Is that 'energy work'?

I was manning our information table at the Atlanta Yoga Conference the other day when someone asked me, “Do you do energy work?” It's a question I've been asked many times in the past, and it seems simple enough, but my answer has changed several times over the last twelve years.

Initially, when I first began practicing, my answer to this question was a resounding, “No.” I didn't want to associate myself with “energy workers.” My stance was based on the ambiguity I perceived in most of the energy work that I had observed and experienced. This is not to say that it was in any way invalid. At that point, my focus was really in the physical and physiological realm, and I wasn't quite sure how energy tied into it. I also felt the term had a stigma associated with it that my mainstream clientele might shun.

After some time practicing, my answer shifted to, “Everything is energy work.” That was a pretty safe statement based on the fact that all physical matter, broken down to the molecular, atomic and subatomic levels, essentially is energy. I believe Einstein's famous E = MC 2 , supports this theory. Therefore, even if you are working in the physical realm, you are doing energy work, that is, if in fact Einstein's theory is true.

As I learned more and developed as a practitioner, I began to see how the tension that people held in their bodies was stuck, or stored energy. Through the physical, albeit extremely light, contacts I employed in my work, I could help the body to release that stuck tension, or energy. One could argue that this is indeed energy work.

In the last several years, I have come to realize the significance of energy and one's ability to really work with it. Given my former resistance, it's almost ironic that one of the main goals I have in working with clients is to help them become aware of their own energy.

While the physical matter that makes up our flesh and blood is really just energy, there is also a different energy that animates our physical body. You could think of the components of a light bulb, glass and filament, as your physical body. Obviously, without the electrical energy running through the filament, the bulb would not illuminate.

As human beings, we also have an energy that runs through, illuminates and animates us to the state we describe as life. If that energy becomes interrupted or blocked, the expression of life is inhibited. If it were to become completely blocked, there would be no life. Fortunately for us, it's not an all or nothing proposition. What is unfortunate is that most people are at least partially blocked.

After all this time I am still amazed to see the body take my input, consisting of light contacts and specific positioning, and reorganize itself to the point that it can dissipate stuck tension and energy. What's even more amazing is seeing how this release of energy can enhance a person's experience of life.

So now when I'm asked if I do energy work, I pause for a moment, smile and say, “Yes.”