How Much Energy Can Your Body Hold?

Now and again, in the quieter moments, sudden flashes of insight come along when I least expect them, reminding me of one of the main reasons I choose raw.

Today I want to share an insight I had a few years ago about how much “energy” the body can hold - and how and why raw and living foods make it possible for us to feel energetically “bigger” and more able to experience life in a more profound and enriching way.

To be clear though - by “energy” I don’t mean the “jump-up-and-down-all-day-like-a-maniac” kind of energy, but the deeper, sustained, electric kind of energy that it takes to hold a thought, an idea, a philosophy or a concept and to hold its promise and its power, and to explore its depth and potential to the max no matter where it may lead – all without recoiling, being distracted, dismissing it or simply not being able to “go there” in the first place.

I once read in a book that it takes 12 times the energy to hold a spiritual thought than a normal everyday “what shall I have for dinner?” kind of thought. While I’m not sure how on earth this could be measured, I’m sure that all of us can appreciate that different levels of thought require different amounts of energy, as we all know how poor our mental faculties can be when we are ill or run down – we simply don’t have the energy available to read a book, let alone ponder on the bigger issues of life.

As I explore this idea in my own mind, the way I see the whole “bigger thought” process is that we have to first of all allow them in to our consciousness. To be able to do this we need peace, quiet, permission (an open mind) and a level of physical health and cleanliness sufficient to support the thought in the first place – the bigger the thought, the more this needs to be true.

Second, we need to be able to birth the thought – if we get tired at stage one and brush it away thinking we’re too busy, too tired or “really can’t be dealing with this right now”, we won’t bring the thought to the table - let alone move on to stage three which is where we explore it – turning it over like a coin in our hand, and examining what value it might have to us and our life should we choose to pursue it. Getting to this stage alone is quite rare for the bigger thoughts in life; those that bring us into the domain of personal or spiritual development of some kind and make us ask the biggest questions such as “who am I?”, “where is my life going?”, “is this the life I really wanted?” Most people, in my experience, do not like to explore new and challenging territory emotionally or philosophically – especially if they need to change some aspect of themselves as a result, aspects such as well-ingrained beliefs or behaviours or anything that is considered an integral part of who they are.

Of course, all this takes a lot of energy; energy most people would rather squander or suppress by drinking a glass (or bottle) of wine or wandering out to the fridge and getting intimate with a tub of Ben & Jerry’s – much easier! (I think we’ve all been there, right?!)

And finally, assuming we have chosen to put our energy into whatever it is that we are trying to explore in our mind, we naturally have to give it time, focus and energy in order to extract from it the potential benefit that is waiting for us as our reward – even if it will take a lot of effort to get there. Yet more energy required!

Never before has it been so clear to me that the depth of nutrition we choose is directly proportional to the depth of emotion, insight, clarity and overall experience of life that we can gain – if we’ll but “go there”. (As an aside, I also know for sure that nutrition is not the only thing that can help us in this way - some people seem to have huge energy no matter what they eat; but for many people their lack of nutrition is seriously hampering their ability to think big or at the very least, think clearly).

To explain this further, let’s consciously acknowledge that the body is the beginning and the end of the “earthly” experience. It allows us to exist on this planet – it houses us. It gives us the foundation from which to learn, grow, be in this world and exist - and then a place to bring it all back to and process it within… so that we can once again go forward into the world and live out all that we have learned or aspire to be. And so on.

No small deal, but historically the role of nutrition in this picture has been almost, if not completely, overlooked.

The fact remains that if your cells are clean and nicely spaced apart, your blood and lymph fluid flowing nicely and your organs “singing” to the tune of the living foods and pure nutrition you have nourished them with, then your experience in all departments (mind, body, spirit, emotions) can ONLY be greatly enhanced – to levels you previously could not have imagined, simply because you had no experience of feeling that way before and therefore had no frame of reference (I definitely know about this one first hand!). Also, as you now see, you could not have held that possibility in your mind’s eye, your emotional field, or your physical experience because of the fact that your physical body could not hold that energy, and therefore not that possibility either.

Phew! Quite deep stuff, granted, but it reeks of truth to me and my own experience certainly backs it up.

Let me know your thoughts!

© 2011 Karen Knowler WOULD YOU LIKE TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR ON YOUR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Karen Knowler, The Raw Food Coach publishes "Successfully Raw" - a free weekly eZine for raw food lovers everywhere. If you're ready to look good, feel great and create a raw life you love get your FREE tips, tools and recipes now at www.TheRawFoodCoach.com.

Comments

[Kim]

this is wonderful and so true! it's so easy to hide or squelch emotions with other distractors. having the courage not to is strength indeed!

[Judee]

I am a vegetarian that sometimes goes completely raw and I do love it and do experience the clarity and energy. However, I need better info and support HOW to live that way. I started to get gum bleeding, and I actually caught a bacterial infection which affected me for a month the last time I did juice feas for 3 weeks and then raw for 2 months. So , I think you are rigth on with the energy..

[TruthSeeker]

Karen, Loved your beautifully written and personally well-timed article. This is just the encouragement and guidance that I need right now.

There is only one word in your article that I would change:

from: "Phew! Quite deep stuff, granted, but it reeks of truth"

to: "Phew! Quite deep stuff, granted, but it shines of truth"

[Hans]

Dear Karen, you are quiet a philosopher! Just to take what I consider the essence of your article, "your mind's eye, your emotional field or your physical experience"... really are three different levels, if not three different worlds. How they interoperate, well, is the issue of spirituality, yours Hans

[Beth]

Sorry, where is the LOVE button? (ooops...think I have been on Facebook too much)....This is so very, very beautiful and true. Like all truth, it often sounds foolish until it is tasted, and once tasted, you are never the same again...because once you know something to be true, it is truly hard to choose another way and be truly joyful.Body and spirit are THE WHOLE, and when we truly care for our body, it is ABSOLUTELY true,we discover hidden treasures of knowledge and wisdom, insights, clarity and an inner jiggliness that is hard to describe in any other way!

[Candice]

I think you're absolutely on to something here. There's a distinct difference from when I eat a standard diet, to when I'm high raw--not just in physical energy, but in thought processes as well. Even greater is the increased energy and clarity I get when I'm all raw. It's hard to explain to people who haven't experienced it, but there's a distinct clarity and stronger ability to focus.

I found the same with juice feasting. I'm not about to become a liquitarian, but juice feasting will remain a part of my life because the boost it gives me lasts beyond the feast.