For several weeks, we’ve been delving into the “what” and the “why” of working with energy – so the “how” becomes easier.

In Part I, I outlined what could be happening when we experience involuntary bodily responses to surges of energy during our meditations. And in Part II, I answered some common questions from people who might judge their practice for not having those types of experiences – as well as from those who want to learn more about how to work with energy when it moves.

In this final post in the series, I’m going to review some simple steps you can apply to deepen your practice – and evolve your experience.


Focus on Effort – Not Outcomes

If working with energy is a real area of challenge for you, keep in mind the ability to surrender is a learning process. It’s give-and-take. It’s always going to change. It’s why we call it a practice.

In my last post, I talked about how this is an ongoing experiment – and you have plenty of time to encounter the full range of experience. Remember, there’s no such thing as a bad meditation. Many times, it’s simply you overcoming you. That’s the lesson: to know thyself.

So, whatever happens – whether you have a surprising encounter with energy, or not – don’t judge or overanalyze your experience or compare it to others’. Reflect on what you’ve realized about yourself in your meditation, and then – go again.

Here’s a short and simple practicum:

• It’s important to incorporate what you’ve learned about yourself into your next meditation.
  • Just as we do with our Morning and Evening Meditations – where we set intentions every morning, then reflect on how we did at the end of the day and decide what we’d change if we had another chance tomorrow – reflect on each of your meditations and mentally rehearse what you’re going to do differently next time.

• Next – and this is a hard one for all of us – don’t try to reproduce the same experience. Because repetition and predictability are impossible in the quantum.

• The phenomenon is not the goal. Try not to get caught up in what is – or isn’t – happening in your meditation. You’re not doing your meditations to bring about this type of external result; you’re doing your meditations to change yourself and thus, create changes in your life.

• Bring yourself back to the present moment. Surrender is about letting go of expectations or trying to control the outcome. When you find yourself slipping back into the familiar past, or jumping ahead to anticipate the predictable future, catch yourself and bring yourself back, again and again. That’s mastering the moment – as well as mastering some aspect of yourself. And it’s a skill. The more you practice it, the better you get.

• Finally, be patient with yourself. Impatience breeds impatience. Our innate survival systems have been part of our subconscious programming for generations. Those programs are the known. It makes sense that it might take some time to get used to working with something new – and that it’s not going to look anything like what you expect. That’s the unknown.

The ‘Quantum Surprise’

Another question that often arises has to do with experiencing sudden and surprising energy surges outside of your meditation practice – and whether this is “normal.”

I hope it’s reassuring when I say I see this all the time – and I’ve experienced it many times myself. At our retreats, we laugh about the idea of it coming “like a thief in the night” – in other words, when you least expect it.

It makes sense a lot of us first experience energy movement in our meditations, especially if we’re new to the work. When we’re meditating, we’ve created a space for our practice; we’re relaxed and awake – lingering in a liminal state of theta brain waves, where the body is in a light sleep and the mind is awake; we’re open and suggestible to information – that is, to new possibilities in the unknown.

It may seem jarring, then, to rise from a meditation that seemed unremarkable – only to be surprised by a massive wave of energy rising hours or days later, in the midst of your everyday life. There you are, standing at the sink doing the dishes while moving your body to music that you love; or sitting at the dinner table after a meal; or relaxing on the couch after a day of hiking, yard work, or horseback riding. In that state, after a day of physical exertion, you’re half-awake and half-asleep. And then – boom. Energy starts moving.

In other words, by doing the work every day, you have been creating your future – and that commitment to your practice ultimately led to that experience.

If any of this were predictable, it would be the known. But, as you’ve learned, predictability is impossible in the quantum. And the quantum isn’t something we access only in meditation. It’s everywhere, all the time. It’s all around us. And every interaction with it is surprising in some way – because that’s its very nature.

That’s why I keep saying it’s unexpected, to remind you not to analyze your efforts just because the intended result hasn’t happened yet – and encourage you to constantly stay curious about the unknown. Don’t limit the experience to occurring only during your meditation. Stay open to the idea that it can happen when you least expect it – anytime.

So, if you suddenly find yourself feeling that rising wave of energy, you may have a choice to make – depending on the situation and depending on how much you’ve developed your practice. Do you surrender to it and go with it? Or do you try to redirect it in that moment, and stay present to the circumstances in your environment? For example, if it happens when your child has a friend over for a play date, it might not be the right time.

I’ve had numerous moments when I woke up early in the morning and got out of bed to do something ... then went back to bed to go back to sleep ... and, as I was relaxing and starting to drift away, energy started moving in my body. And along with it came a profound moment. I wasn’t ever expecting it – or even looking for it.

The important thing to understand is, it can happen anytime, anywhere – when you’re in the right state and when you least expect it. Our brain research using functional MRIs shows that when you don’t expect it, the unexpected happens.


The Act Creates the Experience

If, as we reviewed in Part II, you catch yourself reacting or contracting when you feel energy move – during your meditation or throughout your waking day – because it’s so unfamiliar and surprising, don’t judge yourself or your practice. Remember, this is an opportunity to learn something about you.

Or, if you find yourself comparing your practice to someone else’s, ask yourself if you might be trying too hard because you want the experience so badly. If someone else is having a big moment, why not celebrate it – and remind yourself that your moment is coming? And then, bring your attention back to your own intentions for your own work.

Whatever challenges arise for you, remind yourself: this is a practice. You’re gathering important information for the next experiment. It always happens when it’s the right time for you. That’s the unknown.

In other words, when you’re so lost in what you’re doing, the act itself creates the experience.

I’ve seen so many people, at what feels like the lowest point on the path, struggling with self-criticism, over analysis, and resistance. And then – they just go for it one more time. They bring themselves back to the present moment, and they go again. And suddenly, they have a breakthrough.

When we let go and just do it – without trying to produce an outcome – we surrender. That’s the moment we release all expectation. That’s when we’re finally free to experience the unknown.

This is an ongoing process. It takes discipline; it takes commitment; it takes curiosity; it takes patience. It takes willingness to work with the unknown – and accepting that it’s never going to happen the way we expect, or the way we want it to.

More than anything, it’s about our effort. And when we’re consistently satisfied with that, it no longer becomes about trying to create a result. When we’re happy with our effort, and pleased with ourselves, we no longer feel the lack of not having the experience. That’s when the magic begins. And the paradox of the mystery reveals itself to us.