I have a few questions about energy raising and chakra stimulation.

[Jarrod]

I've been doing energy raising and chakra stimulation as described by Robert Bruce for a few weeks now and I have some questions I'd like to ask more experienced people.  Currently I can't actually feel much of what's going on when I do these exercises.  I can feel a slight sensation like a more prolonged shiver (rabbit running down your spine) but nothing definite or precise or localized.  I've never been very energetically sensitive.  I can make rather week psiballs and feel them pretty well with my hands but that's the only way I can feel energy really well.  Does energy raising and chakra stimulation still work if you can't feel what's going on?  I mean, is it just the focus that's required, or do you need to feel it too?  Can I expect my sensitivity to energy to increase as I keep doing these exercises?  And is a person's level of sensitivity to spiritual energy directly connected to their level of chakra development?

I'd also like to clarify my understanding of the actual chakras themselves.  So, there are 7 major chakras in the upper body and many more little ones running all the way down to your feet.  The natural path of energy through your body is up through your feet and out your head.  And you can develop them with energy work or dealing with your emotional issues or even through physical practices like yoga.  The major chakras and their correlations go thus:

Name         Physical location      Emotion it deals with     Emotional blockage                                                            Element
Base          - base of spine         - survival                   - fear                                                                              - Earth
Sacral        - groin area             - pleasure                   - guilt (concerning own perception of self)                             - Water
Solar Plexis  - stomach              - will                          - shame (concerning how others see you)                              - Fire
Heart         - heart...duh           - love                         - grief                                                                              - Air
Throat        - throat                 - truth                        - lies/deception (of self and others, relative to own perception) - ?
Third Eye    - center of forehead - insight                      - illusion (relative to absolute truths)                                    - ?
Crown        - top of head           - ?                         - ?                                                                             - ?

Is all that pretty much right?  Sorry to ask so many questions

[Stookie]

I would start with simple energy work and being able to feel it before moving onto chakras. When starting energy work, it's best to start with your feet, and do like Bruce suggests with the wrapping and brushing and sponging, making sure to cover every part of the skin/surface, muscles, tissue, tendons, bones. If you're properly engaging your awareness, you should start to feel it. It may be tingly at first, and even move up to feeling fluid. Then you want to use the same techniques to draw that feeling up into your ankles. Don't move further until you feel it move it's way up. If you're not feeling much, move back down to your feet and start from there again. The better you get at feeling it, the more you'll be able to move it upwards and also recognize blockages, as the energy tends to get "stuck" and not move through those places.

When you can move it through your legs and hands and arms and back and head and chest and organs & muscles & tissue without much blockage, start doing full-body circuits.

But in my case, yes, it's important to feel it, and feeling it is directly associated with awareness.

Anyone, feel free to include anything I may have left out.

[Jarrod]

Thanks Stookie.  It does feel a little silly doing it without feeling much of anything.  I haven't actually read any of Bruce's books, just an online article he wrote, so I'm not sure what you mean by wrapping and brushing and sponging.  Is that using the tactile awareness, like the awareness of a body part that thinking about touching it with your hand automatically causes?  So I just need to be aware of my feet like that, outside and inside, until I start to feel something?  And should my feet be on the ground when I do that or does it really matter where they are?

[Stookie]

I don't think it matters where your feet are, but it's mostly recommended to not keep your arms or legs crossed. Either sitting in a chair or lying down is fine. Here's his directions on tactile sensations (wrapping, brushing, etc.):

http://www.astraldynamics.com/home/new-energy-ways/using-new-full-tutorial/76-part-5-energy-body-stimulation.html

and here's the full tutorial:

http://www.astraldynamics.com/home/new-energy-ways/using-new-full-tutorial.html

Don't skip any steps. 

[personalreality]

i'm of the other camp, that all you need is to focus your attention there.

the sensations come in time.  your sensitivity will increase with practice as well.  i know RB says you can do it anytime, but i found that the sensations were stronger if i did it in a light trance/meditation.

[Stookie]

That's what tactile imagery is for - it's like a trick to force your awareness to that particular area. It's all about awareness and localizing it where you choose to. I'm one of those people that do it while standing in lines sometimes. Even if energy work isn't really "energy", it's still an amazing practice with awareness and becoming more aware of every part of your body, in and out. By routinely moving awareness through every part of your body helps you become more aware of all kinds of subtle things that you normally wouldn't. I suppose most metaphysical practices do, but in this case it's deliberate and to the point.

And the tactile awareness is just at the beginning for learning the accompanied sensations. As you become familiar with the sensations, all you have to do is think about them to bring them back without all the other work.

But yes, relaxed in a light trance is probably the best.

[Jarrod]

Stookie, you mentioned moving the feeling around in my hands and arms also.  So can I draw it into my body through my hands or since the path of energy is supposed to be from the feet up should I always start at the feet and move to other places in my body from there?

[Jarrod]

I read those articles and did the first big toe exercise, and then remembered that for the past month or so, for some reason, when I wake up in the morning both my big toes are slightly numb.  Think that has to do with something energetic or maybe just some other random physical cause?

[Stookie]

Stookie, you mentioned moving the feeling around in my hands and arms also.  So can I draw it into my body through my hands or since the path of energy is supposed to be from the feet up should I always start at the feet and move to other places in my body from there?

I would just follow Bruce's instructions exactly as he has them on his site. You start with you feet and draw it up from there, and you can do your hands and arms the same way. When you move onto the full body circuit, the energy you bring up from your feet you have meet with the energy coming through your arms at your shoulders. But you should get comfortable with the sensations and general movement before you start that. Bruce has more detailed description on his site.

[Jarrod]

Wow.  I did it the way Bruce explains a few times on my feet and I can feel my awareness moving around in my toes now    I like actually feeling it.  It makes it seem much more real.

[Stookie]

Awesome! Keep it up and start working towards a full-body circuit and get rid of any blockages and be on your way to working on chakras. Take your time and be sure to enjoy the process.

[CFTraveler]

Just to add a couple of things  about the metaphysical elements and the energy centers-
The heart center is the axis of the energy body, the center which is supposed to combine the lower and higher chakras, so even though the 'main' element is supposed to be air, it is supposed to have all the elements in it, since the heart usually doesn't work 'all by itself'.  When you feel love there can also be things like sexual interaction (water) and if you are jealous there is both mental (third eye) and power-solar plexus (fire) involvement.  The heart center is about expressing higher energy (Love with a capital L) with lower energy- expressed love in the earth, since love is usually expressed, not just felt.
The throat combines air and vibration to cause voice, so it would be mostly air, and any other element depending on what you are talking about (your emotions as you talk, etc.)  For example, if you're angry there would be some fire in the mix, etc.
As to the third eye and crown elements, the element would be akasha or quintessence- which is not necessarily physical, although it exists in all the elements.  These are the chakras that pertain to thinking and god-consciousness, so the element is abstract.

That's it, I think.

[personalreality]

that was a really good job at explaining the heart center cft.

i always make that sound so complicated that i get confused.

[Jarrod]

I still don't really understand the elements.  I mean, what's the reasoning behind them? All things physical are supposed to be composed of the four elements right, but why four, and why those four?  Is that just the old classical understand and they're mostly thought of as symbolic categories now?

[Xanth]

I still don't really understand the elements.  I mean, what's the reasoning behind them? All things physical are supposed to be composed of the four elements right, but why four, and why those four?  Is that just the old classical understand and they're mostly thought of as symbolic categories now?

Whoa... now you've gone back to the dark ages. 

Obviously things aren't "created" using the "four elements".  That's old world, medieval education as far as I'm concerned.

We know that what we see as the objects infront of us are comprised of atoms.  Even the four elements.
Then those atoms are broken down into smaller constituents, then those are broken down even further.

[CFTraveler]

I still don't really understand the elements.  I mean, what's the reasoning behind them? All things physical are supposed to be composed of the four elements right, but why four, and why those four?  Is that just the old classical understand and they're mostly thought of as symbolic categories now?

The elements are physical representations of metaphysical concepts- the idea behind them is that everything that exists has four main characteristics, and this is because everything physical is a representation of the divine, or unmanifest.
The four characteristics are:  Radiation (that is, the movement 'outward'), heat (which is radiant) and the element used to describe it is fire.
Then you have Inflow, also known as 'water'.  That is, the inflowing movement of matter.  It is cold (the opposite of radiant-heat) magnetic (that is, attractive).
I'll continue the elements in another post, I just wanted to clarify (due to Xanth's post) that these 'elements' are not physical elements that compose matter, like the chemical elements of science, rather they are metaphysical elements that are used for metaphysical pursuits, which I will clarify at the end of the post, since it may get more complicated.

[CFTraveler]

The second pair of elements are actually the result of what the previous elements do; fire radiates, water attracts (or rather, is the inward movement of attraction- a concept and a movement).  These are:
Air- which is what an element does when it radiates outward- it loses all cohesion, and becomes air, or almost nonmaterial energy, and
Earth- which is the result of what happens when matter has coalesced completely- earth is the solidity of matter, what happens when matter has inflowed as much as it can, it is solid, and solidity is earth. 

[CFTraveler]

Ok, I explained the four elements, I'll leave akasha or quintessence for last.
Why four?  Maybe because the ancients couldn't find another primordial type of force other than four- out to nonsolid, in to solid.  This pretty much describes nature in the way it's affected by energy, and the possible reason they picked four is because nature seems to divide things in four (or rather, humans seem to perceive the world in fours- four cardinal points, (N,S, E, W) four dimensions (height, width, depth, and time)- so they might have decided that matter was divided in four elemental ways of existing, according to their intellect.
Now, the most interesting element IMO is quintessence, which literally means 'fifth essence'- it is the unmanifest in manifestation, this (ethereal) quality that is present in all physical objects, because in ancient philosophy the spiritual becomes the physical- so it is possible for alchemists to extract this quintessence that is present in anything physical, by manipulating the characteristics of matter.

Now in western magic, the idea is that since matter 'contains' all four elements in some measure (a solid object is heavy with earth, but will have some of the other elements depending on what the object is) the value of elements is that if you can manipulate these elements with your mind, you can also manipulate them in matter, to achieve whatever the desired effect is.
In energy work for example, you are manipulating the desired elements in your body to create a desired effect in your body, if you so choose.

Some eastern medicine uses ideas very similar to these for healing, and it seems to work for them.

[Xanth]

The elements are physical representations of metaphysical concepts- the idea behind them is that everything that exists has four main characteristics, and this is because everything physical is a representation of the divine, or unmanifest.
The four characteristics are:  Radiation (that is, the movement 'outward'), heat (which is radiant) and the element used to describe it is fire.
Then you have Inflow, also known as 'water'.  That is, the inflowing movement of matter.  It is cold (the opposite of radiant-heat) magnetic (that is, attractive).
I'll continue the elements in another post, I just wanted to clarify (due to Xanth's post) that these 'elements' are not physical elements that compose matter, like the chemical elements of science, rather they are metaphysical elements that are used for metaphysical pursuits, which I will clarify at the end of the post, since it may get more complicated.

*phew* I was hoping he wasn't talking about physical things.
Thanks you CFT. 

[Jarrod]

So what's the purpose of retaining the elemental categories? nostalgia? haha.  I've been busy with mid-terms and haven't had a free moment to breathe, let alone practice feeling my feet, but now I'm free for the weekend   Awareness targeting practice time here I come.

[CFTraveler]

Not nostalgia, practicality- if something works it just works.   Elements (aka hermetic elements) are a way of focusing your ability to affect reality- in terms of magic.
For example, the whole idea of using them is to connect with these primordial forces and use them - in theory, if an object is connected to an element,  you can use it as a way to use the element in question to connect with the object and do something with it.
Metaphysically speaking, it goes something like this:
We're supposed to be able to affect reality, but we don't always know how to do it, because it takes having a belief (which is the same as attaching emotion to an intention in terms of manifestation)-to effect some sort of change.
But, if you can use elemental energy in your own practice, you can use the element as that connection to your creative ability and use it as a focus- sort of like when you use an object such as a talisman and program it with intention, or when you use the more mental form of manifestation, which involves changing your beliefs to match what you want, something which is much more difficult, especially if you have deeply ingrained beliefs against such things.
That's what ritual is for, also- another way to attach something external to your innate creative capability.

I can use this in a different, more 'mundane' way if you don't 'cotton' to the whole magic-manifestation mentality (which is a real basic metaphysical offshoot, IMO).
Suppose you have a pain in your leg, from too much exercise.  The doctor will give you a cold pack (water element-flowing, cool) to help soothe a tired muscle, and depending on the reason for the pain (inflammation- heat) it will alleviate the pain.
This is not magic, this is a simple application of the elemental characteristics to heal- inflammation is hot, and cooling alleviates it.  Water balances fire.
Now, when it comes to magic, the correspondence of these principles can be used then in  meditation or energy work for healing also, and it's been reported time and time again that it works.
So, whatever works, works.

[Stookie]

Very well explained. Thanks for that CF!

[Jarrod]

So what's the purpose of retaining the elemental categories? nostalgia? haha.  I've been busy with mid-terms and haven't had a free moment to breathe, let alone practice feeling my feet, but now I'm free for the weekend    Awareness targeting practice time here I come.

sorry CF.  I hadn't realized this thread had developed a second page when I posted that so I hadn't read your post before it, but they are very informative.  I think I need to read them a few more times before my brain fully comprehends all that though. haha.  So the elements are a model for understanding how things in nature work and can be used to understand and work with everything from sprained ankles to spiritual energy, just like our concept of the structure of the atom is a model of mater that we can use to understand and work with it in things like chemistry and physics.  Atoms aren't really exactly like they look in a textbook but thinking about them in that way allows us to work with matter, and the world isn't composed of the elements (metaphysical) literally but the concept allows us to work with it in useful ways.

and I'm not opposed to the idea of magical manifestation.  I've just never seen it work that way.  I've seen a guy levitate a chair, but he wouldn't have described it as magic.  He'd call it psychic ability.  But then I guess magic and psychic ability are kind of overlapping terms used to describe different ways of understanding and working with the same thing.  My experiences with people who do "magic" just haven't been all that thrilling.  Usually they seem to be more concerned with the ritual and or religious aspect than actual useful abilities or results.  No offense to people who practice magic, I'm sure there are plenty of amazing practitioners I've just never met.

Wow this thread has diverged all over the place.  Okay Jarrod, stop wasting time by contemplating things that don't matter yet because you haven't developed the ability to feel them yet and get to work on developing at your current level.

[Jarrod]

Okay this is annoying.  I did the awareness targeting exercises in my feet for a few days and it seemed like my feet remembered, or were more receptive the next day and on the third day I actually felt a physical sensation where my awareness was targeting in my big toes and I was able to move it around.  But then I had a few exam days at school and didn't practice for a few days and the last two days I've practiced I can't feel the physical sensation again.  I can tell where my awareness is and kind of feel something but it's annoyingly just below being an actual physical sensation.  My feet do feel slightly tingly for a few minutes after I practice though.  So my question is this; is awareness targeting exercise like physical exercise, can your energy body atrophy if you go a period of time without stimulating it, so the exercises won't do much good if I don't do them every day?

[CFTraveler]

Your nerves physically react to targeting- so everything will not be the same every time you do it.  So many variables- your attention, your getting used to the feeling, blocks unblocking, nerves being affected by circulation, position, etc.   There will be days where you feel nothing at all, and days where you will be buzzing with feeling.
So there's no 'one' answer- just know that even if you feel very little, something is happening.