On the Art of Understanding Energy: Energy Literacy & Discernment

More and more people are talking about energy. “There was so much energy in the room”, “That seminar was really intense” or “Wow, I really felt something there.” I think that is wonderful in principle. It shows, at the very least, that we are taking feeling and our sensory awareness more seriously. We are becoming more attentive. We notice the undertones in a conversation or an email, the mood of another person, the atmosphere in a room, warmth or coolness in an encounter. Increasingly, we also notice energy in words, actions, gestures and facial expressions, as well as in art, music, books and even the colours people choose to wear. Wonderful. Finally!

At the same time, I notice something that makes me pause. Because this sensitivity is growing, a new need arises: we have to learn to understand and describe what we perceive with greater precision. Many people now feel a great deal, but can distinguish very little.

“Energy” is a big word. But it tells us very little about how something affected us, why we feel the way we do or whether an experience was genuinely nourishing, transformative or perhaps simply overwhelming. Intensity alone is not a mark of quality.

It reminds me of our relationship with wine or chocolate. Many of us have learned to taste wine with impressive nuance. We talk quite naturally about tannins, bouquet, fruitiness, oak notes, origin and vintage. We may distinguish a Tuscan Brunello from a Piedmontese Barolo. Chocolate lovers may similarly be able to tell single-estate chocolate from an ordinary supermarket bar. But many people simply consume indiscriminately. As long as it is sweet, as long as it is intense. Enjoyment, yes. Awareness, rather less.

I see something similar in spiritual circles. Many people consume seminars, satsangs, channelings, ceremonies and New Age content. Something happens, something tingles, something opens, but only a few can clearly describe what is actually going on. Or whether it is really serving them. I also see this with some therapists and healing practitioners: they sometimes lack the ability to assess their clients with enough energetic and process-related differentiation. To distinguish between intellectual understanding and deeper recognition, for example, or between a genuine opening and an energetic sugar rush – perhaps a bonding high because someone finally feels “heard / understood / safe”. That closeness can be valuable, but it does not automatically amount to profound change.

Spiritual people, awakening people and visionaries should know, much like wine connoisseurs do: intensity does not automatically mean quality. A strong feeling is not necessarily a meaningful gain or shift.

If we genuinely want to grow – energetically, emotionally and as human beings – we need discernment. A much wider degree of differentiation than simply good or bad, strong or weak. We need to train our perception and our ability to put experience into words. And we need the courage to feel more precisely instead of simply celebrating “a lot of energy”.

Today we often speak about Emotional Literacy, the ability to recognise feelings, name them and deal with them responsibly. That is an important step in personal and collective maturity. But what I experience in my work every day tells me that we also need Energy Literacy.

A kind of subtle-energy literacy. The ability not only to sense energetic impressions, but also to understand them, differentiate between them, name them and place them in a meaningful context. And, where possible, to learn to read their different qualities and signatures.

Just as we have had to learn the difference between anger and frustration, sadness and exhaustion or excitement and fear, we also need to learn not to experience energy simply as one large, undefined “something”. When people speak of “energy”, “intensity” or “high vibration”, that tells us almost nothing about its origin, quality, effect in the short or long term, the integrity of the environment or its emotional, psychological, social and spiritual consequences. And that creates a kind of blind spot: assuming that just because something is strong it means it is good.

Imagine someone saying, “The food was intense.” Does that mean it was nourishing, poisonous, filling, too heavy, too salty, too sweet or overly spiced?

In spiritual circles, intensity is often confused with truth. “I feel a lot, therefore it must be good.” That is a risky shortcut.

“Energy” or “intense energy” are only broad umbrella terms. The more spiritually and energetically open we become, the more essential precision becomes. Yes, intense energy can be life-enhancing, but it can also be

– seductive and euphoric

– manipulative and binding

– intrusive and overwhelming

– incoherent and confusing

Many people feel high during a seminar or session, only to feel empty, confused or energetically fragile soon afterwards. Sometimes this simply means the experience was intense or euphoric in the moment, but its effect did not last. So what happens afterwards is at least as revealing as what happens during it. Am I clearer afterwards? Freer? More myself? Or more exhausted, dependent or already looking for the next kick?

Differentiated perception means being able to describe subtle experience with some precision.

This includes:

1. Quality

What am I sensing? What does the energy feel like?

Gentle? Tough? Rough? Smooth? Dark? Light? Pressing? Opening? Sticky? Foreign? My own? Hot? Warm? Cold? Chaotic? Foggy? Focused?

2. Origin

Where is it coming from and to whom does it belong? Does the impulse come from

within me or from

my own projection or expectation?

the group?

the person leading?

my partner’s field?

suggestion or manipulation?

a tone or piece of music?

an energetic attachment?

Or can I simply not identify its origin clearly?

This is where discernment also means being able to say: I perceive something, but I do not know for certain where it comes from. Perception and interpretation are not the same thing.

3. Effect

What does it do to my nervous system, my thoughts, my emotions and my freedom?

Clarifying?

Calming?

Light?

Overstimulating?

Contracting?

Expansive?

Intrusive?

Frightening?

Joyful?

Perhaps Energy Literacy is the new Emotional Literacy. Both emotions and energies involve our sensory awareness, our capacity to feel. Unfortunately, this ability is rarely encouraged during childhood. Not at school and usually not at home either.

The good news is that we can learn and practise the language of energy, feeling and discernment. Through

– Mindful self-perception: What am I sensing right now?

– Somatic differentiation: How is my body responding?

– Nuanced language: How can I accurately describe what I am sensing?

– Perspective: What was happening during the experience itself? What changed over time? Did the experience bring more freedom or more attachment?

AND: Did it strengthen my own direct connection with the Divine or were middlemen and various methods being promoted?

Our awareness and our “basecamp of consciousness” can become enormously refined through inner healing work. When we recognise and work through emotional wounds, trauma patterns, family dynamics, misplaced loyalties or social expectations, the perception filters and limiting beliefs that have shaped our view of ourselves, other people and life can also begin to change. We can become clearer in how we express ourselves and, at the same time, more refined in what we perceive.

But finer perception does not automatically mean that every interpretation we make is correct. Perhaps that is one of the essential parts of Energy Literacy: the more we perceive, the more carefully we need to differentiate between what we actually perceive, what we know about it and what we make of it.

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Originally published: 30. November 2025

Revised: 2. October 2026