Subtle Energies: Part 1

When I first started exploring different modalities to use as a tattooer, I was immediately drawn to our bodies' energy.

Different parts of our bodies hold emotional components and have associations with all sorts of worldly correspondences.

One example of a well-known practice that harmonizes the body’s energy is Shiatsu massage.

Shiatsu has its roots in the concept of qi. In traditional Chinese medicine, qi is the vital life force that drives all life activity. It believes that health occurs when qi flows unobstructed. When it becomes deficient or blocked, symptoms such as body pain, headaches, and digestive issues arise.

To learn more about shiatsu massage, click here.

Subtle energy is a type of energy field. To break it down, the two main categories of energies are Veritable and Putative/subtle.

I think both the words putative and subtle are yuck. Don’t care for those words. But you can use them interchangeably. And the meaning is great. 

Veritable energy is measurable—magnetism, radiation, visible light, etc. Subtle energy cannot be measured, but we can witness and even measure its effects, and therefore be aware of its existence. Chi, for instance, or vital life energy. This is incredibly oversimplified.

If you would like to read an amazing book that I’ve had to hold back from quoting repeatedly in this blog, click here.

Our bodies can create both veritable and putative energy fields. What I do is use this information in a rudimentary way to begin the alchemy process of body placement for your tattoo. A more involved practice for the subtle energy field of your body would be one that would manipulate or harmonize the energy. Outside of shiatsu, you could think of reiki, chakra balancing, or craniosacral therapy. I am not manipulating the subtle energy as intentionally as I am manipulating your veritable energy through tattooing. The subtle energy shift is coming from you, and I just help to plant the seed as you water it and nurture it.