Many of my clients describe themselves as depressed, anxious, or both. Yet, others seem to have depressive or anxious feelings, based on their behavior. While the medical and therapeutic professions can offer significant assistance to people with depression or anxiety, I thought it would be helpful to share my subtle energy perspective on these conditions. Understanding what might lie in the energetic realms affecting these clients can help you better support them with bodywork or other forms of healing—or just a little bit of subtle kindness.
I am not suggesting that anyone substitute an energy analysis for a professional diagnosis or treatment. These conditions are so widespread, however, that it’s important to understand what someone is dealing with from as many viewpoints as possible. In addition, as I’ll be sharing in this column, chances are we will all tussle with a version of depression or anxiety at some point in our own lives. What might we look for if we peer inside these challenging concerns while wearing subtle-energy eyeglasses? Well, we’d be examining the ownership of the causal energies, as well as spin rate and direction. Let me explain.
Obviously, ownership and spin are not factors high on a medical evaluator’s list. I’m using language from the subtle energetic community, which recognizes that energy is simply information that vibrates. Everything in the world, seen and unseen, is composed of energy. Every object, person, idea, or illness, including psychological conditions, exist because information makes it so. Logically, if you alter the information causing or holding a problem in place, you can shift the condition.
Everything is also in constant movement. Absolutely nothing is still. For example, when water vibrates in a specific way, it is solid. If it vibrates differently, that water turns into liquid or gas. This means that we can transform objects, situations, or illnesses by varying vibration. We do this by changing the spin and direction of the subtle or high-and-fast energies, which in turn, affect the physical or measurable energies. Spin refers to which way an energy is moving, as well as the speed of that energy.
From a Traditional Perspective
From a medical perspective, depression and anxiety are complicated conditions. We all feel depressed or anxious at times, but when either state becomes chronic, we need help. Depression can appear as sadness, alienation, nervousness, or a lackadaisical attitude. Again, these might be normal feelings, but not when they last more than two weeks and interfere with daily life.
Serious depression is one of the most common mental disorders in the United States, and most likely, in the world. A person has a nearly 20 percent chance of becoming clinically depressed at some point in their lives. That statistic only describes reported depression, which is rising each year. Think of how many of us fall prey to “down” days or weeks. Overall, there are many types of depression and an equal number of causes, including genetics, childhood abuse, conflict, stressful life events, biochemical imbalances, substance abuse issues, and a range of personal problems.
Nearly one-half of all people battling depression also have an anxiety disorder. While the symptoms of depression and anxiety are similar, they are technically different conditions.1 There are any number of anxiety conditions, but they generally create panic, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, tension, and even dizziness.2 There are dozens of potential causes of anxiety challenges, including genetics, childhood trauma, family or work problems, substance abuse, stressful events, and various physical illnesses.3 Like depression, anxiety can be hard to treat. And, as with depression, many of us have moments or weeks of anxiety that we don’t seek help for, mainly because we’re overwhelmed or embarrassed.
There are multiple allopathic methods for remedying depression and anxiety. These include prescription medication, psychotherapy, dietary and lifestyle changes, and relaxation therapy. At certain times in my life, I’ve struggled with anxiety and frequently found relief in therapy, diet changes, exercise, meditation, and spiritual activities. But I’ve also supported myself and clients in making inroads on these conditions, whether they were long- or short-term, with simple subtle energetic adjustments. I’ve found that subtle energy maneuvers can actually boost the effectiveness of many types of allopathic and holistic approaches.
From an Energetic Perspective
If a client shares that they are struggling with depressive or anxious feelings, or simply says they are overwhelmed by challenging emotions, there are two steps I take energetically. First, I can help the client figure out what percentage of the causal energies originated with them or someone else. Second, I can evaluate the direction and speed of their “energetic spin,” the movement of subtle energy in their body.
The first issue, relating to the ownership of the challenging energy, is unique to the subtle energetic field. I believe that up to 80 percent of the energy initiating a problem might be absorbed from somewhere, or someone, else. Put into simple terms, we can’t process energy that isn’t our own. Once it’s stuck in our body, it can cause physical, psychological, or spiritual maladies.
The idea that absorbed energies can create internal problems was introduced to me during my 20s. At that time, I was a heavy-duty participant in family systems therapy, as well as several 12-step programs, including Alcoholics Anonymous. These therapeutic models explained that we can “pick up energy” from others. For instance, if Dad is an alcoholic and ignores the shame he feels about his behavior, that shame can transfer into other family members. The same can occur with any other emotion.
In my practice as an energy healer, I am constantly amazed at how frequently a client’s problem is at least partially caused by subtle energies that are not their own. For example, I once worked with a highly successful CEO. The world saw him as capable and strong. He knew himself to be fidgety and frightened. He had been officially diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.
During our first session, I asked my client to close his eyes and reflect on this question: “What percentage of the anxiety is caused by your own energy versus someone else’s?”
His eyes popped open as he said, “Ninety percent of the fear is my mother’s, 10 percent is mine.”
My client explained that his mother had been an extremely nervous woman. Raised during the Depression, she perceived even miniscule events as catastrophes. As a boy, my client had subconsciously absorbed her fears, seeking to soothe her anxiety and improve the quality of their family life.
As stated, we can’t process others’ energies; they don’t match our unique energetic signature. With regard to my client, his mother’s energies were “jiggling” inside of him, causing much of his anxiety. At the end of this column, I’ll provide a few tips about how to help clients release energies that aren’t their own. I used several of those tips to help my client release his mother’s energy. Within a month, he said he felt “like a normal human being.”
Chakras as Solutions
How do I help a client deal with their own causal energies? I first figure out what’s off about their subtle energies by evaluating for chakra spin. Chakras are subtle energy centers that convert physical to subtle energy and vice versa. The locations of the main seven in-body chakras are:
Chakra Location Function
First Hips Security
Second Abdomen Emotions
Third Solar plexus Mentality
Fourth Heart Relationships
Fifth Throat Communication
Sixth Brow Vision
Seventh Top of forehead Spirituality
Chakras are formed from vortexes that transfer subtle energies between a chakra and the body. Ideally, the energy moves fluidly, sometimes spinning clockwise and other times counterclockwise. When the energy is moving clockwise, the chakra is taking in energy. It uses some of this incoming energy to make decisions about the future. When the energy is flowing counterclockwise, the chakra is releasing energy, processing information about the past and putting energy into our memory banks. A chakra needs to enable both spins to keep itself—and us—in balance.
When a chakra’s energy is moving too fast and only clockwise, it’s stuck in future forward. Relative to that chakra’s concern, the person will be fearful or anxious about the future. If a chakra’s energy is moving too slowly and only counterclockwise, it is over-processing information about the past. In other words, it will be stuck in a depressive mode as per that chakra’s functions. Balancing an off-chakra’s spin and speed will support the client in dealing with the real issues and functioning better in their daily lives.
Applying the Knowledge
How might you integrate the idea of separating out energies and correcting spin? Following are a few simple ways to insert these concepts into your practice.
1. Evaluate for ownership of energies. The most effective way to distinguish between a client’s energy and others’ energies is to guide the client into a meditative state. Ask the client to get a sense of the differing percentages. Then, ask if they have a sense of the owner(s) of the challenging energy. It’s OK if they don’t.
2. Release others’ energies. Ask the client if they are willing to be freed from others’ energies. If they are, request that they surrender the invading energy to their wise self or a Higher Power, which will deal with it lovingly. The client can then request that the empty space that remains be filled with energies provided by this higher help.
3. Assess for spin. After a client releases the other’s energy, you can assess the spin. I perform this maneuver after the separation process because I’ll be more apt to be dealing with the client’s causal energies, rather than interfering energies. Some practitioners use a pendulum to evaluate spin. A pendulum is a weight on a cord. If you want to try this method, hold the pendulum 4–6 inches above a chakra site and ask that the chakra’s movements reveal a problem, if there is one. If one or more chakras respond with a too-fast clockwise or too-slow counterclockwise spin, those will be the chakras to focus on.
You can also encourage your client to evaluate intuitively. Show them the chakra sheet and have them sense which chakra(s) might be moving at an off-speed in one or another direction; or simply ask them to employ their wise self or Higher Power to select a part of their body that is spinning too quickly or too slowly. After you’ve centered on one or two chakras or bodily sites, perform the next step.
4. Set a new spin. Ask your client to connect with their inner spirit or Higher Power and request that the subtle energetic spin be established at a normal pace and spin. Let the client sense the difference. Suggest that when they feel abnormally depressive or anxious, they take a few moments, breathe deeply, and ask that their spiritual guidance reestablish balance.
Utilizing the Greatest Healer
In the end, simply holding a compassionate attitude is always a powerful healing endeavor. Where there is pain, we can always be a vehicle for love. Love is the greatest healer there is.
Notes
1. “Understand the Facts,” Anxiety and Depression Association of America, accessed January 2017, www.adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/depression.
2. “What are Anxiety Disorders,” WebMD, accessed January 2017,
www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/mental-health-anxiety-disorders.
3. “What Causes Anxiety,” Beyond Blue, accessed January 2017,
www.beyondblue.org.au/the-facts/anxiety/what-causes-anxiety.
Cyndi Dale is an internationally renowned author, speaker, and intuitive consultant. Her books include the bestselling The Subtle Body: An Encyclopedia of Your Energetic Anatomy (Sounds True, 2009), The Complete Book of Chakra Healing (Llewellyn Publications, 2009), and Advanced Chakra Healing (Crossing Press, 2005). To learn more about Dale and her products, services, and classes, please visit www.cyndidale.com.