Raising Your Vibration: A Grounded Approach Part 1: Five Ways to Shift Your Energy
Awareness — Notice where you are: Simple practices for shifting your energy without ignoring what you're feeling
This is the first in a three-part series exploring what it means to raise your vibration in everyday life. Throughout the series, I'll share practical ways to become more aware of your internal state, understand what influences your energy, and intentionally create more space for the thoughts, experiences, and practices that support you.
In many spiritual traditions, everything in the universe is understood as carrying energy or vibration. I like to imagine us as guitar strings, each resonating in its own way while contributing to a much larger cosmic symphony.
When I talk about "raising your vibration," I mean becoming aware of your internal state—your thoughts, emotions, energy, and sense of connection—and intentionally choosing practices that help you move toward greater balance and well-being.
That doesn't mean we should always feel good. Difficult emotions are part of being human. Sadness, anger, disappointment, frustration, and fear aren't failures or signs that you're doing spirituality incorrectly. But we also don't have to remain stuck in an emotional state when we're ready to move through it.
So what can we do when we're feeling low? Here are five practices that can help:
1) Introspection
Often, your actions run on autopilot. When something negative happens, you might react impulsively and have negative emotions. When this occurs, try to start introspecting as soon as you can. Ask yourself the following questions to gain some clarity:
Why did I react this way? What is underneath my reaction?
Is what I’m feeling mine, or am I carrying something that belongs to someone else?
How can I see this situation differently?
Can I let this go?
Is this how I want to feel? If not, how do I want to feel?
What can I do to feel better?
One reason introspection matters so much is that we can't consciously change what we haven't become aware of yet. Sometimes what affects our internal state isn't simply what happened today. It can be an old belief, an expectation we're trying to meet, an obligation we're carrying, a fear we're responding to, or a role we've become accustomed to playing.
I explore this more deeply in Uncaged. Before we can decide what we want to release, we first have to recognize what is influencing us. Awareness creates space, and within that space, we get to choose what happens next.
2) Meditate Regularly
Meditation is one of my favorite ways to shift my internal state. It gives me a chance to slow down, notice what I'm thinking and feeling, and reconnect with myself.
From a spiritual perspective, meditation is also often used to clear stagnant energy and cultivate a greater sense of connection. Whether you experience it energetically, emotionally, mentally, or simply as a few moments of quiet, meditation can create space between how you feel now and what you choose to do next.
3) Spend Time With People Who Lift You Up
Spend time with people who leave you feeling supported, energized, understood, or more like yourself.
4) Engage In A Creative Activity
Creative self-expression is more important to our physical, emotional, and spiritual health and harmony than most people imagine. Humans are creative beings. Our purpose on Earth is to create in some way. We might create a painting, a piece of music, a dance, a family, a dish, a short story, and so on. Creative self-expression is essential for our health, harmony, and happiness.
I write to express my creativity, whether through poetry or fiction. Poetry captures what I’m going through in a particular moment, and fiction lets my inner storyteller emerge. Either way, I immediately feel calmer and more myself, shifting my energy in a positive way.
5) Choose What Supports You
We can't choose how we feel, but we can often choose what we do with what we're feeling. If someone is rude to you at a coffee shop, for example, you may feel hurt, angry, or frustrated. You don't have to pretend the interaction didn't affect you. Give yourself permission to feel what you feel.
Then, when you're ready, ask yourself: What would support me right now?
Maybe it's watching something that makes you laugh, listening to music, calling a friend, going outside, moving your body, or simply giving yourself some quiet. The goal isn't to force yourself to feel good, but to recognize that you have choices about how you care for yourself as you move through what you feel.
Raising your vibration doesn't require you to feel good all the time. It begins with awareness: noticing where you are, honoring what you're experiencing, and recognizing that you have choices about what you do next. The five practices I've shared here are only a starting point.
In Part 2 of this series, which I’ll post next week, I’ll explore other ways to raise your vibration and build on the idea that meaningful shifts don't have to begin with dramatic changes. Sometimes they begin with one conscious choice.