Flash back to your first crush, your first real love, where the whole universe revolved around him or her. Every breath, every move, every moment an obsession as every love song on the radio spoke directly to you. The sky was bluer, the air was crisper, the food tasted better as the world was happy and harmonious, orbiting around your heart. Then one day he or she dramatically breaks up with you and your perfect world comes crashing down. You spiral into a deep dark hole, so depressed you stay home alone, draw the blinds and turn the lights off. You have zero energy and your apartment quickly becomes a disaster with stuff sprawled all over the floor. You don’t remember taking a bite of anything but you see half-eaten Chinese food and pizza boxes so maybe you cared just enough to dial for delivery. Your friends invite you out but your phone’s been turned off for days. You simply have no energy, the tank running on empty, too tired to deal with anything or anyone. (If you never got to this stage in your late teens or twenties, you’ve surely seen movies describing this scenario).

Then, one day you get the call. Yes, that’s right, the call from the one who dumped you. She’s pouring her heart out on the phone, saying she made the biggest mistake of her life, is still totally in love with you and begging for forgiveness. She pleads, can I come over and see you? How long does it take for you to jump out of bed, clean your apartment in record time, take a shower and get that rosy grin back on your face? Minutes…Seconds?! You’re so overloaded with energy you are tripping over your own feet, humming a tune as you move at breakneck speed. She comes by and you end up talking all night, catching a gorgeous sunrise together and never once yawning as your mind whirls with excitement.

What just happened? Yesterday, you had so little energy you couldn’t even put the half eaten Kung Pao chicken in the fridge and today you could swim to China for more fried rice. You didn’t sleep, you didn’t eat, so where did this energy arise from that carried you through the night?  What was fueling you? We’ve all experienced surges of energy, not necessarily as dramatic as this scenario, but a shift where we feel these powerful tailwinds that elevate us effortlessly. Where does all this energy come from?

The reality is we all have a phenomenal amount of energy inside of us, that is always available to us. It is not fueled by power bars and triple espressos. It is an inner energy ~Innergy~ from within. The reason we don’t always feel it is because we block it, by closing our minds, by shutting down our hearts and creating a restrictive space inside. The energy inherently within you cannot flow naturally, it is trapped in the darkness within you. You blocked it, there is no light, there is no energy, so you go numb and lethargic. Maybe someone ‘broke your heart’ but perhaps a more accurate statement is you ‘blocked your heart’.  It’s like solar panels that cannot get a ray of sunshine.

The above was obviously an extreme example, but the reality is we shift through varying degrees of inner energy all the time. It is channeled through centers we all have in our body and these vibrations resonate within us. Yesterday, your partner called you stupid as you embarrassed him at his company function. He really goes off on you and you shut down, crawling into bed feeling miserable and incompetent. Today, he apologizes profusely, telling you you are far more important than any of his colleagues and he was a complete fool for thinking otherwise, in fact, he is the stupid one.  You celebrate his epiphany with a romantic dinner and dancing and have a pep in your step on the dance floor as if you’re floating on air.  Just 24 hours prior you barely had the energy to brush your teeth and now you could win Dancing with the Stars. We all experience these fluctuations, from low to high or high to low; it’s amazing when we feel enthusiasm, joy and love on the upswing but equally dreadful when we are drained of our own energy source on the downside.  How we internalize and manage our inner energy is critically important and can greatly enhance the quality of our daily life.

The reality is we have the ability to manage this Innergy, controlling the degree of inner energy that emanates within to always keep the channels open. Yes, easier said than done, but possible. Your boss criticizes your work and you shut down; your brother says something mean to you at the family dinner and you close up. External factors challenge us all the time, but we control our personal reaction to these events.  You didn’t have to block your Innergy, you learned to do so over the years to protect yourself, to defend your feelings. You were born with completely open channels and an abundance of energy, just look at the joy from a toddler or young child before lifes experiences taught them to close down. Just as you habitually created this reaction, you can undo it by choosing to stay present, being aware of your thoughts and resisting the urge to attack back. How? Just don’t engage, stay calm and assured within and watch how quickly you diffuse your attacker who wants to escalate. You may say, impossible, I have go to battle! Defend your position by all means, if necessary, but if it’s over a trivial matter, take the high ground and see how quickly your disarm them. Your channels stay open, your Innergy intact, and you stay vibrant and alive – is a small victory for your precious ego that critically important??? Only you can destroy your Innergy.

It is so empowering to witness our inner energy and harness it for positive good in this world. And, yes, it is contagious and spreads to others as they feel your joyous Innergy.  We have all felt a buoyant boost in the presence of certain people and it is a powerful vibration. It is remarkable we are not taught how to harness this in formal education and don’t even have a proper word for it (perhaps Spirit is closest to it). Websters needs to add Innergy to their dictionary but, more importantly, we can all add Innergy to our personal awareness and learn to manage this powerful energy inherent within each of us.