Psychics use visualization tools (e.g., clairvoyance / “clear seeing”) to increase awareness of the many influences that shape our senses of self, as well as our behaviors. As we recognize these influences, though, we realize that not everything that shapes our lives aligns with our truth. Eek! No one wants to try to make decisions based on incongruent information; or, worse, no one wants to be swayed into a decision that does not align with his/her true sense of self. As we become aware of these internal contradictions, we simultaneously become interested in releasing the patterns and beliefs that inform us but do not represent or serve us. How do we release energy? How do we clear our energetic fields so that we can live from our truth, and not from the flotsam and jetsam that we have acquired?

Simple answers pervade our culture: Drop excess baggage. Be yourself! Let it go! However, this undertaking can be more involved than it appears initially. (After all, typically, only through extensive self-reflection and awareness does one even realize that one should approach the subject of “I” with some caution, humility, and reserve.) So, knowing that there is something to release in the first place is great accomplishment! Releasing it is even further cause for celebration!

Information flows according to the questions we ask. When we ask, “Is this thought/feeling/behavior that I’m experiencing actually aligned with my truth?” we will often have a sense of whether it properly belongs to us. Ironically— or maybe gratefully—many of the habits with which we struggle have nothing to do with us in truth, except that we have not released them. So, the first steps to releasing something involve stepping back from identifying with our patterns, observing ourselves, recognizing the thoughts/feelings/behaviors that emerge regularly, and reflecting on them.

You may be wondering: how do these influences infiltrate my space in the first place? Great question! After all, many things in the world remain distinct from our inner workings, including thoughts, feelings, and behaviors; they remain outside of us, and we observe them. Why, then, would something that is not ours infiltrate these intimate aspects of us (e.g., our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors)? Well, we have a closer relationship to those informational patterns that are not us, but appear in our thoughts/feelings/behaviors.

The easiest example relates to family patterns. Perhaps we grow up being taught and programmed to have a certain response to something; we come to believe that this is the right response. For instance, if my family has set eating times and traditions, I might pattern my routine around those eating times and traditions well into adulthood, regardless of whether they fit best with my current nutritional and schedule-based needs. (And, I may hold that these times and traditions are the best times and traditions for no reason other than the fact that they arose from my family. Influences can run deep, which is part of the reason that making changes can be difficult.)

The short answer, then, is that we allow outside influences to inform our decisions because we do not recognize that we are doing this. And, we don’t realize that we are being influenced because we have overridden ourselves in these ways. As a child, while our bodies are developing, we need the information of others to be safe. However, as we grow, we can embody more of ourselves and our truth—and part of that process includes being accountable for the energies that run through our lives, including our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

Clearing energy, then, is the process of being present with our thoughts/feelings/behaviors, integrating the information they provide, and releasing the charge associated with it. Consider the thought, “Eating at these times is the best way to feed a body,” coupled with the behavior of eating at specific times, and the feeling of confidence. If we sit with that constellation, we may realize that we grew up with that patterning, and never made an informed decision about whether it is useful in present time. Looking at the patterning does necessitate a change. Perhaps after reviewing this behavior, I determine that I like it. At that point, it becomes a conscious choice rather than an unconscious family pattern. However, I may not like it. Perhaps my friends have stopped eating with me because they find my rigidity to be off-putting. In this case, I can decide to make new choices.

When I slow down, and evaluate myself, I open my curiosity about why I hold particular thoughts/feelings/behaviors. The curiosity itself enables the charge that surrounds the thoughts/feelings/behavior to loosen its grip, which, in turn, allows me to recognize other possibilities. Each time we are activated, we have a chance to either be controlled by the charge (and remain unconscious), or to release the charge (and bring awareness to the situation). This practice of presence alone can lead to the release of entrenched patterns, and the charge that often accompanies them.

At the end of the day, introducing awareness to aspects of life that have been governed by unconscious patterning increases freedom, clarity, and joy!

Get curious about your life!

Written by Heidi Szycher, a staff member at the Boulder Psychic Institute. Check out her personal site at healings.biz.