What do we mean when we talk about energy?

In one meaning of the word, energy is the capacity to do work. It’s what you might refer to as your bandwidth. Most people don’t have any challenges with this meaning.

There’s another way in which we speak about energy that seems to trip up people who think more linearly. If you’re a person who needs to see things to believe them or needs scientific proof of concepts, you might roll your eyes when you hear people talk about “energy work.”

When I tell people in my life that I added reiki to my toolbox this year they look at me like I fell off the deep end. If I talk about the energy of a room or a space, they think I’m adopting hippie culture. And when I tell people that I can feel the energy of something that happened a half a world away, they think I’m crazy.

What do we mean when we talk about energy in this context?

Part of my mission with my work is to make esoteric and complex concepts more accessible and share their practical impact on our lives.

I’ve been testing ways to explain energy to people who don’t live in a world where reiki, energy healing, and oneness blessings are part of their everyday language. If that’s you, perhaps you’ll find this explanation to be more tangible.

What is “energy?”

Here’s the conversation I typically have with people about energy. I invite you to play along as you read this.

First question:
If you walked into a room after two people had a fight in the room, would you be able to tell they just had a fight?

I have asked this to many people. Almost universally, they answer yes.

You would know that the people had a fight.

Next question:

How would you know?

Here’s what people generally answer:

I just know.
I can feel it.
Body language.

What if they aren’t in the room anymore?

People generally say that doesn’t affect anything. You would still know.

You would feel it.

That’s energy.

To reinforce this, I present another scenario.

Imagine you walked into a room after a memorial service had taken place there. Everyone has already left.

Compare that to a room where a wedding had just taken place. Again, everyone has left.

Both rooms are empty.

Would you be able to tell whether there had been a funeral or a wedding in the room?

People agree they would.

Even if we can’t explain how or why, we know that we feel a difference between a room where a funeral took place and one where a wedding took place.

That’s energy.