Do you want to get better results from daily exercises such as affirmations and visualizations, develop a better relationships with your inner self and get in touch with your personal power every moment of the day? The key to all of these things is energy. If you can learn to control the flow of energy within you, you can achieve these results and much more.

So, what exactly is energy? Energy is everything. Everything is comprised on energy. It has been proven scientifically that everything has its own energy field. This includes you and me, the cat, the trees outside, computers, cell phones and everything else. It has also been proven that any thought you have also creates it's own energy field. On a spiritual level, one might discuss the unlimited source of positive energy that comes from Source (God, the Universe, whatever word you are comfortable with). All of this energy is simultaneously individual and interconnected. What's important for you to know is that there is unlimited positive energy flowing around you at all times, and that you can use this positive energy. This positive energy enables all good things in your life, and when used consciously is the key to manifesting that which you desire into your life.

You may already be aware of your energy. If you are not, just know that it's there whether you are aware of it or not. You probably already know about it, you just may not realize it. The most simplistic way to get in touch with your energy is to become aware of your feelings. Your feelings are a result of and an indicator of the energy you are flowing. As you know, there is a whole array of feelings: happy, sad, fun, excited, grumpy, blissful, and on and on. You don't need to worry about all of that. What you want to become attune to is whether you feel good or you feel bad. This may sound ridiculously simple, but in fact many of us go on auto-pilot and do not pay attention to how we're feeling at all. As you go through your day, start to pay attention to yourself. Notice whether you feel good or feel bad. What if you don't feel good but don't feel exactly bad either? Unless you feel good, really good, you are not fully flowing positive energy.

Your body is an excellent indicator of feel-good/feel-bad. Often when we are not flowing positively, we tense our muscles, clench our jaw, hold our breath or develop a knot in our stomach. If you have any of these physical indicators or another sign of physical stress, there's a good chance you are not fully flowing feel-good energy. You want to practice sensing your energy until you know moment by moment if you are flowing positive energy or not. This may take quite a bit of practice, but you will begin to develop a better relationship with yourself, which is well worth the effort. In this fast-paced world, learning to be still within is a talent that will make you happier and increase your productivity.

The second step in the process of utilizing positive energy is learning to shift your energy to positive when it is not positive. You realize that you are not feeling good, perhaps because your stomach is knotted like a stone and you are cursing the person in the car ahead of you for not going faster than the speed limit. This realization is the first step, because you have stepped back from the situation enough to realize you need a shift. Next begin to breathe deeply, and if you are a visual person, imagine a clean, white slate, because each moment is a new moment in which you can shift your energy. Wipe the slate clean, and start the next moment in a feel good place. If this simple exercise is not enough to shift your mood, think of the things in this day that you have to be grateful for, while you continue breathing deeply. Be grateful that you are becoming aware of your energy and that you are assuredly making progress in using your energy to improve your life. Think of people, places, activities and things that you love. Think of something funny, laugh, smile or sing. Physiologically, it is hard to stay negative mentally when your body is doing something positive like smiling.

For those of you that practice affirmations and visualizations, the same energy techniques apply. Sometimes you might get into resistance saying your affirmations and visualizing things you do not yet have, and these exercises are all about energy. For instance, you are saying your affirmations, and come to one you have a lot of resistance about, "My life operates smoothly, easily and joyously." You say the affirmation, but your body is tensed and your mind is saying, "But my life doesn't operate smoothly, easily and joyously!" This is then the energy that you are placing into this affirmation, which is obviously not a good thing. Sometimes we really have to be with something a while before we can be comfortable with it. Many of us are raised with thoughts and ideas that do not mesh well with the life we want to live as adults. You may have old beliefs that you are not worthy of money, or that there is no such thing as true romance, or that life is hard and you have to work hard to achieve anything. So when we introduce affirmations and visualizations into our lives that clash with these old beliefs, it's sort of like the stereotype we've all seen in the movies of the sweet, innocent daughter bringing home the tatooed, long-haired boyfriend to meet the parents. Sometimes it takes time to reach that comfort zone. So if you find yourself reacting negatively to your affirmations and visualizations, don't be put off. Ask yourself why you are in resistance, to which your answer may be immediate or something that is slowly uncovered. Then spend time "being" with the idea, whether the idea is unlimited money, passion for your career, a healthy relationship or a beautiful body. Think about it, visualize it, read about it, clip out pictures you like, get to know what it's really like to have or experience what it is that you want. In this acclimation process, remember to stay aware of your feelings, breathe deeply, and refocus your energy if you become resistant. Once you are quite comfortable with every aspect of what it is that you desire, you will have shifted many if not all of the old beliefs that may be blocking its manifestation and you will be comfortable and intimate with and therefore energetically aligned with your desire. Your energy will quickly draw your desire physically into your life.

Approach your energy goals with the enthusiasm and lightness of a child. Make a fun game of it all, and this energy will spread throughout your life. Sanaya Roman said, "The path of joy is joy." You have the power each moment of the day, every day, to choose how you feel. What's your choice?

Copyright 2004, Alexia Alderson Chamberlynn

Alexia Alderson Chamberlynn is the Co-Owner of Prosperity Power Training, LLC, a national training company specializing in e-learning, life coaching and live group training. To contact Alexia or sign up for free services such as a Free 7-Day Training Program, free monthly newsletter and free quote-of-the-day club, visit the website at http://www.prosperitypowertraining.com. Alexia expects to release her first novel in 2005. Alexia lives in Florida with her son Gareth.