Robert Nadeau with Morihei Ueshiba, approx.1964
When discussing the World of Energy, there are many possible options. We can look at Energy from a universal perspective as the underlying reality that supports all of creation. We can also focus on the individual perspective of energies that flow through the acupuncture meridians in the human body. It is in this area of Chinese medicine that subtle energies have been thoroughly studied scientifically. The Harvard Medical School Guide to Tai-chi has over 400 studies on the health benefits of using Chinese practices to balance the energies that flow through our bodies (The Harvard Medical School Guide to Tai Chi by Peter M. Wayne PhD with Mark L. Fuers, Shambhala Books 2013).
Many spiritual traditions from India, China, Tibet, and Japan place the World of Energy as one of three basic dimensions of consciousness.
The founder of Aikido, Morihei Ueshiba, called it the Hidden Dimension. Along with what he called the Manifest or Physical and the Divine Dimensions, the Hidden is one of the three basic dimensions that comprise the creation.
Robert Nadeau Sensei, a direct student of the founder, calls the World of Energy the Sensing World.
Fundamental to relating effectively to the World of Energy is a sound capability in the basics of the Manifest or Physical World. This involves the ability in the Physical World to experience and function in an embodied manner.
One example is a practice of grounding. The practice is to relax, settle, and experience the entire body as connected to the ground. A follow- up practice, to validate the experience, is to walk forward under a small amount of pressure by having a partner touch your shoulder and then walk forward against that pressure. If you have only achieved an awareness of being grounded, it will be difficult to move forward even under this modest degree of pressure. If with further practice, you experience being grounded in a more fully embodied manner, you will be able to walk easily and smoothly with your partner’s pressure on your shoulder.
The distinction between awareness and experience, illustrated in this simple practice, is crucial to the ability to fully experience and function effectively in the World of Energy. This is because in the Energy World the feedback is much more subtle than in the Physical World. This greater degree of subtlety makes it easy to mistake awareness for fully embodied experience. The time/space distance between thought and manifestation in the Physical World follows our normal expectations which provides effective feedback on our level of embodiment. We hit the golf ball straight down the fairway or into the water hazard.
In the World of Energy, the time between thought and manifestation can be almost instantaneous. This makes an embodied starting place of crucial importance.
Without fully embodied experience, energy cannot flow smoothly through you, resulting in a system that is not balanced and integrated. This makes it difficult to function effectively in activities where the results are important to you. Examples include improved health; decision making; interpersonal relations; sports; and creative activities, such as art or music.
An example from my own life is a decision I had to make about leaving a job and city where I was living and going to a new job and city. This involved moving my wife and children as well. The job I had was with a major company in the field and was satisfying, with good potential for the future. In addition, the reason we had moved to this city was to be near my wife’s family.
I used a practice from the World of Energy to help with the decision. I visualized two trees, each of which represented one of the two choices. The practice was to see which tree grew the most energetically, giving it more potential for future benefit. The tree that signified the move clearly showed more growth potential. Validation from the Physical World came shortly after we moved as the company closed the office and most of my wife’s family moved to Florida!
There are many simple practices outlined in the book Aikido: The Art of Transformation: The Life and Teachings of Robert Nadeau (Inner Traditions 2024) that can help to develop an embodied and functional experience in the World of Energy.
Embodied experiences in the World of Energy can result in profoundly satisfying and beneficial results as well as providing continuing opportunities for ongoing growth and development.