 Poster: A snowHead
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"Feel the energy in you" – what does it mean?
My gym holds an exercise class featuring relaxation and stretching with some yoga exercises. For the relaxation part we lay on our backs with eyes closed. The class leader then says words about feel the energy inside you, feel it in your toes, feel it moving through your feet, feel it… And so on through our bodies. What is this "energy" she refers to? She also says to feel the energy tingling in your fingertips, to feel its heat on your face and to hear it rushing through your body.
Is this energy real? Or, is it just ascribing a fancy interpretation to expected body responses?
I do feel some of the things she describes but I do not attribute them to energy. They seem to be what I expect my body to do. Mostly I think I feel them because I am thinking about my body and not, as normal, thinking of other things. Tingling in my fingertips seems like the beginning of pins and needles from lying on a flat floor in a slightly uncomfortable position. Heat in my face is just because of blood pressures changing as my body adapts to lying flat. Hear the energy rushing through you is just the sound of blood in my head the same as when I relax after a short burst of doing something really strenuous.
"Feel the energy in you" – what does it mean? Fellow Snowheads, you are experts in medicine, sports, exercise and related sciences. I would fascinated to hear your views on this topic to help my understanding.
I do enjoy the class and intend to keep on going, but I need some help on understanding the class leaders terminology. I have asked her about it and she said it was what she believed and how she had been trained.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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If you do feel anything warm and tingling . . . you've relaxed enough to wet yourself. And joining a ladies exercise class can have unforeseen effects if you don't keep your mind on the job ... don't wear Lycra shorts.
The warm buzz you feel at the end is just an endorphin rush . . . and very pleasant it is too
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Masque, Last week there were about seven ladies and me, the only man, in the class. But it is not labelled as a ladies class. My lycra shorts are used when out cycling, not at the gym.
stanton, nice link. My gym class is about general stretching and improving mobility and flexibility.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Adrian, If she couldn't explain it then she probably didn't know, and had never been asked before! She's probably referring to Chakras, but the main Chakra in Chi is in the pelvic region, so if so I think she's starting in the wrong place. No doubt many other Snowheads will know much more about it than I do. In any case if you enjoy the class, and you find it helpful, I wouldn't worry too much. you feel what you feel, and ignore what she says you're supposed to be feeling! 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Thanks Charlotte, she did say that no one had asked before. My brief research (talking to a couple of people in the gym's corridor) suggests that others have not understood, perhaps they are not as inquisitive as me. She did suggest thar I could just sleep for the start of the class, or arrive late!
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Adrian, I suspect no-one understood, but the others were probably too embarassed to ask. 
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Adrian, I wonder if you are asking a (serious) medical question or a psychological/motivational one?
As human beings we have fantastic abilities that include logical analysis, imagination and visalisation - these thinks are not exclusive but very few people seem worried about distinguishing between them.
Even worse many people take what I'd call a useful imaginary model and turn it into a supposed hypothesis for the real world without regard for contadictions or inconsistency - in other words they talk cr@p 
(potential lead onto religion here but lets not do that right now).
I usually (eventually) downgrade my opinion of people who really believe in this stuff - but upgrade it if they are using it as a mental tool to develop a (scientifically) sound approach to training/teaching.
For example it certainly helps with self-awareness if you focus in on the sensations you feel in your body whilst searching for these elusive energy flows. As Masque says you become aware of all sorts of things. Although this sounds useless I'd disagree - it's very hard to be really aware of your body and I think it's an essential facet of most (if not all) sports.
When she feels the heat from changed blood flow in her palms or hears the blood rushing in her ears she probably pictures invisible (but always shiny - go figure!) streams of energy whizzing around her body. What's interesting is that when she visualises these energy flows, her body will probably actually reproduce these same symptoms - ie it will relax. This doesn't mean there really are invisible, shiny streams of something in your veins - nor does it mean she's insane. It means she has a mental tool to control her body - damned useful if you ask me. I use a similar technique to get rid of headaches: In my mind I squash all the pain into a fiery ball which I then crush to a spark which disappears - so far no one has seen a fireball through my earhole - but I do take less headache tablets.
If, on the other hand, "energy" refers to your mental state - enthusiastic, aggressive, relaxed etc then again I'd say "whatever works" - it's a personal way to develop motivation and to support your mind. But I personally think it's important to be clear that this is a technique - I don't actually believe that I can generate (significant) thermal energy by "thinking warm" when I'm skiing. I *do* think that I can affect my bodies physiological behaviour.
I also suspect you'll see the group mentality at work...
Try this; pick two people at the class and aftwards toss a coin to choose a question to ask them:
ask the heads one quietly, one on one : "err, could you actually feel that energy she was on about? I couldn't"
ask the tails one enthusiastically, : "wow, couldn't you just FEEL that energy - that was fantastic"
Can you guess what the answers would be?
(you may want to avoid chance and pick an attractive one for question 1 since you'll then have something that you share that no-one else in the group does - I'll bet you end up exchanging looks everytime the teacher feels a new energy!!!)
Nice to see this kind of teaching challenged - well done!!
PS In case anyone wonders - I don't *object* to this kind of teaching - I learned Tai Chi which is full of it!! I just think that it is often misrepresented as "reality".
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Thank you, lbt, for that wonderful response. On your opening question I was mostly thnking of the former, but hoping for a range of answers. Do the things I felt as she talked through the relaxation session have a simple medical explanation? I felt much of what she described, but my rationale for them was different to hers. However your description, lbt, of the pyschology and motivation in this is very interesting. I shall have to ponder on that.
I have already done half of your suggested experiment. The first and negative questioning half. The response was an agreement that they did not feel it or did not understand what was being expressed. The session leader said that it can take two or three sessions before you feel the energy, so I might feel it in next week's session.
It would be interesting to know what other people feel at relaxation classes at their gym's or wherever. Do other class leaders talk about how to relax and what to think and feel as you relax?
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