Most of us are more or less aware of invisible energy fields. We feel it most when someone walks up to meet us. There comes a certain point at which, as he gets closer in physical proximity, you begin to get a little uncomfortable, when you feel he is now “in your space.” You may even pull back a bit, stepping out of and away from that space.

Everything emits a field of energy. With each beating of our heart, electrical and magnetic energy is created, and it radiates from our body as the electromagnetic field of the heart. The field of energy that is emitted is measurable with the use of magnetic field meters and is strongest in most people at the surface of the body to about eighteen inches from the body.

It’s important to begin to work consciously with the energy fields and, more importantly, with the heart as an organ of perception and imagining.

Exercise: Expanding the Heart Field

Get comfortable in a cozy chair, feet on the floor, and take some deep, relaxing breaths. Now, bring your awareness into the area of your heart. Let your breathing move into your heart, as if you are breathing through your heart.

When you feel that you can hold your attention in your heart, stand up and notice how you feel. Do you feel more present, grounded in yourself? Notice that your peripheral vision is expanded; that is, as you look straight ahead, you can see things to your far left and far right. With practice, you’ll be able to feel your awareness move into different parts of your body.

Take a walk outside and find a tree that captures your attention. Sit down beside it and take a few deep breaths, relaxing more fully with each one. Let your eyes become soft focused on the tree you’ve chosen. Notice everything about it: its colors, shapes, textures. Now, ask yourself, “How does it feel?” What’s the first thing that comes to you? Where do you feel it in your body? Are there any sensations, images, words that accompany the feeling? Sit with the feeling for a moment.

Stand up and walk away from the tree about twenty feet. It’s helpful to pull your shoulders back and hold your arms straight out at your sides. When you do this, you may feel vulnerable and exposed. You are, that’s why many of us become habituated to rounding our shoulders and slouching so we feel that our chests, our hearts, are protected. It’s also a way to feel less noticeable. Pulling your shoulders back and up really opens up the heart and lungs and can release emotions we’ve held there.

As you hold your shoulders back, with your heart open, slowly begin to walk toward the tree with your heart field extended. Pay particular attention to the moment your heart field and the “heart field” of the tree touch. This is nonphysical kinesthetic touching; touching with the invisible, nonphysical field of the heart. Pause there for a moment and notice how you feel to be touched this way. Continue on toward the tree, noting if the field grows in potency as you move closer to it.

Now, ask your Child to come and sit with you. As you keep your eyes soft focused, ask your Child to tell you everything about this tree. She is the one who has direct access to everything she comes in contact with and to the world trees live in. She knows how to talk with them. Notice, as well, any feelings or emotions in your body. How do you feel doing this?

Next, ask your Infant to be with you and hold her in your arms or on your lap. Infants have no language, but they perceive the world directly. Notice everything your Infant does. If you need to, ask your Child if she would translate for you. Children often translate for preverbal infants; they understand that language. Whatever movements, faces, or changes in color the Infant makes are all communications to you about the tree and its medicine or teachings or power.

It’s helpful to keep a journal of your experiences, your “readings.” Just when you think you’re not becoming more sensitive, you can compare earlier entries and see how much more keen your perceptions are getting.

You've Chosen Another Way: Reclaiming the Sensing of the Heart

There will come a time when you suddenly realize that this way of feeling and seeing has become a part of how you move in the world. You no longer have to think about it; it just is, you are.

We use this every time we walk into a room or walk in the forest or talk with a friend on the phone. There are immediate psychic “hits” we get, but we have learned to ignore them, to let them stay below conscious awareness. With practice and patience with yourself, you will be able to understand just what those hits mean.

Occasionally you’ll notice that you are moving too fast, getting wrapped up in and consumed by some mundane event or deadline, and a soft voice inside will whisper to you or somehow make noise or a movement to remind you that you know how to feel better, different, more present, and you’ll just make the shift then, in that moment, to breathing through your heart. Once you do that, you’ll be in your body again, aware of your feet and surroundings, hearing birdsong and wind.

The Simple Wisdom of Addressing the Heart: Paramount for Survival

Nature is ensouled, filled with an aliveness, intelligence, and consciousness. That knowledge has never left us; it’s just been buried deep in our subconscious under layers of false information and schooling, religion, the work of putting food on the table, and unsupportive family scripts.

It is a simple wisdom addressing the heart and of recognizing our kinship with all of creation. And it is paramount to our survival as a species and to the survival of Earth as we know her.

©2012 by Julie McIntyre. All Rights Reserved.
Reprinted with permission of the publisher, Destiny Books,
an imprint of Inner Traditions, Inc. www.innertraditions.com

This article was adapted with permission from the book:

Sex and the Intelligence of the Heart: Nature, Intimacy, and Sexual Energy
by Julie McIntyre.

Exploring the territory of intimacy, sacred sex, and emotional healing as a journey to wholeness, Julie McIntyre examines the sacred relationship between sexuality and the Earth. Detailing the process of moving from your head to the secret garden of your heart, she provides exercises to heal your psyche of old emotional trauma, reconnect with the intuitive intelligence of the heart, and cultivate a deeper relationship with the Earth in order to trust yourself and become vulnerable and open with your lover and thus truly intimate.

For More Info and/or to Order this book.

About the Author

JULIE McINTYRE is an Earth Ceremonialist and spiritual teacher who leads Earth Medicine apprenticeships, wilderness retreats, and Deep Ecology intensives throughout the United States, Canada, and Ireland. A double-degree graduate in Political Science and Public Communications, Julie has completed postgraduate training in sacred plant medicine, Ayurveda, Reiki, medical herbalism, Huichol shamanism, and wilderness survival. She is the director for the Center for Earth Relations and for over a decade has worked with the Sacred Pipe, Medicine Wheel, sweat lodge and Vision Quests in facilitating closer human bonding with the Earth. For more information about Julie, visit www.gaianstudies.org