What is Life Force?

It is considered to be the non-physical energy that animates all living things. 

Life force is the vital principle, the bioelectric force that is the spark of life.

It refers to the innate vital energy that flows within and surrounds every living being. This essential life energy connects the body, mind, and spirit.

Life force is understood as the invisible life current or vital force that gives power and motion to all living things. The spark that gives the body the ability to function, move, and thrive. 

Life force connects us to the source of life itself.

The idea of a vital life force or energy is found in many spiritual and wellness traditions worldwide. It is key to many complementary modalities and ancient healing practices. 

Though there is controversy as to wether life force can be precisely measured, improving and cultivating our life force is considered essential for optimum wellbeing and vitality.

The Science Behind Life Force

In recent decades, there has been growing scientific interest in studying life force energy and the Biofield

While it goes by different names in different traditions like prana, chi, or qi, fundamentally it refers to the subtle energy that animates living beings. 

Modern research has approached studying life force from different angles:

• Bioelectricity: The body generates tiny electrical currents and electromagnetic fields through biochemical processes. This electricity powers important functions like muscle contraction, nerve transmissions, and regulating cellular function. Scientists can now measure this bioelectricity with sensitive electrodes and imaging techniques. Interestingly, areas long believed to be major energy centers according to acupuncture correlate with areas of high electrical conductivity in the body. Read The Body Electric by Robert O Becker.

• Energy Healing: Healing practices like Reiki and Qigong are based on the premise that a universal energy can be channeled to facilitate healing in others. Though these practices seemed esoteric, studies on energy healing are yielding positive results. Controlled trials show energy healing can help improve outcomes for anxiety, pain, and wound healing. How this occurs remains unknown, but it may work by interacting with the body's bioelectric currents.

• Subtle Energy Body: Spiritual traditions describe a human energy body made up of energy channels (meridians) and centers (chakras) that distribute vitality. New imaging techniques reveal these energy channels correspond to fascial planes, and energy centers correlate with major nerve plexuses and endocrine glands. So while the specifics of energy body maps may be metaphorical, they accurately describe how life force flows through the physical body.

These areas of research make clear that regulating life force plays an instrumental role in our health and wellbeing. 

Our growing understanding can help us better cultivate this vital energy in our lives.

Cultivating Your Life Force

Life force energy is like a muscle - it grows stronger through use and attention. 

And especially through INTENTION.

There are many ways to cultivate your vitality and amplify your life force.

Regular practices like yoga, tai chi and qigong are extremely effective for building your reserves of energy. 

The slow mindful movements help relax the body and calm the mind, while controlled breathing channels pranic energy throughout your system and intention can direct the prana into energy centres in the body like the tan dien or navel point.

Traditional Yogic Meditation has similar benefits, training your focus and subtle awareness.

Eating a nutritious whole foods diet gives your body the fuel it needs for vibrant energy. 

Getting adequate rest and sleep allows your system to recharge. Best to lie on your side to assist the glymphatic system of the brain in cleansing during sleep..

Spending time in nature exposes you to elemental energies that resonate with your own life force, such as the frequencies of natural sun light, ions from waterfalls and the sea and grounding into the Earth.

Being around people you enjoy replenishes your reserves through positive shared experiences and gratitude strengthens the electromagnetic field of your heart.

Overall, maintaining a healthy lifestyle with exercise, recreation and stress management will help you cultivate stronger life force energy within yourself. 

Simple consistent habits can make a big difference over time. With the right knowledge and awareness, you can build up your vitality and access deep internal power to fuel success and wellbeing.

Depletion of Life Force

• Stress, negativity, illness, lack of sleep or rest can all deplete our life force and vitality. When we're under constant stress, our body is flooded with stress hormones like cortisol which overtime drains our energy reserves. Negative thinking and emotions like anger, resentment, anxiety and fear have a lower vibrational frequency and diminish our life force. 

• Illness and disease, especially chronic conditions, can gradually weaken us by using up reserves that would otherwise go towards cell regeneration and optimal functioning. And without adequate sleep and rest, our body doesn't have time to recharge and restore itself, further reducing our vitality.

• Toxins in our environment like air and water pollution, chemicals, heavy metals and pesticides also drain our life force. Our bodies have to work hard to process and eliminate these toxins which diverts energy that could be used to maintain health. Electromagnetic radiation from wifi, cellphones, computers, power lines etc. has also been shown to negatively impact energy levels and wellbeing. The artificial frequencies disrupt the body's natural energetic rhythms and homeostasis. So minimizing our exposure through using ethernet cables, turning off devices in the bedroom, and implementing EMF shielding can help preserve vitality.

Life Force and Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurs are creators and innovators who manifest new ideas into reality through their drive and determination.

Life force energy serves as the fuel for all entrepreneurial efforts. 

It provides the vitality necessary for creativity, working long hours, overcoming challenges, and continually remaining focused when progress feels slow. 

An entrepreneur cannot thrive fully without adequate life force.

To cultivate success, entrepreneurs must learn to manage their energy as a key resource. Avoiding burnout and establishing resilience are critical. When life force runs low, inspiration fades, creativity dries up, and innovation stalls.

To tap into the renewable power of life force:

• Make time for rest, recovery and rejuvenation. Balance work with activities that provide joy and meaning.

• Reduce stress through practices like meditation, yoga, time in nature, and cultivating inner peace. Stress and anxiety drain life force.

• Follow a healthy lifestyle with regular exercise, nourishing foods, proper sleep and balanced social connection. Wellbeing boosts vitality.

• Develop presence, focus, and connection to your deeper purpose. Align work with your souls values.

• Surround yourself with positivity and support. Avoid people who deplete your reserves.

By cultivating your own life force energy, you gain access to enhanced drive, clarity, inspiration and resilience. An unshakeable foundation of inner strength to support you to thrive and build your bold visions. 

Your vitality fuels your victory.

Increasing Vitality

There are many ways to increase your vitality and life force energy. 

Here are some of the most effective methods:

Movement, Breathing Exercises, and Vocal Toning

• Start a regular exercise routine that includes cardio, strength training, and flexibility. Even light exercise like walking helps circulate energy. Stretching your fascia. 

• Practice deep breathing exercises to increase oxygen and energy flow. Try alternate nostril breathing, belly breathing, and pranayama techniques.

• Do vocal toning by chanting, humming, or singing to open up energetic blockages.

Spending Time in Nature

• Walk barefoot on the earth to ground excess energy down through your feet. This is "earthing" .

• Spend time near trees, water, and plants. Their natural vitality will raise yours. 

• Take a forest bath by walking mindfully through a wooded area. The phytoncides from trees have an energizing effect.

Thoughts and Emotions

• Reduce negative thinking, resentment, and fear - these lower your vibration.

• Avoid people and media that drain your energy. Limit time with people, media and places that leave you feeling tired.

• Let go of stress through meditation, journaling, or talking to a friend. Relaxation preserves life force.

• Express creativity, laugh, listen to uplifting music and elevate your mood. Joy boosts your energy.

• Gratitude especially focused around the heart centre promotes coherence in the biofield of the heart leading to increased immunity.

By adopting these vitality boosting habits, you'll cultivate your innate life force and maintain a high level of energy. With increased vitality, you'll feel more motivated, focused and better equipped to handle challenges.

Healing With Life Force

Life force is often associated with healing modalities that aim to balance and increase energy flow in the body. Some examples include:

Reiki and Energy Healing

Reiki is a Japanese healing practice that involves a practitioner placing their hands lightly on or over a patient's body to facilitate the flow of life force energy and promote healing. The practitioner serves as a conduit for universal energy to flow to the recipient. There are different levels of attunement in Reiki that allow the practitioner to channel increasing amounts of energy.

Other energy healing modalities like therapeutic touch, healing touch, and quantum touch also work with life force energy. 

Practitioners use light touch or hold their hands close to the body with the intent to manipulate energy fields and bring about healing.

Acupuncture and Acupressure

Acupuncture is a component of Traditional Chinese Medicine that inserts thin needles into specific points on the body to clear blockages and improve the flow of qi (life force). Acupressure applies pressure with hands, fingers or devices to acupuncture points without penetrating the skin. Both aim to facilitate circulation and balance of qi to resolve health issues.

Hands-On Healing and Distant Healing

Some healers are believed to have an innate ability to channel life force energy through their hands to bring about healing effects. Hands-on healing involves touching the person, while distant healing involves directing energy to the recipient from afar through intention and visualization. 

Healing practices that work with life force energy take a holistic approach to health and wellbeing. They operate under the premise that strengthening and balancing the body's vital energy promotes self-healing capabilities. 

While some approaches like Reiki have entered mainstream medicine, further research is still needed to fully validate the direct effects of life force in healing. However, many rely on these practices to complement conventional treatment.

Measuring Life Force

There are a few different techniques that have been developed to measure and visualize life force or subtle energy in the human body. These include:

Kirlian Photography and Polycontrast Interference Photography

Kirlian photography, developed by Semyon Kirlian in the 1930s, involves placing objects on photographic film and applying a high voltage electrical charge. This results in a visible corona discharge or aura around the object that some believe corresponds to the life force. Polycontrast Interference Photography (PIP) is a similar technique that uses interference patterns to produce images of energy fields. Proponents believe these photographic techniques allow us to see and assess the strength of life force energies.

Gas Discharge Visualization and Electrophotonic Imaging

Gas Discharge Visualization (GDV) uses high-frequency, high-voltage electrical fields to cause electrophotographic glow around a person's fingertips. This glow is captured with an optical camera system. Advocates of GDV believe differences in glow patterns and intensities provide information about a person's health, stress levels, and chakra energies. Related techniques include Electrophotonic Imaging (EPI), which uses a lower voltage electrical field to produce fingertip images.

Electrodermal Screening

Electrodermal screening devices measure electrical conductivity across various acupuncture points on the skin. Higher conductivity is believed to indicate greater flow of life force energy. These devices are sometimes used as a diagnostic tool in alternative medicine to identify energy imbalances in the body. Skin conductivity patterns are thought to reflect the condition of the acupuncture meridian system.

While some question the scientific validity of these techniques, proponents believe they offer empirical tools to measure the subtle energy systems of the human body. Further research may shed more light on the nature and diagnostic value of life force energy. For now, these methods represent intriguing attempts to quantify and visualize the elusive concept of vital energy.

Life Force in Different Traditions

The concept of a vital life energy exists in many cultures and traditions around the world, with different names and properties ascribed to it.

Qi/Chi in Chinese Culture

In Chinese philosophy and medicine, Qi (or Chi) refers to the circulating life force energy inherent in all living beings. Qi permeates the body and can be cultivated and balanced through practices like acupuncture, Tai Chi exercises, herbal medicine and Qigong breathing routines. Disruptions to the flow of Qi are considered to be at the root of illness and disease.

Prana in Hindu Yogic Tradition

Prana is the Sanskrit word for vital energy or life force, also referred to as the breath of life. In Hindu Yogic philosophy, Prana flows through energy channels in the subtle body called Nadis. Through practices like Pranayama breathing, Yoga asanas, and meditation, Prana can be controlled and increased, leading to improved health and vitality.

Mana in Hawaiian Culture

In native Hawaiian tradition, Mana refers to an energy or power that exists in objects, animals, nature and supernatural beings. Places with strong Mana like volcanoes were considered sacred. Mana could be gained or lost, and chants and rituals were performed to harness it. Having a lot of Mana meant having authority, charisma and healing powers.

Num/Nwyfre in Druidry

Druidic spirituality has the idea of Nwyfre, pronounced Noo-iv-ruh, representing the life force that flows through the body, mind, and soul. Closely related is Num, or divine light, the creative life energy within and around us. Druids believe that being aware of the ebb and flow of Num helps connect to nature and the divine. Rituals and ceremonies are designed to tap into this flowing energy.

Improving Wellbeing With Life Force

Life force energy has numerous benefits for overall wellbeing when cultivated and increased within the body and mind. 

On a physical level, strengthening your life force can promote healing, boost vitality, increase resilience against illness and disease, and slow the aging process. 

As life force flows freely through the body, you may experience improved energy levels, strength, flexibility, and healthier organ function.

On an emotional and mental level, amplified life force energy can lead to reduced anxiety, elevated mood, enhanced focus and concentration, greater creativity, and a deeper sense of inner peace and emotional balance. 

With sufficient life force, your mind may feel sharper and clearer.

Increasing your life force also has spiritual benefits and can facilitate personal growth. 

As you build and harness more energy within, you may feel a deeper connection to your innate spirit and purpose. Life force fuels spiritual evolution and awakening. It allows you to access higher states of consciousness and awareness. 

You may gain insight into your true nature and become more attuned to the universal flow of energy.

Overall, nourishing your life force is profoundly beneficial for wellbeing on all levels - physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. 

A vibrant life force leads to wholeness, vitality and an inner radiance that emanates through your being. 

Investing in practices that cultivate your energy and consciousness will empower you to thrive in all areas of your life.

Try the quick breathwork video below to increase your energy and vitality.

Establishing a consistent daily practice that strengthens your lifeforce and vitality can be challenging. If you would like a personal prescriptive practice and support contact Elizabeth to discuss how to get started.

Book a FREE 60 minute Soul Shift session to understand your innate strengths and life challenges. Receive recommendations of practices that will increase your strengths and turn your challenges into an asset.