The first and most basic thing we can do is physical augmentation. Augmentation uses our energy to influence our physical bodies. Augmentation allows us to push beyond our physical limitations through a concentrated act of will.

To augment, you must extend your awareness only slightly to the energy coursing through your body. Focus is essential. Gather the energy into your center, just under your heart chakra, then force it throughout yourself with a specific intent. In this way you may will a burst of strength or a burst of speed, you may increase your endurance, your pain tolerance, and even the rate at which you heal. Through concentration of your will and your energy, you can heightened your senses of touch, taste, hearing, and so forth. A limited amount of increased sensual acuity comes without thought. All senses are affected in this way, though scent, taste, and touch are the most noticeably keener. With practice, augmentation will come naturally, without a conscious effort, and may be kept up for extended periods of time. However, augmenting for extended periods tends to burn the system out very quickly so that one must feed more heavily and more often in order to compensate. The same concept can be applied to pushing yourself beyond the limits of physical infirmity or disease. Many of us are sickly, because the connection between the physical and the spiritual bodies is disjointed or incomplete. Yet we can overcome whatever our physical limitations may be with a concentrated effort of will. As with augmentation, focus is essential, and compensating for extended periods of time will deplete you so that you will have to feed heavily more often. Yet with practice and diligence, one can compensate for the most debilitating conditions without hardly a thought, so that even those with serious heart conditions can achieve a level of physical activity and endurance that would astonish physicians.

The Energy Ball

Once you have learned how to focus and direct energy through your body, the most basic form of external energy manipulation is the energy ball (also known as a ki ball or chi ball). Cup your hands slightly until you feel a build-up of energy gather in your palm. It will have a barely perceptible heft to it, and if you press your fingers around it, you will feel a subtle tension before it begins to give. This energy is malleable, like a very viscous fluid, and may be handled and shaped as you would clay. Bring your hands together, palms still cupped and slightly parted, and form the energy into a ball. Feel its weight and the tension it creates between your fingers. Mold it and shape it with your hands. In this state, it can be thrown at a target or passed from person to person. In general, anyone struck with such a neutral ball of energy will feel something, though they may be hard pressed to define what. If you look at this collected energy as you would the aura, you will find that it is perceptible as something misty or oily in the space between your hands. You may charge this energy with a specific emotion or sensation. Simply concentrate on the energy in your hands and concentrate on that emotion or sensation. Recall it so completely that you actually experience it while focusing on the energy ball. Direct the sensation to the energy in your hands. The energy will then become infused with the emotion or sensation which you generated. Now, when you throw this energy ball at someone, they will experience the sensation or emotion as you did. They may ignore it or they may act upon what they suddenly feel. Sometimes, if the sensation is strong enough, they may jump and instinctively look over at you.

Basic Healing

Energy gathered into your hands, if allowed to remain neutral and uncharged by any extraneous emotions, can be used to heal yourself or another. Cup the energy in your hand and hold this around the affected area. Channel the energy through your hands to the wound. As you send the energy through your hands, extends your awareness to include all that the energy comes into contact with. Focus on gradually smaller and smaller levels until you sense the source of the problem.

Your perception of the problem and how you seek to deal with it will depend upon your knowledge of anatomy and your technique of visualization. In general, you can speed the healing of any wound by vitalizing the area with energy and stimulating both circulation and cell growth. If there are broken bones, visualize the ends of the bone knitting back together. If there are tears in muscles or tendons, will the fibers to reknit themselves. Visualize the blood gathering to carry away the fluids which cause swelling or any clotted matter left over from bruises or other ruptures. Visualize cell growth and mitosis occurring on an increased level. Flood the area with as much energy as you can spare, then gradually cease the flow. Keep your hands over the area, holding the heat you've generated in place for a bit longer, then pull away.

Advanced Healing Techniques

Sometimes a wound or illness may not have a physical cause. In such a case, lay your hands upon the area where the problem is focused and extend your awareness to the internal level. Probe out with your subtle sense and locate the intrusion which is the source of the problem. This may be a dark spot or a dense "object." It may merely be a feeling, such as a sensation of cold or pain. Find it, then, taking one hand, close both your physical and energy around it. Draw it out and throw it away. Do not take it into yourself as this can cause complications, not the least of which is the possibility of having the infection attack you.

Sometimes a wound or illness may exist on both the physical and subtle levels. In such a case, place your hands over the affected area and extend your awareness to the internal level. Draw out the subtle intrusion first. Heal the problem on the physical level only after this has been done. The physical and the subtle levels of existence are so interlinked that if you heal the physical but leave the subtle aspect untouched, the subtle intrusion will eventually cause the physical problem to recur. You may use these techniques on yourself or others as the need arises. If your visualization is strong, you may not need to touch the affected area when healing yourself. Simply center, build up some energy, then focus inward and become aware of your internal processes. Focus your perception on the affected area and proceed with the healing visualizations discussed above. Cease when you feel you have done all the good that you can.