Have you ever noticed how "control" has a couple very different meanings? There's "having control" and there's also "being controlling." The former lets you navigate your world with a certain amount of success (whatever that means to you). The latter type can destroy your happiness if you're not careful. (There's also Janet Jackson's version of "Control," but that's a different story altogether.)
I want to call out this important difference because a big part of the work that I do is about gaining control your energy. But not in a "controlling" way. For example, let's say you'd like to release the energy of a toxic relationship you feel keeps you stuck in the past. You don't have to mentally control or "process" the meaning of a certain type of energy in order to change your relationship to it.
In other words, we never ever have to wait to feel healthy or experience joy. We can shift our energy first, and our brain and body will quite naturally respond to that shift. They're actually designed to do so.
Why managing your energy works
According to medical intuitive Caroline Myss, "What drains your spirit drains your body. And what fuels your spirit fuels your body." Sounds simple enough, but give that a minute to sink in: Your body is the effect of the decisions you make and the actions you take. Your health is directly impacted by your choices--which include your thoughts, your intentions, your beliefs. It's all part of the bigger picture.
Myss also says this: "Your emotions reside physically in your body and interact with your cells and tissues." In other words, our emotions aren't "out there" somewhere. They literally form part of our physical makeup. Energy expresses as matter.
You're an alchemist. You just don't know it yet.
To truly transform your health, you can't afford to merely manage the symptoms. You have to go to the source and interact with your energy. There's a term for that process: It's called alchemy. It means changing the very nature of a substance. And if it sounds magical, that's because it is. But you do it all the time--mostly accidentally.
The trick is to bring awareness to the process of alchemy you already participate in, and put it to intentional use. For your health, and for service in the world.
I have profound faith in the tools of alchemy I study and practice--the creative visualization exercises, mindfulness techniques, and healing modalities. All have helped me build a bridge between where I am and where I dream of being. They let me tend to the needs of my physical body while benefiting from the guidance of my energetic awareness.