As human beings, we are walking pieces of energy — derived from the universe and living the human experience. Energy is neither created nor destroyed but, rather, transferred invisibly to allow us to engage and connect with our surroundings. Sometimes the world we live in makes it difficult to come back home to the energy inside of us. However, there is a reason why our ancestors paired sound and movement for grounding purposes.

“Energy is the way we experience the world and the way the world experiences us,” says Ashley B. Jones, energy healer and trauma-informed intuitive guide.

Photos by Sydney Brewer.

The Denver, Colorado-based reiki practitioner explains that practicing repetitive movements to music creates a portal to allow life to flow through us and for us to flow through this life. We literally enter a flow state in our bodies that creates a space of receptivity and a place to move energy from head to toe. This flow state is boundless and impartial to any movement. Think yoga, hiking, running, climbing, dancing, Pilates, weightlifting or any way you move for joy.

CorePower Yoga’s lead instructor of Northern Colorado and owner of Boulder Baby Body, Noëlle Pierrat, says music’s vibrations anchor us into our bodies, because we already have an innate rhythm inside of us: the beating of our heart. “We have to do more work without [music] to connect ourselves to our bodies,” she explains.

Next time you make a playlist or pick a song to move to, listen to the energy inside yourself to find beats that match your personal, natural cadence. “We have so many distractions that stray us away from the predictability in our bodies,” Pierrat explains. But, music “gives us back that connection in our bodies.”

Now, music is not the only discipline amplified through our speakers these days. The words in podcasts and audio books also interact with our energy.

Listening to others’ words is still listening to yourself. Whether or not you know the reason for choosing that episode or story does not matter. Often times, the reason is in our subconscious, and our body craves energy that our conscious brain is not aware of, Jones illustrates. Just like when listening to music, our bodies enter a flow state when repeating a movement while listening to a podcast or audiobook. The flow state here allows our brains to encode the said words seamlessly from the auditory cortex of our brain. You will most likely find it easier to grasp the messages’ meaning while in motion rather than staying stationary.

Your chosen podcast topics determine where you are going to energetically encode the meaning of the words in your body. This is because “words ground us in the human experience,” Jones says. She explains that a podcast about relationships or dating will be encoded in the heart chakra. A topic of safety or money will be encoded in your root chakra, at the base of your spine. And, a topic of manifestation or sexuality will be encoded in your sacral chakra, below your navel. Notice how you choose to pair your movement with audio topics. Are you doing pushups while listening to a love story? Or, are you in cobra pose, anchoring your bellybutton to the earth while learning how to
manifest? The energy’s effect may be exponential.

Lyrical songs have similar effects on us. Pierrat explains that is why humans have used chanting for an energetic effect for thousands of years. Chanting, like singing or moving to lyrical music, works to energetically align and focus our own energy. Stories narrated lyrically or conveyed through various audio formats evoke personalized feelings and emotions, which you can intentionally or unintentionally channel, navigate and work through using your preferred movement medium.

All energy is connected. You are never alone; even in solitude with your playlist or podcast of choice, you are with the energy of the creator. Next time you feel your energy shift, surrender to it. Visualize the beats, lyrics or words harmonizing with your energy and amplify your mind and body connection. The very essence of the universe pulses through each note or word, igniting a transformative dance between our consciousness and the energy around us. We feel a blend of physical sensations pair with the natality of the human experience. Feel this and return to the sanctuary of your home body; for, it is inherently human to seek a body, mind and energy connection in this world.

Originally published in Winter + Spring 2023-24 issue of Well.