The Four Pathways of Energy

Level 1 is the practical description of how to sing, along with audio exercises to practice with, a book and an audio book.  If you’ve watched the videos/read the book etc and started practicing, you might now be challenged with “how do I perform a song to my best potential?”   Hence Level 2, to help you perform a song with power and confidence, and go deeper into the singing process and help deal with the challenges of making music truthfully.

We’re all emotional beings, songs are emotional, music can be a wild, unpredictable energy to tap into. An understanding of what’s really going on within our energy can be really helpful, so that when we take a breath we have an understanding of what we’re tapping into on a deep level.

How Level 2 came about

Level 2 goes into potentially esoteric territory. It feels important to describe my journey to approaching performing in this way, given that for many it may seem very “out there”.

I’d been teaching full time for 7 years or so, and Level 1 came out of that. I taught what I’d been taught, initially, observing what worked and didn’t work for my students, and changing my methods accordingly. It came to a point where I could teach students to sing well technically, but couldn’t help with the performance beyond my own words and encouragement. It became obvious that fear of performing was the issue, which was an internal response. A locking up, a holding back. Very pronounced with inexperienced singers, less so with experienced singers. But still there – a locking up, a tensing of the bodies’ energy in some way, an inability to completely let go, and feel free.

I felt stuck and didn’t know how to move forward with this. Then a dear friend gave me a sound healing lesson. She’d been taking lessons and needed a guinea pig. It was all about drawing on the energy of the chakras, visualizing them in the center of the body. A light bulb went on. Of course! That’s what’s happening when we sing, we’re drawing on the bodies’ power centers, which are the chakras.

My friend had been reading one of Cyndi Dale’s books “Illuminating the afterlife” and, this being of interest to me I read it. It answered a lot of questions for me and from there I read a number of her books, which were also enlightening.

I started to change the path of my singing lessons. This was a natural, organic thing, and I saw an improvement with my students immediately. The lesson started with vocal exercises, then a meditation, then a few minutes of improvising to a rhythmic track, and then singing the song we were currently working on. The meditation and improvisation freed students up, and gave them permission to follow their instincts rather that trying to get the song absolutely right while not emoting from a real, true place.

In a nutshell, I found myself teaching just Level 1 initially, then using the chakra knowledge I’d gained from Cyndi’s books to help students use their energy in a different way. And so Level 2 gradually came into focus.

Of course, this is the bare bones of the knowledge contained in her books. It doesn’t even touch the surface, but for singing and performing, I think the bare bones are all that are needed. It’s an energy map to draw upon, a way to get out of the head (where the ego and the fear of performing can keep us prisoner) and into the energetic body, which is where the real fun starts (for those interested, there’s a list of the books that I drew upon at the end of this article).

I discovered the idea of the four pathways of energy through the book “Advanced Chakra Healing – Energy Mapping on the Four Pathways” yet again by Cyndi Dale. Having a clear idea of these four pathways of being that we’re all intrinsically a part of, it can help to make the action of singing and performance a simpler endeavor, a part of our natural ways of expression.

Before looking at how these pathways work directly with singing, we should look at the pathways themselves, what they are and how they affect us in our lives, since everything is always connected.

The four pathways are:

The elemental pathway, the power pathway the imagination pathway and the divine pathway.

Each pathway is separate, with its own properties and resonance, but each one intersects with the others at different levels. So if we heal an issue or illness on one pathway, we’re also healed in a similar way on each of the other pathways.

Because all of the pathways intersect, we often work with a number of them at the same time.

Which means we often work with a few different pathways at the same time throughout our lives, or concentrate on one or the other for a certain amount of time. When we sing, because all of our energies are involved with the process in a very real way, just by taking a breath, connecting with the meaning and emotion of a song, and singing the first note, we connect with all of the pathways at the same time. To give a masterful performance we need to be completely present, focused yet relaxed, poised for action, true to the emotions of a song and to our own emotions. So even just an understanding of them can help to “connect the dots” regarding the mystical process of singing a song with truth and passion.

To quote Cyndi Dale:

“Envision each of these four pathways as a three-dimensional checkers game. There are four boards stacked on top of each other:

The Elemental Pathway

The Power Pathway

The Imagination Pathway

The Divine Pathway

A pocketbook description of each:

The elemental pathway – Material reality

This means our physical bodies. Being here, living our lives in this physical plane.

The power pathway – Power and forces

This means “using our power”. Power can be used through force (elemental pathway) or surrender (divine pathway). We are tapping into our power when singing by

first, intention,

second, taking a breath,

third, using the power behind that breath to sing a note

The imagination pathway – Magic

The imagination pathway is viewed as being primarily down the back, extending a few inches outside of the body. We can draw on this pathway when we take a breath to sing, letting it take us wherever our imagination wishes to go. When we surrender to it (using the divine pathway), this is when, at the end of the song, it’s like we’re waking up from a trance. We’ve been taken on a journey by our own spirit – and the resulting emotion is most often “I didn’t know I was capable of that”.

The divine pathway – consciousness

This is the doorway to the multi dimensional, mystical self, the spirit. We all have it, we all are it.

“…When you reach critical mass, all the boards shift at once…You don’t have to worry about the differences between physical, emotional, mental or spiritual energies. No matter which pathway you are using, you are working with your entire self.”*

When you sing a song and totally commit to it on every level, you’re using all the pathways. You feel it, you know it. You’re centered, in the center of the song, in the center of yourself. It sounds more daunting than it actually is, and simply takes practice to allow yourself to do it.

The Elemental Pathway

“…Miracles occur on the elemental pathway when you re-define your physical self as the elemental self.”*

Using the Elemental Pathway

So: When we connect through the elemental pathway to the power pathway we physically create energies of power we can use for the positive or negative.

When we connect to the imagination pathway through the elemental pathway we can make our dreams come true – but it needs the power pathway for us to make this a true reality. Without that, our dreams can literally go up in smoke.

When we connect through the elemental pathway to the divine pathway we connect with wakefulness, the here and now. When we connect vitally with wakefulness we’re ahead of the game, we live our own truth, through surrender to the highest parts of ourselves. Any of the pathways can lead to the divine – on the elemental, the athlete who focuses so completely on the task at hand that he/she has a transcendent experience, for example, totally in the moment, surrendering to the experience.

Making a true and lasting connection to the the divine pathway (and by that the transcendent element of your own self) demands an understanding and mix of all four pathways. When we’re in the “divine state” we’re not thinking, we’re letting the music flow through us. The music is leading us, we’re not even trying to make it happen, we’re letting it happen.

Grounding Cord: As in the diagram below, give yourself a “grounding cord” before practice or singing. Personally, I do this every day, sometimes more than once a day. The reason being that we live in a world where we very rarely stand on the earth with bare feet. It’s usually on concrete or wearing rubber shoes of some kind. Quite often we walk on concrete or some such constantly. Everything is intention, though, and resonance. Creating your own grounding cord literally connects you to the earth through intention, and grounds you.

Here’s how:

Imagine a cord going down to the the center of the earth. It can be anything. Most commonly like the root of a tree, but it could be a beam of light, or a mechanical construct. Whatever you wish. Let it be strong, and clear. Doing this before singing literally grounds your performance. You can also visualize breathing up through the cord to the diaphragm, to “root” the power of the note. As in the diagram, practice breathing up through the grounding cord, through the central (reflected) chakras. and through the back and the first 4 chakras at the same time. Then use the power of the solar plexus (the center of the diaphragm) to give the energy behind the note more power.

The Power Pathway

“The power pathway, like the elemental, is most readily available through the human energy system. You enter the power pathway through the chakras, the main control switches of the elemental…By working with the power pathway, you access points of truth that allow you to use supercharged energy. Through the power pathway, you can command forces, powers and energies that create substantial and authoritative change.

…We all have the innate capabilities and rights to command energies. The first step towards working the power pathway is to own your own powers. Own your right to radiate.”*

Using the Power Pathway

We can use the power pathway for good or ill. When used purely with the elemental and imagination pathways, its energy is “power over” – winning and dominance. When teamed with the divine, which requires surrender, love and compassion, the power pathway is a way of knowing. Its action is then to create the highest results for the good of all – for ourselves as well as others.

When used solely with the elemental pathway, it has the lowest resonance, and is most commonly “power over”, dominance.

When used solely with the imagination pathway, we fantasize about our dreams and desires but lack the elemental power to put them into action.

When we try and force a song, using a “power over” approach using purely the elemental and power pathways, it doesn’t work. Everything tenses up – the throat, the vocal cords, the diaphragm, and we get out of the moment and lose the flow of the song, and its meaning.

When we let go as we take a breath (or just before breathing in, the intention we put into the breath and our bodies – giving the note to the diaphragm and allowing ourselves to let go, for example), we connect with the divine pathway. If we do this then and all will be well. Because we’re connecting with our intuition and surrendering to it, and to the flow of the musical journey. Not holding on to anything but consciously letting go with the internal intention of “ok, let’s see what happens”.

The Pathway Route: surrender to the divine as you breathe in, connecting with the imagination pathway as you do so. By connecting to the power of the breath you are using the power and elemental pathways. Because you’ve made the decision to let go in the split second before being, the pathways all line up to create a pure, centered and supported note.

The Imagination Pathway

 

This diagram shows how the imagination pathway can help when singing. In reality, the imagination has no fixed place in the body, but it can help to think of it as in the diagram, the areas in pink.

Our main in body chakras are actually based in the spine, but they also reflect down the center of the body.

Refer to the segment above “Grounding Cord”. Always connect to a grounding cord before singing or practicing.

As in the diagram, it can be helpful to think of the imagination pathway flowing in the space between the central chakras and the spine, and flowing to about 2 1/2 inches outside of the back (as in the diagram, the chakras along the spine are half in the body, half out of it).

As mentioned above, when you take in a breath, practice using chakras 1 to 4 all together, and breathe into the back, opening up to your imagination. The breathing exercises are designed so you work towards the diaphragm and stomach working together and moving outwards as you breathe in, preparing to sing (once again relaxed, not forcing this action). By doing this you are activating chakras 1-4, and it’s their energies that power the breath.

So as you take a breath in, using the energies (and therefore the chakras) in this part of your body, you’re also breathing in your imagination, your inspiration, giving yourself the permission to surrender to the emotions of the song.

This might all sound fanciful, but I know by my own experience how easy it is to stay in the head, even if you’re breathing in properly, laying oneself open to the ego taking the note and intention and squashing the note and the songs’ freedom.

“Imagination doesn’t exist, but your imagination can lead you toward what you desire to bring into existence”.*

And it’s only when coupled with the elemental and power pathways can we truly put our imagination into action.

Here’s the path again:

We take a breath, surrender to the flow of the music, feel the emotion of the song, committing to it absolutely, then start singing – all in a split second. As we use the breath, in whatever way is right for the passage in the song (forceful use of the diaphragm for a power note, slow control for, well, control), we’re using the power and elemental powers directly.

The power from the diaphragm gives the note its wings. We’re then on the imagination pathway. It can take us anywhere. And if we’ve truly surrendered then we’re on the divine pathway and feel free to truly express our emotions.  This is a very freeing experience. At the end of the song you’ve had that experience because you trusted yourself to let go and surrender to the divine and imagination pathways, using the power and the elemental pathways to get there, you’ve let the song and the music take you on a journey. You’ve freed yourself in the process and the audience will have a deeper experience too.  Resonance being everything.

The Anti-World

Not listed in the diagram, but shown in pink, the area behind the spine, is the anti-world. I explain it the article The chakras and the multiverse (listed below), along with a breathing exercise you can do to connect with it.

The Divine Pathway

“The divine is a space and awareness that is hard to explain or describe, as are its effects. It is a lighted path, leading to a place of formlessness, timelessness, and perfection. 

The divine is nothing more or less than awakened perception. You must always be as you really are, right here.

…Entering the state of divine feels like expanding oneself into a neutral state. In neutrality, I hold no judgment about anything or anyone. I assume that anything that “is” is a reflection of love. I also assume that all abilities and powers are available to me, as long as I’m willing to allow myself to be changed into a more divine state when providing a healing for someone else.”*

Using the Divine Pathway

We can’t control the divine pathway, only surrender to it.

The elemental pathway combined with the divine pathway opens us to the reality of the here and now, wakefulness. When we’re totally in the moment when singing, we’re in the flow of the music.

When all three paths are joined with the divine, we understand that we are everything and everything is us. We surrender to that truth. And by doing so wake up to the here and now. The ego comes into alignment with spirit and surrenders to it. Spirit becomes master, ego the willing servant. Mind, body and spirit become one and we understand with perfect clarity. Everything is simple and clear, with no attachment.

No pressure, then:)

But when we’ve completely surrendered as described in the Imagination pathway segment, this is what we’re doing. This is what’s happening. Which is why singing can be so challenging, and at the same time so rewarding. And is takes practice. To let go and not hold on. Most commonly, we try too hard. We over-breathe which makes us over sing.

Also, it’s important to mention that we’re not just singing for an audience, we’re singing for ourselves. To have that experience of all four pathways working together to take us on our own magical journey, and show us what we’re capable of. And if that doesn’t happen, if we fall short, then it might happen the next time. Or the next. It’s important to allow yourself to suck, let it go and try again, that’s how you learn and get better. Once again, practice, practice, practice. At its best, singing is a letting go rather than a holding on.

A simple way to open to the divine pathway when singing is to keep the attention in the heart. Let the breath take you down there and try to stay there throughout the song. This also stops overthinking and doubting ones performance.

The Ego and the Pathways

We’re all born pure, beautiful babies. Then as we go through the experiences that shape our personality and illusions (coupled with the experiences, memories and emotional blocks from other lifetimes I personally believe), the ego grows and comes into focus.

So for most of us, by the time we’re adults we carry a lot of baggage, fears and delusions. All of which we bring to a performance, which can get in the way, creating stage fright and a much smaller, more constrained performance than we would like.

And as the ego works on us through fear and doubt – obsessing the past or fearing the future – all of this takes us out of the here and now, where true magic (and the true performance) resides.

The following observations have come from observing my own struggles with the ego, and from observing students struggling with their own egos when learning to sing, and how it can affect the four pathways.

The Ego and Elemental Pathway

I worked with a healer many years ago who had an interesting take on the ego. His approach feels right to me, and that, along with knowledge of the chakras, has fueled the following observations. He said that the ego is based in the head, along with part of the soul. If we’re not careful, they vie for sovereignty, which is the last thing we want when singing. The heart is the center of our chakra system. We get information from the outside world to the heart first, then a nanosecond later it travels up to the brain. Not, as commonly perceived, the other way round. If we take our attention down the heart, the ego has no power there. Plus we then have access to the truth of our emotions. This takes practice. The heart often boots one out, but with perseverance it will let you in. Plus it feels really good and stops overthinking, which really helps with performance.

When we keep our attention in the head, fear or judgement messages from the the amygdala, are sent to the adrenals, kidney, liver, spleen and pancreas. We stay locked in the head, and this can put us in “fight or flight” mode. We physically tense up the back of the neck and our inner organs, which can have the knock on effect of locking up the in-body chakras, depending on our own programming and personal fear. This is the classic stage fright.

The Ego and the Power Pathway

This is the worst ego pathway scenario:

If we’re not connected to the heart or to the higher chakras, we can lack compassion for others and have a lack of understanding of the Universes’ higher vibrations. This makes us self motivated and locked up in our own stories, unable to see the bigger picture. It’s easy for the ego to then weave stories about who we are and what we do/don’t deserve/the past and the future.

We can become depressed and feel we have no power, afraid to have power, or jealous of others’ power and influence.

Or we crave “power over” others and focus all of our attention at getting it.

Or we believe that we’re better than others and try to move heaven and earth to prove it.

The ego works with the imagination pathway in this way, creating delusion which means we are then living out a fantasy, or fantasies. At this point, we start to devolve, rather than evolve.

The Ego and Imagination Pathway

As the ego freezes up/unbalances the chakras, it also feeds negative messages to us. “I’m not worthy” being the most common – we’ve all been a victim of that one at one time or another. These messages can be many and varied, yet again something we all know all too well.

My favorite trick of the ego which was pointed out to me recently by an intense conversation with a fellow traveller at a party. He mentioned the genius of the ego. We get an idea that such and such is true when a child, for example, then go round the houses as it takes on a huge journey, only to find out twenty years later that the truth of it means something else entirely, or the opposite is true. But, yet again, in this way we learn and find out our own truth, so in this way the ego is not an enemy, but a worth adversary – it knows us so well, because it is us!

The Ego and Divine Pathway

The last thing the ego wants is for us to surrender to the divine. It then has no job, no power and no control. It will fight us tooth and nail so that this doesn’t happen, especially when we first become aware of its machinations.

My feeling is that we all work through the blocks that our childhood/early programming/personal weaknesses have created throughout our lives, or so I have observed with myself, friends and family. Somehow most of us make it through and become stronger for the struggles, often with ordinary miracles happening every day – synchronicity at work.

The most common thing the ego does to the singer is to keep us in bad habits with the message “we always do this. It’s who we are”. Locking up the jaw, for example. Raising the head when taking a breath. Not surrendering or committing, holding back. Often habits are so ingrained that it feels “wrong” to let them go. Which is why having a mirror handy on a wall can be really enlightening. Sing the song and keep an eye out for what you’re doing. You might be surprised that what feels natural to you is actually really affecting your performance and vocal quality. Yet again, presence, personal honesty and practice, practice, practice.

Ego vs. Spirit using the Chakras and Four Pathways

Since each chakra is connected to the one below and above it, imbalance in any one of the chakras can affect our whole energetic system. If we’re not careful the whole spine becomes stiff and rigid. We lock the knees up which only makes it worse.

This can affect our total energetic system:

If we feel unsafe, fear locks up the base of the spine (root chakra).

If we are afraid to express ourselves, open up to our innate joy or trust our intuition it locks up our sacral point (2nd chakra).

If we’re afraid, stressed or mistrust our own power, it locks up the diaphragm (3rd chakra).

If we don’t trust ourselves or others or the world around us, it locks up the heart (4th chakra)

If we’re afraid of speaking our truth, the throat (5th) chakra is locked up.

If we don’t trust our intuition or feel that the Universe doesn’t have our best interests at heart it locks up the third eye (6th chakra), and starts a battle between ego and spirit.

This then cuts us off from the power of the crown chakra (7th), and from connecting to the heavens and our higher selves.

This locks up the 9th chakra (as in the diagram, an arms length above the head and our electromagnetic connection to the heavens) and the 10th chakra (as in the diagram an arms length below the feet and our magnetic connection to the Earth, and the center of the Earth).

All of these chakras make up our “bubble”, our energy.

If we allow this to happen, our connection to spirit is completely controlled by  ego and fear.

We then feel isolated and alone and the ego feels it’s done its work to keep up safe. Nothing can get in or out and it can control us completely, controlling our connection to our spirit and thus ultimately destroying us through our own fantasies.

Obviously, a worst case scenario:)

Conversely, if we connect to spirit through the pathways when singing, it’s a very different experience:

We feel safe, so the root chakra supports us, and we feel stable and thus, confident.

We then feel confident enough to connect with the express our creativity from the 2nd chakra.

The third chakra expands as we take a breath centered in the diaphragm, rooted by the 1st (root) chakra, inspired by the creativity from the 2nd chakra, fueled by the imagination pathway since we’re breathing into the back, and thus into chakras 1-4 as we breathe in to sing.

Because we’ve let go and expanded the diaphragm through the 3rd chakra, surrendering to chakras 1 and 2, we’re now on the divine pathway and our heart, our 4th chakra, opens. Feeling safe, creative, confident and supported. The imagination pathway opens us to expressing our true self.

We’ve done the work, practiced the song, strengthened and developed the vocal cords so that they perform as we wish them to. We create the perfect note from the 5th chakra. We sing our truth.

The 6th chakra observes all of this. The silent witness. Directing the song. The ego does a good job here, and if our attention is in the heart, the ego has to surrender and help us rather than hindering. It stays out of the way of trying to control the song but becomes our inner computer “need a big breath here, long passage of the song, now a quick breath for the high note, let go don’t force…” etc.

The 7th chakra connects us to our spirit and allows us to celebrate the moment and the great job we’re doing. We feel free and powerful, yet centered and still.

Obviously, these are worst and best case scenarios. Most commonly, we’re all a mixture of all of these things at one time or another, the dark and the light.  When the stars align, though, and you know you’ve given a terrific performance, have felt very centered and at one with yourself, you’ve aligned your chakras and energies as described and have been in the center of all four pathways at once.

 

Singing and the Four Pathways

Here’s a closer look at the four pathways when singing:

During a song.

We prepare to sing a phrase:

We think of the lyric – the imagination pathway. Emotionally we connect with it’s meaning and resonance, deciding to honesty express those emotions – the imagination and divine pathways.

We decide to surrender to intuition, to see where it will lead us – the imagination and divine pathways.

We take a breath in, surrendering our whole physical self to the experience of the song, thinking of nothing else – the imagination, divine and elemental pathways.

We connect with the diaphragm through the heart, expressing the emotion first through the first four chakras and then throughout mind, body and spirit – the power, elemental, imagination and divine pathways all working together.

As mentioned earlier, to sing a song well, we have to be in the moment, let go, let the song happen, and let the music flow through us. When all four pathways work as one, we are in the center of ourselves, simply enjoying the experience.

All living things have a vibration, their own sound. We vibrate with our own energy, each chakra having a tone and resonance. Our personality has its own resonance. We each have an individual voice. Every time you sing you’re expressing the inimitable you.

Integrity

When you surrender to the integrity of your own sound, your own authenticity – what you truly want to say, how you truly want to express the music within and vibrate with your own resonance, you have to surrender to do so.

By doing this you’re getting out of your own way – the ego starts to trust and let your spirit guide you. Once you’re there, it’s plain sailing. You know it, you feel it, it feels like flying. Everything is simple and easy and you know you’re connecting with your real self, there’s no question.

Getting there is a process, and however much of a fight it is between ego and spirit is up to you – and the work you’re prepared to do to undo the fantasies created by the ego, to honestly see them for what they are. Once again, quite often they hide in plain sight. As we try to change the pattern, the ego will give out the message “No, we always do this. Carry on, everything is fine…”

When all four pathways are working together in harmony, you’re one complete organism, everything working together as one.

And at this point, singing is just fun. And freeing.

*Advanced Chakra Healing – Energy Mapping on the Four Pathways” by Cyndi Dale.

Related Articles:

The chakras and the multiverse

The Imagination Pathway (the river of energy)

Spirit vs. Ego, the old battle

Why Meditate?

Meditations:

10 minute meditation

Rhythm meditation 

Cyndi Dales books (all available on Amazon):

Advanced Chakra Healing: Four pathways to Energetic Wellness and Transformation 

Illuminating the Afterlife

The Complete Book of Chakra Healing