Whenever I have a question, be it small or large, I place my hands on my lower abdomen and breathe.

I prefer to be reclined when I do this practice, though it is not always possible. Sometimes, I am standing.

I place my palms at the hipbones, where the bony ridges jut out gently into the center of each palm. I spread my toes and breathe wider into my guts. I feel my heartbeat in my hands, this tremor that moves like a wave from the center of my body.

Next, I take my palms beneath my waist, facing upward to my lower back. In the exact location and position as the front, so that my fingers are spread toward my buttock and my wrists are aligned with my hips.

In Jin Shin Jyutsu, the second safety energy lock—Wisdom Lock—is at the top of each iliac crest at the back of the body. I have been working with this energy lock instinctually for years.

Jin Shin Jyutsu is the practice of moving energy (aka Prana, Qi, or Universal Life Force, depending on what you practice) to create more harmony and flow in the body. The locks treat blockages, imbalances, illness, and injury. This practice originated in Japan, and Jiro Murai is its founder.

Like Reiki, Jin Shin Jyutsu uses the hands to move energy through the body. It is related to acupressure and acupuncture because it works with specific energy points to create balance in the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual bodies.

The Wisdom energy lock connects you with your raison d'être, inspiring a sense of purpose and connecting you to your inner resources.

NOTES ABOUT THE WISDOM LOCK AND THE ANATOMICAL PLACEMENT:

• This energy lock treats digestive issues, back pain, and stress in the lower torso and legs.

• On the back, the QL (quadratus lumborum) muscle attaches to the top of the iliac crest, where the Wisdom Lock resides.  

• The QL is the deepest back muscle that attaches to the iliac crest and your spine. It innervates the nerves in the lumbar region and provides stability, rotation, flexion, and extension of the spine. A tight QL may cause back pain or sciatica.

• The iliac crest is like a bowl. It presents the colan at the front with deep inguinal nodes along the inner groins.

• In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the colon is related to sadness and grief.

• The inguinal nodes are the lymph nodes located around the groin. They help the immune system clear toxins from the body.

As I lay and breathed into my hands and hips, I offered an incantation: show me; I am listening.

I say this before I sleep so that my dreams might express the desires of my subconscious and the messages I'm to follow that my consious mind may miss.

I prefer to be driven by the undertow.

It's more challenging, requires more courage, has its own rhythm, and follows the heart, which I sometimes cannot hear through all the other sounds around me.

Among the symbols, people, places, and events, a prominent theme was present in my dreams. I went back into the decade of my twenties and revisited all the people and spaces I occupied. The main message concerned giving and taking: those who left a little light inside their deeds and those who did not.

A residue surrounds those who extend themselves to show up and do good work. You can sense it in their auric field, this lasting impression of a person who provides what they can and participates in the exchange.

It differs from the person who appears for gain, who strips the garden of its fruit the second it is ripe! We all must go to work and engage on some level, though you can feel when someone does their best for more than the monetary exchange. It is because they want to do their best, not for status, notoriety, wealth, or power, but because it is correct in any situation.

In my dream, I had the distinct impression of this division in every encounter: work, school, spiritual, and intimate relationships. I felt the divide in each person's heart.

The choice comes down to why you do what you do. There is intent behind every action.

Thoughts are electric currents; I feel their buzz or burn in my guts, inside my being.

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