First, when you talk about 'energy flows,' exactly what kind of energy are you referring to? Emotional, kinesthetic, prana, kundalini?

All of the above. Actually, at this stage, it doesn't matter. They all travel along pretty much the same routes, in the same pattern.

The important thing is that pattern. The direction of the energy flows, where they begin and end, etc. Most of them begin at the base of the spine and travel up to the top of the spine. They need to travel centrally, vertically, instead of leaking out horizontally.

This is something that will apply to everybody, whatever their situation or whatever kind of 'energy' they are working with.

Could you just give an example of how it feels?

You have all had the experience of 'holding back your words.' You have an emotional reaction, you want to burst out with some hasty, emotional words. You want to say 'In that case I'm leaving,' or something. The energy wants to burst out immediately, through speech, through the throat.

But really, you know it is not a good decision to make, you know you should not say it. You know that if you do say it, then after you have 'blown off steam,' you will feel just the opposite!

This is just one example of what I mean by 'energy.'

They say if you repress such energy it is unhealthy for you.

Yes, you should not 'swallow your words,' either. Really, this is what 'energy work' is all about, at this introductory stage. Managing such energy just right, so that it does not burst out in the world and cause trouble, and it is not repressed into your body to cause trouble there.

What I say is, really it is good energy. All your energy is good energy. Because really you are good, all the way through. But this bit of energy should not burst out right here, and also it should not be pressed down, or shut off.

So is there an third alternative?

Yes. That is what 'energy work' is all about. Think of a little child, he is happy and playing. Then someone says, "No, no, don't touch that!" and takes some object away from him.

For a moment maybe the child will reach for it and frown. But then his energy carries him somewhere else, to reach for something else or to run somewhere.

This is the natural state, the natural flow of the energy. Physical energy, emotional energy, they are all one in him. The child had the energy of play, of curiosity, of reaching out. This one movement was frustrated, someone took that one object away from him. So his energy of play goes to some other object, he picks up a toy instead and continues playing.

Or if all the toys are removed, then the energy makes him get up and run or turn somersaults. He can't stop his energy. He has to run and play. It is all energy of play.

We should be like that? 'Become as little children'?

We are like that already! Most of the time. Most of the time, at least some of our energy is flowing, not changing into anger, not distorting or repressing itself.

You hit a wrong key on the computer, it does not change your energy. You just backspace and hit the right one and go on, with your attention still on the words. You dial a wrong number on the phone, you don't change your mood, you just redial. You are shopping for a dress, you try one and it doesn't fit, so you just take it off and try another. It does not put you out of the mood for shopping.

Someone out jogging, if he comes to a stop light he doesn't stop jogging, he just jogs in place.

Yes. Or if people block his way, he just turns down a different street. He does not change his energy of jogging, he does not break rhythm.

Some people say that anger and so forth are normal, healthy emotions.

Well, yes and no. The energy behind anger is healthy, it is your own energy, and all your own energy is good. But it would not have become anger if it were not already blocked in some way.

The child is playing, reaching, maybe singing or dancing. Someone takes something away or says "Be quiet, be still!" So what he will do with that energy? Because it is blocked from playing, it becomes tension, becomes crying or anger. Just as in cold weather, if water stops flowing, it freezes: becomes hard and brittle and sharp.

The hasty words of anger or whatever that want to burst out.... The child does not have these words, his energy is for play. Only if someone blocks the play does his energy go into words of argument or crying. Then maybe someone will block that too, say "Be quiet!" Then there will be angry words that want to burst out later. But if the play, the normal flow, had not been blocked, these words would never have formed at all.

Just think, why do some words want to burst? Normally energy does not burst, it is always flowing out in pleasant actions, or singing, or just smelling the roses, appreciating the sunset.

If the normal flow had not already been blocked somehow, it would not be wanting to burst in some other direction. Bursting feels healthy for the moment, maybe it is healthier than swallowing, repressing. It relieves the tension temporarily. But unless the real block is found and removed, the tension will just build up again and have to burst again, over and over.

It is because the healthy, normal channel is blocked, because energy can't flow in its normal path, that it wants to burst out horizontally as anger.

Doesn't it clear the air in a relationship to burst out with what you are feeling?

That depends on the situation. Here I am just giving an example of kind of energy that flows, and how it feels to let it flow through one channel or another.

You said, 'because energy can't flow in its normal path, it wants to burst out horizontally.' What is its normal path?

Normally, in the healthy little child, the pranic or universal energy comes into the body at the base of the spine and flows upward to the top of the spine, to the core of the central nervous system. There it is processed into more physical kinds of energy, and distributed through the nerves and so forth to nourish the different parts of the body.

This is why a little child has so much energy. He can run and play all day. Because the flow up the spine, so to speak, has not been blocked. Plenty of pranic energy is reaching the central nervous system, and so his whole physical body is healthy and evenly full of energy, balanced. All parts are nourished equally and working equally.

What if it is blocked?

Then, first, some abnormal action begins. The child is hungry, he is eating, he is happy. If he runs out of food, the normal action of eating is blocked, so he begins to pound his spoon on the table. Just to get rid of the energy.

Second, if the parent blocks the abnormal action also, says "Stop that! Be still!", then the child's energy may shut down altogether, he becomes depressed.

Similarly, in the adults, a block to the normal flow can cause hyperactivity in a particular area. A person may become obsessive, a workaholic or something. His life becomes unbalanced, he neglects other pursuits.

What makes the block?

Usually, muscle tension. Some muscles near the spine become tense, and this pulls the spine a little bit crooked. Then the energy can't travel up it.

The spine is like a hollow shaft. Pranic energy travels up a little tube inside it. Wherever the spine is crooked, the tube is pinched, closed. We call it a block.

Like a nerve pinch that a chirpractor treats?

Similar idea. But you don't need a chiropractor for these more subtle blocks. They are mostly just muscle tension.

So when you say 'block', you don't mean there is some object really inside blocking it that needs to be removed?

Mostly what happens is like this. Suppose you have to make some business decision on Monday, see your lawyer about taxes. Today is Saturday, you cannot do anything about it. You can't get the information you need. But your mind won't drop it, you keep going around and around. Can't sleep, can't eat, can't play....

This abnormal activity of thought on that subject is drawing energy out of the central channel, into that subject, making that area bloated, hyper. It is also pulling the spine crooked, causing a block just above that same point, not allowing energy to flow on up the channel.

So it is a vicious circle. The more energy that goes there, the more the thoughts get stronger, the more they bend the spine and increase the block.

So how do we unblock it?

By getting those muscles to relax. Then some energy can go on up to the core and be redistributed evenly, normally. Then you will have energy elsewhere, to do something else.

Two ways. Stop these obsessive thoughts and talking, worrying. Divert, think about something else, anything. Or do some physical exercise. Or some chanting or something like that. Or take a hot bath!

What about a long-standing problem? What if the aura is all out of shape?

Same principle. You just have to do it regularly, many times, to get much improvement. If one part of the body is deficient in energy, start exercising it. The exercise will draw energy into it.