Emptying is both a philosophy and a practice. As a philosophy, it reminds us that we are not meant to carry everything indefinitely. As a practice, it gives us a way to clear space, digest experience, and make room for inspiration, peace, and renewal.
This is not a one-time technique—it’s something we can return to again and again: throughout the day, the month, the year—even across decades.
The Impressions We Take In
Every moment, we are taking in impressions through our six senses:
- Sight (light, images)
- Smell (odors, aromas)
- Taste (flavors)
- Touch (textures, sensations)
- Hearing (sounds, vibrations)
- Thought (mental forms and perceptions)
The sixth sense is often overlooked, but it is critically important. In Buddhism, the Vedic traditions, and many other spiritual lineages, it is acknowledged that we also receive thought-forms—impressions transmitted mind-to-mind, received and emitted like energetic broadcasts. These are as real as the scent of jasmine or the sound of a bell.
The Need for Digestion
Modern life is full. Urban, busy, fast-moving, emotionally charged—our systems are flooded with impressions all day long. We receive more than we can process, and often move on before we’ve even begun to digest what came before.
And yet, everything we take in must be digested:
- We digest food and water.
- We digest thoughts, feelings, and relationships.
- We digest information, data, interactions, even glances and moods.
If we don’t process what we’ve taken in, it accumulates.
 Our energetic body stores the backlog until it has the time or tools to break it down. But when the system becomes overloaded, we experience what could be called energetic indigestion—mental fog, emotional overwhelm, body tension, spiritual stagnation.
A lighthearted example is the classic Lucille Ball and Ethel at the chocolate factory—struggling to keep up with a relentless stream of chocolates passing by them on a conveyor belt, stuffing them in their mouths, hats, and shirts. That’s what our systems go through when impressions keep coming in and we’ve run out of places to put them.
Emptying as a Tool for Healing
All great spiritual and energetic traditions recognize the importance of emptying. It is an active process, a technique we use to release what has accumulated in the body, mind, and energy field.
We empty:
- The physical body: arms, legs, belly, chest, heart, neck, brain
- The organ systems: through associated points along the spine
- The bilateral senses: smell, taste, touch, hearing, seeing, thinking
- The emotions and subtle energy: fear, longing, sadness, boredom, grief, desire
We release the residue of experience we have picked up simply by walking through the world.
Why is this important?
Because emptiness makes space—space for:
- Fresh inspiration
- Healing light
- Clarity and peace
- Creative possibility
In Taoist philosophy, the evolved person is the empty vessel. A cup full to the brim can take in no more, but an empty cup is open to all things.
The Earth as Recycling System
When we empty, we do not discard—we offer back.
Everything we release returns to the Earth, to the Mother, to be broken down and composted. We’re not hoarding experience; we’re recycling it.
Through this process, Mother Earth generates new medicine from what we release. Our willingness to empty becomes a source of renewal—not just for ourselves, but for the world.
Summary
- Emptying is a daily, lifelong practice.
- It allows us to digest and release the impressions we constantly take in.
- It opens space for clarity, inspiration, and healing.
- It restores our natural rhythm of receiving and letting go.
It honors the Earth as a living system of transformation.
