So I’m going to start off with the trick. The trick is that sensing energy is instinctual. It’s not something we realize or pay any attention to, because it’s generally not the first information we need when dealing with life. You may wonder, if it’s instinctual, why isn’t it easy? Honestly, I don’t have an answer for that, because this was something I learned recently at a couple workshops, but once I went through it a couple times, it made a lot of sense. I still find it hard to do. But I know what to do, in a sense.
The thing to realize is that we are constantly sensing energy, but we aren’t always paying attention to it. In fact, we usually aren’t, because sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch are often more useful to us. Much like sight takes precedence over other senses for most people, the other senses often take precedence of sensing energy. It’s what we are used to doing. So what we need to do to sense the energy around us is learn to pay attention to when we can feel it.
The way I was taught to do this is to play with it, preferably with other people. In fact, I would almost argue that with at least one other person is essential. There were a number of exercises we did, but a couple stood out to me. The first was to raise energy and create a ball of energy that we could hold. Then we picked a partner, and combined the energy we gathered with the energy they gathered. It’s hard to describe, but it felt decidedly different. My own energy felt blue to me, while my partner’s felt red. There isn’t a better way to explain it.
The even better part though, was that once we had done this, we could send the energy back and forth to each other, and sense where it was. One person would mentally send it out, and the other would move to where it was and catch it. We started off by using physical cues to show where we were sending it, but then we cut those out so it was only mental, and could still point out to each other where it was. The back and forth sending was rapid, so we didn’t have much time to think about it. Without the physical cues, I’m hard pressed to explain how we could tell where the other person was sending it other than we were in fact sensing it. This was probably the most eye opening bit for me.
I think the reason the exercises above were so helpful is they encourage you not to rely on sight, which is the dominant sense for most people. They pretty much get you no where if you try to see what is going on as opposed to sensing and reacting to it.
So maybe you can find a partner and try some similar exercises. If so, I encourage this, as this did more for me than my years of practice using energy without sensing it all that well. If not, there are other things you can do or pay attention to. One is to raise energy and move it around more. Get a real feeling for where it is, and learn to trust yourself in sensing it. Do not try to see it, though if this is how you instinctively sense it, that is of course ok. The point is to let your instinct take over to show you how you sense the energy instead of trying to force it a certain way.
Also, pay attention to how different situations and people feel. If you walk into a room and can feel the tension after an argument, you’re sensing the buildup of a tense energy between the people who were arguing. Likewise, you probably get a certain “vibe” when around certain people, and this is based on the way they feel energetically. I’m not particularly good at this, but I’ve been told by multiple people I’ve worked with that getting better is worth it, and by noting these feelings, you can start to get a feel for people and situations by sensing the energy they give off, and react accordingly for the situation.
With what I’ve typed above, you may feel like you have a good grasp of where to start in learning to sense energy, or you may feel like you’re no better off than before. Unfortunately, this isn’t an easy concept for some people to grasp, though others get it pretty quick. I’ve had it explained to me countless times, and only recently have I got it. Probably because I want something that feels more concrete. If you feel like this was helpful to you, that’s awesome, and I hope it continues to be so.
If the above doesn’t help you as much, perhaps try a more simple approach. Basically, close your eyes, tone down your “physical” senses, and try to pay attention to what other information comes in, particularly when you are actively working with energy. Then find ways to verify this as well as you can, and learn to trust yourself when doing this. Let your instincts take over and tell you what they sense.