about what you all think about this concept. Do you think it is just another description of intuition? Just part of our ability to interpret body language and more subtle communication cues?

Yes.


The concept of actual energy fields is bunk.

[MissCharlotte]

Well, I definitely believe this concept is true and although T and I have not discussed this directly, he encourages me to work from a feeling state rather than the intellectual realm. I would think that the "energy" you felt came from a feeling state that you have difficulty labeling. When I am in a child state is not unusual for me to have a hard time matching words to feelings.

Why don't you just ask T about it in-session if you are worried?

Yeah-I know, simplistic.

:Heart:

[Lenny]

Originally Posted by pachyderm

The concept of actual energy fields is bunk.

I am curious pachyderm,,not in any way malitious..
We are typing here because of a magnectic field created by dense iron atoms..without this field we would fry like eggs upon a hot stove...from the inside out...

This field is the product of non living particles..

Why are living entities built of similar atoms precluded from field creation?

Lenny

[BP1961]

I've experienced a lot of this over the years - especially relating to "feeling" energy from others. Some are very warm, others are cold or mean. It's not always sensed from every person you meet - perhaps because not all people are strong with giving out their energy. I have a dear friend who's a writer and believes in drawing and giving energy and "light" - it has done wonders for her. Myself, I think whatever you do for spiritual help of any kind can work for you. Interesting subject!:Clever:

[chaotic13]

Originally Posted by SpottedOwl

Waking the Tiger' by Peter Levine, and he explained how the body responds to trauma.

I checked out this reference and put it on my reading list.

I know what you mean about feeling like I'm going to explode.

This is definitely a good description of the sensation. I'm not really good at tuning in to what emotions I am experiencing at the time, but I am aware of what sensations my body is feeling. On this particular occasion I remember golfing that evening and my skin was just tingling and the hair on my arms was standing on end. I know it sounds egotistical but I was freak'en killing the ball (driving the ball dead straight 240 yrs). I haven't hit the ball consistently like that since having my kids. Unfortunately, in this hyper state I couldn't control my short game but..that's not the point. What was a bit scary was that I just wanted to crush everyone in the foursome (even my own teammate). All I can say is thank God that night I was play with a group of very laid back, non-confrontational ladies. I was able to focus and release my pent up aggression on the ball and not on one of them. I REALLY had trouble controlling myself that night, even later when my kids wanted me to watch TV with them. This is when I realized I needed to breathe and get myself under control.

When I started to write about what I was experiencing, my first thought was, is this some medication issue? But I don't think so because I wasn't taking anything new, didn't take it at a different time, didn't have any alcohol, and have not experience any side-effects for either medication. As I started to analyze the response I determined that it started subtly during therapy, but I couldn't link it to anything in particular. I have had similar experiences but this one was more intense than I recall the others being. Since this episode I've noted a few quick flashes of the same sensations but they dissipated almost immediately.

IMHO, what happened does mean something, and your instinct is correct.

Part of me believes this also. However my intellectual side is also suggesting that it may have been just a random thing that happened and I connected it to therapy when it is not really related at all. Whatever it was my body now seems better able to avoid hooking in to the response and perpetuating it. I'm just more curious about it more than anything at this point.

I'm so sorry T hasn't said anything for 3 weeks. I think I'd burst if that happened to me!

I was bursting that night. I wanted to drive to therapy at that night and discuss the situation and brainstorm about it. But it wasn't possible, so I tried my best to record the experience and share it. As for my T not responding, IDK. In my message I made it clear that I was OK, so I didn't NEED a reply. I assume she got the message and thought either: a) "wow, I have no idea what this is about and don't even want to speculate about it." or b) "I've seen this type of response before, its best to dissect it face-to-face in the next session." I am proud of myself of not dwelling on this experience and letting my brain judge it as something negative. I'm just starting to get a little nervous about it now because my appointment is finally approaching this week.

...there is nothing pathological about being aware. If *anything* the fact that you were so aware of the feeling is a positive sign.

SpottedOwl, thank this is probably what I need to focus on more at this point.

[chaotic13]

BP1961, I hear ya. I definitely feel peoples negativity or when they are just bursting with positivity. I'm not sure if this is me really detecting some energy field they are emitting or if it might just be some act of my brain's right hemisphere reacting to something else.

I am definitely one who can sense the general mood in a room. I also know that with my H, I have a clear and immediate viseral response when his anger shifts from being simply a rant to a clear and present danger of instability. This I sense even when I am not even in a direct line of sight or within earshot of what is happening. After last year, I now know when I feel this I need to drop everything, immediately find my kids, and take action to diffuse whatever is going on. Luckily this hasn't happened recently, but this awareness is alway there.

Lenny,
Good point, on the molecular level even things in a solid state are in motion and have energy. If science has proven that our cells respond and alter their function when exposed to all kinds of energy (heat, light, sound, electrical), why wouldn't we also be sensative and respond to energy emitted from other living organisims?

[MissCharlotte]

'Waking the Tiger' by Peter Levine,

I read this way back when I began therapy. It was helpful. I like Levine's work because it allows me to wrap my scientific mind around things--giving explanations to the often unexplainable.

[pachyderm]

Originally Posted by Lenny

We are typing here because of a magnectic field created by dense iron atoms...

That is one of the reasons we can type here. Magnetic fields that can be detected at any considerable distance from their source are due to magnetic domains that are lined up preferentially in the same direction...

Why are living entities built of similar atoms precluded from field creation?

The fields around the many atoms are oriented in random directions and the sum of them cancels and is essentially not detectable at any great distance.

I was trained as a physicist. That is the background for my orientation on the matter. Any idea that there are actual physical fields around people that can be detected by other people near them is one of those new-age ideas created by people who want to believe in something, not by people who actually know anything. If you disagree, find me scientific evidence for the existence of those fields (not something created in Photoshop) and detected by people by unaided sensory means.

The existence of such physical fields is not needed to explain how people with regular sense perceptions can understand things about other people by seeing and hearing their actions and words...

That is my unkind dogmatic stance for today (unless I see other posts that I feel the need to reply to in a similar dogmatic way).

[Lenny]

Originally Posted by pachyderm

The fields around the many atoms are oriented in random directions and the sum of them cancels and is essentially not detectable at any great distance.

What if I was able to allign them and focus them...a particle beam weapon maybe?...Funny...but they were science fiction just a few yeas back..not any more.

You are entitled to your dogma sir..it is well earned I'm sure...LOL

I have a bit of training in the subject myself and my signature basically states my "opinion". This includes laws.

I know enough of science to know that what I know today is history tomorrow...

And if you would like a little (and I do mean very short book)..reading,,read a book entitled "ONE" by Orest. It is out of print now..copyrighted in 1977.

Orest was the lead mathematician for the Appolo moon project. When that project concluded he was given a lab in NM and given the assignment of finding out what matter was...3 years into the project he quit and published this book..He became a good freind. Nothing new age about this man,,"just the facts mam" kind of guy.

In essence...we are all the same...

IMHO.

Lenny

[Kiya]

My former t (the one I just visited with after 2 years) used to talk to me about this stuff all the time. Expecially when i dissociated, she'd use this topic to bring me back.

Originally Posted by chaotic13

I am interested in how many of you hold the belief that we each emit energy and that that energy can be felt / perceived by others or can affect our environment.

I’m sort of interested in this concept. I’ve read where some people can actually see these “energy” fields. I’m curious about what you all think about this concept. Do you think it is just another description of intuition? Just part of our ability to interpret body language and more subtle communication cues?

I guess I am just curious about when my body seems to detect one thing, but my brain or conscious thoughts seem to be picking up something else. I get this disconnect a lot especially with therapy and am just interested in it.

If you seem to be a person who perceives the existence of these energy fields… have you ever talked about it with your T? What kind of response did you get? Did you end up getting another pathology label added to your medical chart, LOL?

[Kiya]

"If you disagree, find me scientific evidence for the existence of those fields (not something created in Photoshop) and detected by people by unaided sensory means."

If you take 2 wire coat hangers and turn them into divining rods by straigtening them out and putting a handle on them like a cardboard tube so the wires move freely and look like 2 L's.... and hold the pointed straight while walking toward another person, they will cross when they reach the person's energy.

[sunrise]

Originally Posted by chaotic13

I am interested in how many of you hold the belief that we each emit energy and that that energy can be felt / perceived by others or can affect our environment.

I do feel changes in my own energy. I also feel that some energy is positive and some is negative. I think sometimes I can feel the energy of another person, but maybe it is just what we call a person's "presence" and a sensitivity to his or her mood. I'm very sensitive to what people are feeling. I can't see people's energy and I have heard talk of "auras" but I have no understanding of that or firsthand experience of it. I went through a time in therapy when I was able to stop trying to hold back my feelings. When I stopped doing that, I realized that I was always going through life expending a huge amount of energy to "contain." When I stopped doing that, I suddenly had all of this energy to do something positive with. It was totally great! I did feel a real shift in my energy then. I felt like I had less negative energy and lots more positive. I had a talk with T one day about that, and he said he had detected a change in my energy too, so I guess he didn't think I was too wacko. And then we talked the rest of the time about Energy Psychology, which he has some training in but doesn't practice, and we also discussed other mind-body therapies. He told me about how applying pressure through touch on these key points that lie on the body's "meridia" can release negative energy and tension in the client. He said these are the same meridia used in acupuncture. I really don't know what he was talking about, but he sounded like he believed it, and I know acupuncture can be very effective, often when western medical techniques are not. With my recent experience at letting go of my own negative energy, it sounded plausible. I guess when I say I was expending a lot of energy to contain my feelings, I mean emotional energy. It's hard work to do that (exhausting!), and work requires energy. And if I stop using up my emotional energy on that particular work, it frees it up to do something more productive, something positive. It made me feel so much more powerful! Recently I felt I could not continue a particular meeting because of the negative energy in the room. So I tried to fix that, with limited success, lol. So I am trying to be more sensitive to things like this. I am not sure "energy" is the best word to describe what I am sensing, but it is a good enough word for it.

I too have read Waking the Tiger, about trauma. I think my T recommended it to me the very first session we had together. The energy stuff in it seemed really far out to me--it might be interesting for me to go back and read it now, almost 2 years later. But there is a lot in that book that is not energy theory, such as the theory of trauma based on examples drawn from the animal kingdom. I really liked that part, and it helped me understand my own freeze/stuck response to trauma in my past.

chaotic, I hope you will explore this more with your therapist. Anytime you are "bursting" to discuss something with your therapist is an opportunity not to be missed. There is potential to learn much and explore areas that were previously inaccessible. Go for it!

[ujaz]

Not sure if I'd call it energy fields but our thinking brings more of the same towards us. The darker you get inside, the darker a world you see. Counterwise the more optemistic the better the world looks. Our attitude decides what we notice, self fulfilling professies & all that. People see & notice things that validate there own ideas & fail to notice what disagrees. This can give apearences of vibes/energy/fields ect with no spooky crap needed.

[pachyderm]

Originally Posted by Kiya

...wire coat hangers...

[seeker1950]

Hello,
I have a best friend who believes there are "auras" people emit. I have never seen an aura from another person, nor has she. I think some of this is "hype" from people who claim to be psychic.
On the other hand, I have had one very profound feeling of energy near a tree that had a huge overhanging branch. It was a very old tree, and I sensed something traumatic had occurred there. I couldn't even stand under the branch, the feeling was so overwhelming. And I was just in a park near my home, and certainly not looking for any such experience, nor at the time did I even know of energy fields.
Moving to the present, I long to travel to Gettysburg. Many people say they feel the "aura" there, and I am curious to see if I have the same experience.
As for feeling energy or an aura from individuals, I do not. The very least I have learned to do is to "listen to my gut" ....something I have ignored to my peril in the past!
Patty

[chaotic13]

Thanks everyone for your comments on this phenomenon. I'm not sure what I believe. I guess like most things I will remain skeptical but open-minded. I know at times something sets my nervous system on high alter and during these times I feel some really weird sensations. Maybe these are related to energy fields, just some kind of generic body memories, or a residual effect a systematic surge in neurotransmitter concentrations. I think I will just continue to try and more aware internal and external conditions in which these sensations occur and see if I can eventually figure it out. Maybe it is totally unrelated to therapy or life events at all.

Sunrise said:
I went through a time in therapy when I was able to stop trying to hold back my feelings. When I stopped doing that, I realized that I was always going through life expending a huge amount of energy to "contain."

I think I struggle with this type of containment also. I don't deliberately do it, but I also don't seem to be able to get myself to throw caution to the window either. I guess eventually I'll figure things out--its a process RIGHT :-)