I've kind of defaulted to relating it to a high of some sort. Depending on the character and situation, it can be extreme bouts of adrenaline, euphoria, anger, sadness, etc.
i've had a drip inserted and it felt like i could feel the fluid cruising up my veins and it was cold making me shiver i would imagine if i had a power it spreading like that throughout my body and depending on the power eg i could feel myself getting stronger one feel my body vibrating if it was super speed etc i hope that helps also i've known someone that also had a drip inserted and she said it was quite painful and unpleasant to feel the fluid going through her veins
Perhaps like a mild electric shock? Like the kind you get if someone builds up static electricity and touches you? It could vary in intensity depending on what you're doing.... For example, you're trying to lift a 5 lbs dumbbell vs trying to lift a 1 ton vehicle that has pinned your child?
I could feel the energy coursing through my veins, my heart began to race and my breathing came fast and shallow. As I channeled the energy into the spell my arms began to shake from the force of containing and directing that much raw power. The heat seemed to rise off my body in waves as my cheeks flushed and sweat poured down my face and back in sheets. I knew if I failed to complete the spell, it would kill me. This was why my master had warned me I wasn't ready, but it was too late now to turn back. I had to finish it. Now. Completing the last incantation I released the built up magic. As the magic poured out of my body the heat dropped away, my teeth began to chatter uncontrollably like I had taken a dip in a near frozen lake during a blizzard. My vision began to pinwheel, lights dancing erratically, then the blackness began crowding in. I closed my eyes and felt exhaustion crash on me like a tidal wave. Dimly I was aware that I had fallen to my knees, but I didn't care anymore. I had cast my first spell, Now I was a true mage, not just a junior apprentice. I smiled as unconsciousness claimed me.
Hmm. I'm not a user of 'magic' or a believer in it. However, in later years I've discovered a way to accomplish physical tasks that I would probably have bobbled before. It's the trick of complete and utter focus and concentration. I will NOT spill this coffee into the saucer as I carry it across the room. I WILL hit the wastebasket with this crumpled up piece of paper. I will NOT break this delicate wire as I repair this piece of equipment. I WILL make it over that gap without losing my footing. It's a moment of total mindfulness, I reckon. Everything else fades, and it's only me and this task. Inevitably I accomplish it, which is amazing. If I had just started across the room with the coffee, without taking this step to focus, the coffee would have slopped all over. If I just take a casual shot at the wastebasket, I'll end up having to get up, go over, pick the paper up and put it into the basket. If I don't tell myself to STOP and FOCUS, I'm likely to break that wire or fall into the ditch. I suspect magic might be a bit like that. It's not so much something taking you over, but it's you taking over whatever you intend to do. It does feel like some sort of special power when it's happening. You couldn't live constantly with that intense level of focus, but when you need it, it's there. Maybe it's the mindset that athletes get into when they're about to make that run, that leap, or perform that routine. I suspect it might be. If I were writing somebody using magic, I would probably take that approach. Make them STOP and FOCUS. Then DO. Think Yoda telling Luke Skywalker, 'You do or don't do. There is no try."
IDK, it seems other's seem to liken it to the flowing water metaphor for Chi or Qi. https://whitemagicway.com/chi-energy-flow.html And also a bit of just focus in intensity and emotion, I guess. https://manannan.net/occult/energy-manip.html Though you can describe it in many ways from a tingling sensation, or like a phantom thread/yarn passing within/outside the body based on where the 'energy' is directed. There is no real wrong way to describe something that is rooted in myth and ancient cultures. So it can feel however you want it to. Perhaps dark magic makes a good person hurt, get depressed, and the opposite for a bad person using light magic. And neutral for neutral magic.
I feel like I always described magic as something that pulsates through someone’s very core and framework. Sort of as if it’s blood rushing through the characters veins and reaching way to fall of their fingertips. I also like development, too. Where characters try to really master their craft. An ability they’ve been granted and have to perfect. But in moments of peril, danger or emotional drive, it’s released without suppression or reservations. I LOVE that.
