Why is it that some of us get noticed in life, and others get left behind? Why is that some have greater challenges when it comes to success or happiness? Could it be that the energetic vibration that surrounds us, or draws others to us, is part of the equation for success in our lives?

Qi (life force or vital energy) is an electromagnetic vibration which circulates in and around all of us.

Look around you.

Notice your environment.

How does it make you feel? Everything carries with it its own energetic, vibrational force field called Qi. Notice how you feel when you are in the mountains or by the sea, looking up at the blue or gray skies and smelling the air that circulates around you. After spending time outside in nature, most of us feel charged, lifted, connected, and changed. This feeling of harmony is from the energy your body has absorbed.

How about when you walk into a nice home or restaurant? Don’t you notice it makes you feel good? Compare that feeling to walking into a dark, dingy, dirty establishment; most of us can’t wait to leave; it has a weird vibration, an “ick” factor. We have all felt this “ick” factor and are relieved to be away from it. When you are in tune with your body it is in tune with the environment, and you are much more sensitive to and in touch with other people and your surroundings.

The Chinese use the concept of opposite, interdependent energies to highlight the necessity of balance. The warmth of summer surrenders to the coolness of autumn and later to the coldness of winter. The cycle continues as the shorter, colder, darker days give way to spring, with longer, lighter days, and continues on with warmth again the following summer. The night always becomes the day and the day always becomes the night. Like day and night, Yin and Yang are opposites that are intertwined. One always balances the other. Yin is the white, internal, feminine, earth, wet, cool, intuitive, contemplative energy while Yang is the black, external, masculine, heaven, dry, hot, action-oriented energy. We all have a unique combination of Yin / Yang Qi energy in our bodies. This combination can change daily based on our lifestyle choices. We feel Yin energy when we don’t want to get out of bed in the morning and we feel Yang energy when we are wide awake ready to start our day before the alarm goes off.

We are all born with a certain amount of Qi, which is our body’s constitutional strength. Think of Qi as your body’s root system, a system that is always in place to feed and nourish you, especially if you have taken good care of it. This root strength, our Qi, can be maintained and strengthened through a balanced lifestyle. We are also born with another very important substance called Jing Essence. We inherit Jing Essence from our parents at birth. This essence (another power within us) determines our constitutional strength, which is the strength and vitality we are born with. Unlike Qi, Jing essence is much more difficult to strengthen. Jing essence is stored in the kidneys, whereas our Qi is stored throughout the body.

The kidneys also house the “Ming Men fire” known as the Gate of Vitality. The most important job of the Gate of Vitality is that it creates heat/fire, which creates movement of energy and therefore creates power within us (think of an engine). Ming Men Fire heats our body and allows the kidney essence to have the power to perform daily tasks needed within the body for proper functioning. For this reason, the kidneys are often referred to as the battery pack of the body. Unfortunately, once our Jing essence is gone, the candle goes out so to speak.

Acupuncture and herbal medicines are another powerful way to enhance your Qi. This system carries our physical, mental, and spiritual power within it and it is what energetically charges us. We experience our Qi in terms of our energy levels. Our Qi changes based on how we take care of ourselves and the lifestyle choices we make. I have coined a term for this, which I call “EnerQi” (Ener-chee). We all know how badly we feel when we’ve been caught off balance and have not been good to ourselves. By being balanced, your energetic frequency will be raised to a much higher level, making you feel stronger and more alive than ever before. The more you focus on the principles of balance in life, the better able and more in touch you will become at fine-tuning your body’s EnerQi voltage with ease.

While we interact with a lot of people every day, every so often you feel you “connect” with someone. Have you ever been inexplicably drawn to a complete stranger, be it a member of the same or opposite sex? We feel compelled to talk to them…they interest us. That powerful connection is due to Qi energy. We are attracted to that particular vibration because it connects and balances with our own energy.

Qi expresses itself as a strong energy field that becomes stronger when we are balanced. By using healthy living and powerful thoughts to balance your EnerQi, you will feel healthier, happier, more relaxed and more fulfilled. You will also have the enhanced ability to absorb the positive Qi vibrations from the world around you. You will find that your body just works better. You will see the positive magnetic effects of your amplified EnerQi as you become more balanced. People will naturally gravitate to you when your EnerQi is pulsating with health, creativity and vitality. When you are balanced, you are happy and empowered to have the life you want ,the job you want, and the relationships you want. These positive aspects of life are attracted to your energetic force field. That is pulsating magnetic Qi power manifested powerfully!

What is your highest vision for yourself, and the life you would like to create? What does it look like to be, to do, to have positive, powerful experiences in your life? Having Balanced EnerQi is relative to the experience of where you choose to place your power and thoughts. The decision to live in a high EnerQi vibration has incredible power emotionally and spiritually.

Life happens to us all. We can ride the waves of change, which are inevitable, much more profoundly and powerfully when we connect to the force within us all that shifts perception. We can all access a physical, mental, and soulful connection to our highest self, to our highest light. Honestly access the EnerQi in your life. Accept where you are right now, what is, and proceed with a plan that will elicit the desired effect for change.

The Chinese believe that our bodies are lined with vertical and crossing internal and external invisible pulsating energy fields called meridians, which are thought to be electromagnetic. Your body’s Qi, blood and oxygen charge them. Our Qi travels along 72 meridians, which form channels to move and distribute life force up, down, in and around the entire body; these meridians cover us, like loosely wrapped mummies in gauze, and connect to our blood, capillaries, muscles, tendons, joints, bones, internal organs, meridians, genitals, limbs, brain, eyes, ears, and nose, teeth and mouth.

Energetically, 12 of these meridians are our body’s main meridians and two are our body’s master meridians. One of these master meridians represent the yin/feminine aspect of our energy while the other represents the yang/masculine aspect of our energy. When our Qi becomes blocked or stagnant, the result is an excess or deficiency in Qi blood, or oxygen, which increases or decreases activity of our bodily systems and EnerQi. Our Qi becomes blocked for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to poor nutrition, drug use, abuse of alcohol, injury, lack of sleep, lack of movement, stress, excessive dampness, cold or heat and a more negative mental outlook on life.

Stagnation or blocked Qi is a main buzzword in Chinese medicine. The Chinese consider stagnation to be one of our body’s “great evil entities.” Unfortunately, a lot of people suffer from stagnation. There are five different kinds of stagnation: food, fluid, cold, Qi, and blood. Any one of these can turn into heat and cause an inflammatory condition.

Various shades of purple and various shades of blue are the colors of stagnation. Think of a pool, of crystal-clear blue moving water. In order for the water in the pool to stay clean and free of harmful bacteria, it needs the movement from the current of the wind. This current circulates the water, keeps it clean, and keeps the energy contained therein moving freely. When the water is still with no movement, over time it becomes a dirty, smelly breeding ground for inflammation, illness and bacteria; call this an “evil entity.”

This is the reason it is so important for us to give our bodies the proper, mental, spiritual and physical care. When our Qi becomes blocked, the movement that is needed for the necessary circulation, which makes us strong and vibrant and keeps us healthy, is not available to nourish us properly.

Our immune system and general overall wellness is a strong indicator of how balanced our Qi is. How well is your immune system protecting you? Imbalanced Qi can lead to pain, disease, and lethargy. Chinese doctors believe meridians are electromagnetic and that each one carries with them their own energetic Qi vibration along these channels. These meridians serve as a grid for us to look for and distribute EnerQi, blood and oxygen within the organs, tendons, ligaments, nerves and muscles using pressure or puncture techniques. By restoring the balance of our body’s natural electromagnetic energy, the body can heal itself and function properly.

The above is an excerpt from Living the EnerQi Connection by Sheri Laine; HCI, 2014; reprinted with permission