Musings on receiving energy

I’ve been thinking a lot about receiving recently. Over the past few months I’ve been intentionally making time throughout my day to ‘receive’ as part of my workday—aka not just sitting there pushing out outputs or refreshing my email.

It’s been a really interesting experience and I wanted to share.

I’ll preface this by saying I’m no expert on receiving and I’m certainly not suggesting that what I’ve been doing is the approach or even an approach that will work for you. There are so many ways to interpret and create space to receive. I’m simply sharing in case you feel curious to experiment with a receiving practice in your own day. And if you do try it, I’d genuinely love to hear what you notice.

When I say receiving, I mean the act of energetically allowing myself to open to possibilities—to open to the things I desire coming into my life—and to build the capacity to hold what I’m calling in.

So often I (and I’m going to guess, we) can get into what I call a “grabby” energy. It’s that subtle feeling that what we desire is just out of reach and we need to do more to earn it. Sometimes that shows up as constantly producing—social media posts, newsletters, proposals and networking. And none of those things are bad. They’re part of my business and I’m grateful I get to do them.

But if I’m only ever in output mode, when am I in input mode?

So I started making time throughout my day to intentionally receive. And honestly, what that looks like can be anything: meditating, yoga, cooking, going for a walk, taking a bath, resting, reading, tending to my plant medicines—whatever. It’s less about the activity and more about tending to myself in a way that expands my capacity—my nervous system, my energy body—to receive.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/85988c_3d8cabbdebbe4ae8ac9f0d744fc16859/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

Definitely one of my favorite ways to receive is taking in the beauty of nature. I absolutely had to pull over en route to the ferry to capture the sparkle of the ocean.  Traditional unceded territory of shíshálh (Sechelt) Nation.

I also believe we can receive through tending to and caring for our community and loved ones. It’s anything that shifts you out of constant output.

It’s also letting myself actually take in and savour a ‘win’—which, if I’m honest, I’m not great at. I tend to move right on to the next thing and miss the opportunity to really receive what just happened.

I also want to highlight the power of intention. I’ll consciously name that I’m taking time to receive while doing something. I know it might sound like, “well, you’re still doing an activity,” and yes, I am. This is just what works for me. I encourage you to find what works for you.

But the biggest thing that defines the energy of receiving, for me, is that it’s not grabby. I’m not trying to control or force it. I'm tending to myself and my surroundings in a different way. I’m allowing and staying present.

Even before this recent experiment, over the past couple of years I’ve been practicing receiving in another way: actually accepting things from others.

If someone offers to have me over for dinner, buy me a coffee, lend me their car—whatever—and it’s something I genuinely want, I accept it.

Which sounds simple, but it wasn’t for me. I’d like to think especially challenging because I’m Canadian and I feel like we have to go a few rounds before I can accept something LOL.

And I’ve really worked to notice (and soften) the part of me that wants to overgive in return (not always successfully). The past few years have been tighter financially than I’m used to and it’s been a big expansion to allow myself to receive abundance from others—trusting that I also give, have given and will give when I have the capacity (material, emotional or otherwise).

What I’ve come to feel is that when we say no to things we actually want, the Universe can read that as us not really wanting what we say we desire.

The biggest thing I’ve noticed? When I take time to receive… I receive. LOL.

A newsletter sign-up comes in. I hear back from someone. An inquiry lands in my inbox. It’s quite beautiful—and it’s meant I’ve actually been able to “work” less (or maybe more accurately, more effectively and efficiently) while seeing more results.

As I’ve been reflecting on all of this, I’ve also noticed how deeply receiving is woven into what I’ll be sharing in The Spring Institute. Receiving the innate wisdom of our bodies. Receiving and feeling our sacred rage. Receiving our intuition. Receiving the opportunities within our thoughts to recreate our reality.

I wish I could say I intentionally built the course around this theme… I did not haha. But it’s there, woven through, reflecting something that was c

learly already moving through me.

That said, whether or not you’re joining us for The Spring Institute, I wanted to offer a simple visualization to support opening your capacity to receive. This actually came through during a tarot reading this week when a client shared she hadn’t been in receiving mode at all—just more confirmation of how present this theme is right now.

Click here for the link to the video on my instagram.

Hope you have the loveliest week,

Emily

P.S. If you’re a health care practitioner or helping professional and something in this landed, you might really resonate with Flourish. Registration is open for the spring cohort—a six-month community of practice to reduce burnout and help you reconnect with your spark. We weave together evidence-based well-being, trauma-informed care and peer connection—a bit of a trifecta for meaningful change.

Early bird pricing ends April 24th, and you’re so welcome to reach out or book a discovery chat if you’re feeling into whether it’s a fit for you. Click for more information on Flourish!