Emotional Vibes
Read Time: 8 minutes
Exercise Time: 5 to 20 minutes
Opening Questions:
How can you envision your emotions emanating beyond your body?
How are other people affected by your emotional vibe?
How are you affected by the emotional vibe of other people?
The following exercise helps you envision your emotional vibe. The exercise makes you more sensitive to both emotional dynamics and vibrational dynamics. The exercise starts with emotions rather than the vibe because most people are more readily aware of emotions than vibes. It is thus a gateway for attuning yourself to the vibe in general.
Keep in mind that the vibe and emotion are not synonymous. We do emanate emotions. But the vibe is its own phenomenon. Think of emotion as a psychological reaction to a state of affairs; it’s an inner, mental state that is expressed through verbal communication (talking) and/or nonverbal communication (body language). In contrast, think of the vibe as an actual, tangible energy that radiates from the skin and flesh; think of our bodies as evoking and provoking a feeling from one another; think of the vibe as an exterior phenomenon that exists between people.
Also realize that each and every person (and perhaps every living creature) is emanating a continuous vibe all the time. The vibe doesn’t just happen when you focus on it. Think of yourself as an embodied creature of light and energy. That light and energy doesn’t turn on and off at your will. It’s there, emanating continuously, dancing with the stars whether you like it or not. The issue is whether or not you acknowledge and develop it. If you choose to develop it, then you’ll gain more vibrational dexterity and, hopefully, more possibilities in life. It’s like learning another language. You’re able to converse with different kinds of people in different kinds of ways. You have a greater vocabulary to describe and interpret the world. You have more agency to make a wider array of choices.
To begin, imagine that your emotions are not just internal reactions. Instead, think of your emotions as actually radiating outward beyond your body. Other people can feel those emotions. They are not only reacting to your verbal or nonverbal expression of emotions. They can feel the energy of your emotions traveling through the air.
You can develop this imaginative exercise by first getting in touch with your emotions. Quiet your inner voice and relax your mind and your body. Breathe steadily in and out. Feel your breath ebbing and flowing through your diaphragm, chest, lungs, mouth, and nostrils.
Become mindful of your general emotional state. If different emotions come up, don’t judge them or try to change them. Just acknowledge that the emotions are there. If there are no specific, individual emotions, then just sense your overall emotional state, your basic emotional orientation, your baseline emotional body.
Now imagine that your emotions are alive and dynamic. They don’t just exist in your mind or in your psyche. Instead, they are part of your embodiment and they are moving through the channels and systems of your body.
Now think of your emotions as traveling along your body just beneath your skin. Notice it, feel it, sit with it, let it happen.
Now go a little further and imagine that your emotions are at the surface of your exterior skin. Literally try to feel your skin and your emotions on your skin.
Now go even further and imagine that your emotions are radiating one inch beyond your skin. Your emotions are literally emanating, first, from deep within your body and then, second, beyond your body into the surrounding air. Acknowledge that, feel that, let it happen.
Now imagine your emotions are emanating further out—about one foot from your skin.
Now your emotions are emanating about three feet from your skin.
And now your emotions are filling up the entire room and beyond. You are vibrating with emotion.
Sit with this for a while and get used to the experience.
After sufficient time, or perhaps after repeating it several times, reflect on your experience of this exercise.
How does it feel to experience your own emotions emanating from your body? What thoughts come to mind as you think about this experience? How might your vibrating emotions affect others who are in the room? How do those vibrating emotions affect group dynamics with family, friends, or coworkers? How are you affected by the radiating emotions of others? How might their emotional vibrations also fill a room, and to what effect? Is it possible that you sometimes unconsciously internalize those vibes? That those vibes penetrate your skin and get inside you, unbeknownst to your conscious mind? And is it possible for you to let go of those vibes? To release them back into the world? To let them pass through, over, or around you like a wind over chimes? Is it possible that you have more control over these vibrational dynamics than you think?
As stated above, emotions and vibes are separate but interrelated phenomena. While we tend to think about emotional dynamics in our relationships and group situations, we can and should also think about the vibrational dynamics and how vibes and emotions relate. Just as emotions can lead to healthy or unhealthy psyches and bodies, so too can vibrations. Envisioning our emotional emanation can also attune us to the vibe in general. In other words, it’s an exercise for vibrational living.