Moving Up the Vibrational Scale: A Practical Guide to Emotional Guidance

The vibrational scale is not a scorecard. It is a way to notice where you are, understand your emotional trend, and take the next kind, realistic step toward more freedom.

Most of us were taught to think in simple categories:

I feel good.

I feel bad.

I am doing well.

I am failing.

That is too crude for real emotional life.

Your emotional state has texture. Powerless feels different from angry. Angry feels different from frantic. Frantic feels different from calm. Calm feels different from curious. Curious feels different from bliss.

When you can feel those differences without judging yourself, you have guidance.

You can ask:

• Where am I right now?
• Am I moving up the scale or down the scale?
• What helped me move up?
• What dropped me down?
• What is the next reachable emotional step?

This guide helps with:

• understanding the Thriving Now 6-level vibrational scale
• using emotion as guidance without making it a contest
• recognizing “chutes” that drop you down the scale
• using EFT Tapping to remove old emotional triggers
• seeing anger as power moving rather than as spiritual failure
• reaching for neutral and connected instead of trying to leap to bliss
• building a more resilient emotional trend over time

Acknowledging Abraham-Hicks

This teaching is rooted in the emotional guidance system and vibrational scale made widely known through Abraham-Hicks.

Rick first learned the vibrational scale through Abraham-Hicks, especially the book Ask and It Is Given by Esther and Jerry Hicks. Their teachings on emotional guidance, contrast, and moving step-by-step toward better-feeling states are foundational here.

The Thriving Now scale below is our 6-level coaching version. It overlays broader states of being onto the more detailed Abraham-Hicks emotional scale so it can be used practically with EFT Tapping, body guidance, and emotional freedom work.

The six levels are:

1. Disempowered
2. Inflamed
3. Stressed
4. Connected
5. Thriving
6. Peaking

The point is not to replace Abraham-Hicks. The point is to make the emotional guidance system easier to use in a grounded, body-aware, moment-by-moment way.

The Scale Is Not a One-Way Street

We move up and down the scale because we are alive. That is normal, human, and expected.

The goal is not to reach the top and stay there forever.

No one does that.

Not a spiritual teacher. Not a skilled coach. Not a meditator. Not someone who has tapped for years. Not even someone who is genuinely thriving.

The healthier question is:

Where is home for my nervous system?

If your emotional home is disempowerment, life feels heavy and hopeless. If your emotional home is chronic stress, life may look productive but feel pressured and externally driven. If your emotional home becomes connected, neutral, present, and safe, then you have a stable platform.

From connected, you can rest.

From connected, you can hear guidance.

From connected, you can move into thriving more naturally.

From connected, peak experiences can arise without being chased.

Chutes and Ladders

Moving up the vibrational scale is a lot like the children’s game Chutes and Ladders.

You are where you are.

If you are at 6, you may wish you were at 80. But one spin usually will not take you all the way there.

Sometimes you hit a ladder and move up quickly. EFT Tapping can become one of those ladders. A few honest rounds of tapping may move you from despair to anger, from worry to curiosity, or from stress to calm.

Sometimes you hit a chute and slide down. A bill arrives. A boss yells. A friend says something unkind. A body sensation worries you. A memory gets triggered. Suddenly you are not merely irritated; you are ashamed, scared, hopeless, or shut down.

That does not mean you failed.

It means you found a chute.

The emotional freedom approach is:

Oh. I found another chute. Now I can tap on it.

Each chute you clear gives your system more trust. You do not have to walk through life as carefully. The floor gets stronger under you.

The 6-Level Vibrational Scale

Use these levels as a map, not as a label to trap yourself inside.

You may feel more than one state at a time. You may move between levels quickly. You may be connected in one area of life and stressed in another. That is normal.

1. Disempowered: The Dark, Dank Basement

This is the heavy, cold, wet, low-energy place where we feel life is happening to us and we do not have much power.

Common states:

• powerless
• fearful
• scared
• guilty
• ashamed
• depressed
• despairing
• grieving
• lonely
• insecure
• unworthy
• heartbroken

This level often feels like there is not enough energy to move. The body may feel collapsed, dampened, tired, heavy, or cut off. The mind may say:

Why bother?

Nothing ever works.

I am alone.

I am not worthy.

This will never change.

Sometimes we do need to visit this level. Grief, heartbreak, and old powerlessness may need our compassion and attention.

But we do not want to live here.

Useful next steps:

• acknowledge the truth without dramatizing it
• tap on the exact body sensation
• ask, “What do I feel powerless about?”
• look for one reachable movement, not a leap to joy
• allow anger if it arises as power returning

Do not force gratitude from here. Do not demand bliss from here. That can feel false and may create more shame.

From disempowered, even “I am angry” can be movement.

2. Inflamed: Re-Igniting the Inner Fire

Inflamed energy is power moving. It can be healing when we use it consciously and destructive when we act it out blindly.

Common states:

• angry
• blaming
• vengeful
• jealous
• raging
• hating

For many people, anger feels spiritually wrong, socially dangerous, or personally unsafe. They feel anger, then immediately fall down a chute into guilt and shame.

But anger is often up the scale from powerlessness.

If you are collapsed in despair, anger may be the first sign of life force returning.

Anger can say:

Something matters.

A boundary was crossed.

I was hurt.

I want my power back.

Ask: What do I feel powerless about?

Anger often points to one of two things:

• a present-time boundary that needs attention
• an old trauma or memory where you were disempowered

Useful next steps:

• go somewhere private and safe
• tap while telling the truth about the anger
• do not act out revenge thoughts
• let the anger move without shaming it
• ask whether a boundary, grief, hurt, or old event is underneath

If anger feels uncontrollable or you are afraid you might harm yourself or someone else, get qualified support. The point is not to unleash anger. The point is to let power return safely.

3. Stressed: Unstable, Externally Focused, Reactive Energy

Stressed energy has movement, but it is chaotic, ungrounded, and often run by the head, the inner critic, and outside measures of success.

Common states:

• chaotic
• vigilant
• overwhelmed
• impatient
• frustrated
• irritated
• pessimistic
• worried
• bored
• doubtful
• disappointed
• discouraged

This is where many people live most of the time.

They are not collapsed. They are not raging. They are functioning. They may be productive, responsible, and busy. But the energy is not settled. The body is not deeply resourced. The mind is scanning:

Am I doing enough?

Am I safe?

What do they think?

What if this goes wrong?

Why am I not there yet?

In stressed energy, the head is often in charge. Problems feel hard and complex. Intuitive guidance is hard to hear. The body whispers, but the noise is loud.

Useful next steps:

• stop trying to jump directly to happy
• reach for neutral first
• breathe and feel your body
• tap on the pressure, worry, or frustration
• ask, “What would feel a little more grounded?”

The next level up from stressed is not bliss.

The next level up is connected.

4. Connected: Neutral, Balanced, Present

Connected is the stable platform. It is the emotional home base from which real thriving becomes possible.

Common states:

• accepting
• simple
• safe
• calm
• peaceful
• present
• awake
• mindful
• detached
• observing

Connected is not dull. It is not settling for less. It is not giving up.

Connected is:

I am here.

I am in my body.

I can breathe.

This is not life or death.

I can notice what is true.

I can take the next step.

Rick often calls this “neutral.” Like shifting a car into neutral, you take your foot off the gas and the brake. You stop lurching between drive and reverse. You stop trying to build a skyscraper on sand.

Practices that can cultivate connected:

• mindful breathing
• simple meditation
• prayer that brings presence rather than pleading
• journaling honestly
• feeling your feet or body sensations
• mindful eating, driving, or washing dishes
• Body YES and Body NO
• tapping until the body says, “I’m okay enough now”

If you are disempowered, inflamed, or stressed, your first job is often simply:

Get to connected.

From connected, guidance is much easier to hear.

5. Thriving: Curious, Expectant, and Open

Thriving is where life feels more co-creative, guided, appreciative, and alive.

Common states:

• happy
• loving
• guided
• curious
• co-creative
• appreciative
• grateful
• inspired
• confident
• energized
• expectant
• eager
• enthusiastic
• believing
• optimistic
• hopeful

This is the kind of emotional experience many people want when they say, “I want to feel good.”

Thriving is beautiful. It is also not meant to be forced all day, every day.

Healthy emotional life has rhythm. Even people who thrive move back into connected for rest, renewal, digestion, grounding, and quiet. If you shame yourself for not thriving all the time, you may drop down into stress or disempowerment.

Useful next steps:

• practice curiosity
• choose one thriving word to play with, such as `curious`, `eager`, `confident`, or `expectant`
• use tapping phrases like “I am open to feeling surprisingly curious”
• let thriving build on connected rather than forcing it from stress
• appreciate small shifts instead of demanding a permanent high

Thriving grows best from a stable foundation.

6. Peaking: Deliciously Wonderful Emotional States

Peak experiences are real, beautiful, and usually temporary. They are meant to enrich life, not become a new requirement.

Common states:

• ecstatic
• blissful
• elated
• passionate
• joyous
• gleeful
• euphoric
• jubilant
• rapturous

When we are connected to Source and genuinely thriving, peak experiences can arise naturally. They may feel like a whoosh of energy, a glimpse of bliss, a moment of profound love, a creative rush, a spiritual opening, or an unforgettable embodied yes.

The trouble starts when we try to live there.

Trying to recreate a peak experience can become stressful. It is like squeezing a wet sponge harder and harder, hoping it will hold more. The squeezing prevents the fullness.

Useful next steps:

• enjoy peak states when they come
• let them pass without making their passing a failure or “loss”
• return to connected for rest and integration
• let the peak nourish the rest of life
• do not chase bliss as proof that you are doing life right

Peak states are not home base.

Connected is home base.

Baby Steps: Reach for the Next Believable Place

If you reach too far emotionally, your body may tell you no. That is guidance, not failure.

If you are in despair, “I am blissful” may feel impossible or even insulting.

Try something closer:

• From despair: “I am open to feeling a little angry.”
• From anger: “I am open to feeling a little more in control.”
• From overwhelm: “I am open to feeling just a bit more grounded.”
• From worry: “I am open to feeling curious.”
• From stress: “I am open to neutral.”
• From neutral: “I am open to feeling expectant.”
• From connected: “I am open to thriving in one small way.”

The goal is not to talk yourself into a lie.

The goal is to give your body-mind a reachable next step.

Tapping: I Am Not Where I Want to Be

Use this when the gap between where you are and where you want to be feels painful.

Tapping: I Do Not Have to Be Happy All the Time

Use this when spiritual pressure, Law of Attraction pressure, or self-judgment turns the scale into a contest.

Tapping: Appreciating the Upward Trend

Use this when you want to strengthen the habit of noticing progress instead of only noticing what is still wrong.

How to Use the Scale Day to Day

The scale becomes powerful when it helps you notice sooner, soften faster, and choose more kindly.

Try this simple practice:

1. Notice where you are.
2. Name the level without judgment.
3. Notice your body sensations.
4. Ask whether you are moving up or down.
5. If you dropped, ask what chute you hit.
6. Tap on the specific trigger or body sensation.
7. Reach for the next believable state.
8. Appreciate even a small upward trend.

Examples:

• “I am stressed. My jaw is tight. I am trying to force an answer. I am going to breathe and reach for neutral.”
• “I am angry. What do I feel powerless about? Is there a boundary here?”
• “I am disempowered. I cannot leap to gratitude. I can tap on this heaviness.”
• “I am connected. Let me listen for Body YES and Body NO.”
• “I am thriving. Let me enjoy this without needing to hold onto it.”
• “I had a peak experience. Let me let it nourish me and return to peace.”

The Core Teaching

Your emotional state is guidance, not a verdict.

You are not bad because you are down the scale.

You are not more spiritual because you are up the scale.

You are not failing because your state changes.

You are learning to read your energy, soothe your body, clear old triggers, build resilience, and return more often to connected.

That is the practice.

Not perfection.

Practice.

Session Audio

This guide was adapted from a Thriving Now Body Vitality Workshop call with Rick Wilkes and Cathy Vartuli.

Download MP3

Related Guides

• Body YES and Body NO
• Fire in the Dark, Dank Basement
• Creating Safe and Healthy Boundaries
• Reconnect with Safe and Happy Feelings