2011 Energy-Update: What ARE Hugs? [[[[HUGS!]]]

Honestly, do you like being hugged? Have you ever been hugged and felt as though              

you just got slimed? Or better, walk away feeling slightly disoriented and in need of a shower? As a child I recall the 'obligatory aunt-uncle or elder friend of the family hug'... ick! (And usually it came with those awful cheek pinches) Less it be for me to say, I did not grow up in a touchy-feely family. We hugged only when necessary. (Usually after an injury bordering on the serious side like a bike wipe-out.) I am not sure why this is so, perhaps the combined military-stoicism passed on through male-patriarchal influences? The Irish immigrant stoicism where emotions were secondary to survival? I know that my mother was not eager to hug but I knew she loved me. She had other ways to convey her affection..  her actions, deeds and then her cooking. 

But, overtime I have learned that hugs can actually heal when properly given. When you hug it must come from the 'authentic' heart. AND just what does this mean??  We are energy before we are mass / physical bodies. Holding this premise in mind, we are capable of doing a lot with our energy when we learn to focus it through conscious intention. The first REAL hug that I was aware of came from a spiritual teacher who allowed me to experience a slime-free hug for the first time. It was the most amazing experience. As I was being hugged my trigger response was to immediately pull away yet without being rude. AWKWARD. Then as I relaxed, I felt warmth literally coming from her heart into mine and it was not at all invasive. Because I had already developed a trust-bond with her as a healer, I was freed to 'allow' this energy into my space. As her energy co-mingled with mine, I was able to feel that her intention came from a genuine place to offer loving energy without an agenda. I recall thinking how clean her energy felt.

What are these agendas? They can be confusing, as love in itself can be confusing when it is chalk-full-of unconscious issues, needs, unresolved pain in the past.. Sometimes when people hug they can take your energy and leave you feeling drained. Most often this is not a conscious intention, in as much a result of unconscious awareness around how our energy transfers to another.

As you already know there is conditional love and unconditional love. We all know that the way to go is with unconditional love. But really what is unconditional love and how often do we stop and consider this aspect of love? We all want it, but ironically we all seem to lost when needing to conjure it up. (Generally speaking) Grandma and grandpa hugs can be close to the unconditional brand of hugs because by the time you are old enough to be a grandparent, you have had time to sort out what is real and what is not. Plus grandparents tend to be less attached to agendas.. but I know this is not always true either.

YET when we move our consciousness intention to a space / desire to hug and give energy to another, and the energy is about giving love unconditionally, this is a hug that comes from an enlightenedspace. Enlightenment is available to EVERYONE by the way, not just for a few select self-appointed gurus. 

We all have an energetic anatomy and as I have written in previous blogs, our western culture sorely neglects educating our society about how our spirit energy can be healed through love, through ernest good intentions, through gestures of kindness. Some religions are good about being a proper custodian to spiritual love and then some, have ruined love through establishing agendas over who deserves love versus who doesn't. Remembering a quote from an established spiritual leader "Religion are the politics of God, wherein spirituality is the essence of God." When we consider this perspective, we are liberated to reconsider how we allow love into our lives and how we can invite it more often into our reality, when we choose awareness around being loving towards ourselves and then towards others. If we allow love to take form within, then when we give it to other, we are in affinity with love and its ceaseless transmutable and ever-giving powers.

Committing spontaneous acts of kindness works so well because it is us / you choosing to do something without spending a lot of time thinking about it first, and thus we get out of our own way when we allow our inspiration to lead. In kind when hugs are given from a genuine space of wanting the other person to feel comforted / healed, it is an energy exchange that originates from the heart.  This is how miracles can take place, this is when we see spontaneous healing.

So, the next time you give a hug, take 2 seconds to orient your intention. Are you coming from a place of giving, are you dumping pent-up negative energy or, are you allowing yourself to simply give something from the heart, knowing that by opening this channel, something wonderful will come back to you?

If you want to engage in your own personal social experiment offer a few more hugs this year, and notice where you are coming from and see how you feel when you are coming from a purer intention to give love unconditionally. Watch the energy reciprocate in your life and witness the difference when you 'allow' your intention to be that of unconditional love. It might take some practice. BUT please, don't give those 'ambush hugs' ...nobody really like those. 

For more info about learning about 'Aura Hygiene' please visit my class info description at Portland Adult Ed's Meditation Step One' at this link: 

http://www.portlandadulted.org/pae2/index.php?keyword=meditation&Search=Find+Courses&Itemid=1&option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&vmcchk=1

HAPPY NEW YEARS!