Love is real power. Yes, real power. It is energy, not just a feeling. Could we zap someone with it?
Everything in the universe is energy and love is part of it. If love weren’t energy, it wouldn’t affect anything but we know from our experience that it does; it changes things. We know if we love, we feel different, our body feels different, our vitality changes and life is better. It may help us to be healthier and live longer. It certainly improves the quality of life. So love does something.
Cosmic glue
Some ancient wisdom teachings speak of love as being the unifying energy of the universe. It holds things 
together and provides cohesiveness. It is like cosmic glue. We can see in families and other groups that where there is selfless caring those groups hold together very strongly. Those who have the gift of being able to see energies and auras describe the beautiful colours that emanate from people when they express love. Simply, we radiate energy of a very special kind when we love.
If we think, then, of love in terms of energy rather than simply as a feeling, we can begin to understand that it is a hugely transforming agent. It transforms us and, on an energy level, it can affect others. One of those effects is to heal.
Love as healing power
When we love, we send forth a great wave of positive energy and, because of its tendency to bring about cohesiveness, it heals. Love will heal rifts in relationships of all kinds, we know that; but it can also help to bring about healing of the body and emotions. A person who loves will tend to heal more quickly than someone who is very negative; they will also tend to fall ill less often because the immune system is stronger. This is partly because the happier we are, the more endorphins (“happy biochemicals”) the body produces.
There is also another aspect: the person who loves has less tension and restriction in the body with the result that both blood and chi (the vital energy of the body) flow more easily. So, quite unwittingly, the lover automatically nourishes his or her own body. This provides conditions in which the body will heal more easily. Negative emotions, those feelings that rise up and cause us pain, will arise less often because the positive energy of love will tend to neutralise or at least lessen the impact of them and so, over a period of time, the emotional body becomes healthier too.
Love power: the affect on others
By loving, we don’t just heal ourselves, though. We create a positive energy field around us that affects other people. Unless the other person blocks us off by putting up mental barriers, our positive energy will bring about some effect in their energy field. It may only be a very small effect and perhaps just a fleeting one but some change there will be. If the other person is very negative, the effect will probably be negligible but even so, there are many who recount instances where an apparently negative person has been less so when loving or healing thoughts have been directed towards them. Imagine, then, the effect if the other person is receptive: they will receive a good boost of energy and healing processes will be enhanced by that.
Really successful healers are not those who just “lay on hands”, although that can be an effective method in certain circumstances; no, the really successful healers are those who express genuine loving-kindness, irrespective of who the other person is. Those in the medical and healing professions who truly love their work and care for their patients achieve far more than those who don’t. But we don’t have to be a healer in the traditional sense or in one of the caring professions in order to heal. If we are human and love, we heal because that is one of the amazing effects of this very real power.
So can we zap?
Most certainly! And try this – when you are out and about and see other people (and animals, for that matter) send a wave of good feeling from your heart out to them. Don’t say anything and don’t stare, just silently but consciously project goodness and kindness towards them. You’ll be amazed at the results.
Adapted from an extract in The Great Little Book of Happiness which is available here.
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Interesting blog Andrew. Let’s think about how one prevents our energy being drained totally after a life time of genuine,passionate giving. If you consider the research regarding burn out within health care professionals. What advice would you give them to heal?
Warm wishes,
Georgie
Thanks for the response, Georgie. Quite a question you pose! Recently, I’ve been reading “Altruism” by Matthieu Ricard. He makes an interesting distinction between altruism and “emotional empathy”. The latter he regards as draining because we tend to identify with the suffering of the other person. He refers particularly to those in the caring professions as being susceptible to burn-out because of this. Maybe the clue is in your use of the word “passionate”, which implies an emotional response. Loving-kindness, compassion and altruism he suggests are more balanced.
Burn-out or exhaustion from any cause is a product of imbalance – a result of becoming too “yang”. Many find a good remedy for too much yang in life is meditating on a regular basis, which can redress the imbalance through periods of deep but conscious rest. Over the past few decades, I’ve certainly found that to be the most effective prescription!
I’d certainly recommend Matthieu Ricard’s book for an in-depth analysis of the subject.