Energy: What You Put Out Shapes the Reality You Live In

By: Mary Jane Almeda, MA, MFT

In psychology, we talk a lot about cognition, behavior, and environment. But there’s an aspect that rarely makes it into textbooks, yet influences human interaction more powerfully than any spoken language: energetic presence.

Every human being is constantly communicating beyond words through posture, tone, facial micro expressions, nervous system regulation, and emotional resonance. We call this affective communication, and it shapes how people experience us long before we consciously register it.

You’ve probably had a moment where you walked into a room and immediately felt tension, or met someone whose presence felt calming before they ever said a word. That’s energy, that's the invisible language of the nervous system.

The truth is, we’re always transmitting something. And life, people, and opportunities respond to that transmission.

I’ve spent years observing this in classrooms, clinical settings, and training spaces: when a person is internally aligned emotionally grounded, self-aware, and clear about who they are their external world reflects that alignment back to them. Relationships become healthier, decisions become more intentional, boundaries become clearer, and the quality of their life shifts.

And I’ve seen the opposite too.

When someone carries unresolved pain, fear, scarcity, or defensiveness, that internal experience becomes the lens through which they interpret and engage with the world. The environment mirrors what exists inside, often in ways that feel repetitive or unfair until we recognize the pattern.

From a psychological perspective, repeated life experiences are rarely random. They are feedback. They’re invitations to examine what our nervous system has normalized and what emotional patterns are asking to be healed. Change doesn’t start with forcing different outcomes. It begins with understanding the internal energy driving them.

But here’s something beautiful that research can’t fully capture: the moment a room feels safe. I’ve watched it and created this myself in classrooms filled with professionals, in training rooms packed with leaders, in groups who walked in guarded and unsure. The mood shifts. People start breathing differently. Shoulders drop. Humanity surfaces.

Some of the most transformative moments I’ve witnessed came when I balanced expertise with laughter, warmth, and playfulness. The whole room softens. People become real again. There is a lightness, a freedom. Empowerment becomes possible because the nervous system feels safe enough to receive it.

That’s the power of intentional energy. There’s real wisdom in protecting your internal ecosystem too. Our nervous systems synchronize with the people we surround ourselves with. If someone consistently pulls you out of alignment or drains your emotional bandwidth, that isn’t personal. That’s physiology.

So here are questions worth reflecting on:

• What emotional tone does your presence carry?

• What is your nervous system broadcasting, even in silence?

• Does your energy align with the person you’re becoming?

Energy is not mystical. It is human. It is relational. It is measurable in behavior, physiology, and connection. And when you shift what you radiate internally, the world around you reorganizes to match it. That’s science and psychology.