Month: April 2016

Seeing an animal that is resting completely relaxed and at ease always evokes images of contentment and health.  We wish we could feel like this all the time.

The body is the repository of all stress, whether mental, emotional or physical. In our last post we looked at how this stress appears over time as bodily sensations, the visible, detectable aspect of energy. By working with sensation we can work with the mind and emotions in a non-mental manner helping to release that which prevents us from moving into balance and into that state of well being.

Yoga Therapy is an effective way of pushing through and dissolving energetic blocks. As these blocks are removed and possible new ones are perceived and resolved as situations appear, preventing them from getting stuck in the energetic body, balance is restored. The body begins to heal.

In Yoga Therapy the recipient who is completely passive, is guided by the giver/practitioner into a state of silent awareness and presence with sensations in the body. This quasi-trance allows the mind to rest while a witnessing Higher Self hones in on what it is the body is feeling.

As the body is guided into different poses, sensations begin to surface, or rather, one becomes aware of them. That which already existed but was not recognized now becomes the focus of attention. The longer the attention is held in that sensation, the more intense is the charge of energy.

Each sensation carries with it vibrational charges that are a result of unprocessed emotions. When focus is directed to that sensation, energy, which follows attention, begins to act upon the blocks that are creating it by dissolving them. The release of a blockage allows for the flow of energy to increase, rebalancing that area so that the feeling of discomfort, of dis-ease begins to disappear.

As with breathing, circulation, digestion and other “automatic” functions of the body, there is a higher wisdom within each one of us that guides the body back into balance.

Healing is natural for the body. Any cut or burn if unimpeded immediately begins to heal on its own. And so it is with disease. As with nature in general,  the normal propensity of the body is to rebalance itself. The problem is that the mind stands in its way. In its incessant chatter are tendencies to distrust your own inner wisdom, insecurities that undermine this natural path to wholeness.

The ultimate objective of any self healing practice is to connect with the higher wisdom within allowing it to guide the flow of energy so as to rebalance the self. This is true of Yoga, Qigong and Tai Chi.

The advantage  of Yoga Therapy is that it moves deeper into areas where established blocks prevent the receiver from holding a pose and feeling the sensation long enough so it begins to move. Our tendency is to avoid feelings of discomfort especially if they have the ability to elicit emotions that are unwelcome. So a sensation that is very uncomfortable would normally be circumvented in an individual practice. In Yoga Therapy that sensation is taken to an edge and held there, obliging one to be fully aware of it. This “mindful” presence is what ultimately heals.

While the understanding of the process is part of the equation, the actual realization of it is somewhat more complex. We have been programmed through years of scientific dogma to believe only in what can be proven through the known senses. When dealing with higher faculties such as intuition, we tend to distrust our own self. We stand in our own way of healing. By letting go of the mind, it becomes easier to tap into that inner wisdom, dropping mental barriers and addressing a problem created by the mind in a non-mental way.

Combining Yoga Therapy with a daily Healing Yoga practice allows us to maximize our self healing potential. Healing Yoga is a twofold process. In it we practice awareness to sensations in our body helping to release the energetic blocks that are causing them. This focused practice of awareness also helps us when we are off the mat to act in a conscious manner. Rather than simply reacting to daily experiences, we are able to choose how to respond to these triggers. This, in turn, stops other blocks from forming. Now we’re really moving towards a balanced, pain free and ease-full life.

Today we know that we, like the rest of the universe, are made of Energy. In our case it is the energy that vibrates according to the emotional charges that it carries, the thought patterns it contains and the manifest matter it creates as a result.

If we look at this energy and imagine it like an ocean from which waves arise into form and then return back into that vast pool of vital force, we can see how these waves play out on the individual plane.

Every thought, every emotion and every experience that we have carries with it a vibrational charge. These experiences, like the rise and fall of the waves, need to pass through us and return to Source, that ocean of energy from which we all come and to which we all return. But that is not what happens in the human body.

As we grow and develop our energetic field, and our Egos, we experience events/ energetic charges that we do not fully process. We do not allow ourselves to feel them fully and thus pass through us, because they trigger emotional responses in us that we wish to avoid.  This causes us to shut down our feelings, withholding the energy of the experience and in the process creating emotional and mental  blocks. Now the experience that should have moved through us back into Source, gets stuck. It becomes a spinning vortex of energy that resonates with certain areas of our body which correspond to that specific vibration. This unresolved experience begins to inhabit the body.

Constant feelings of fear for example which kick in the flight or fight response, begin to accumulate in the legs, hips and lower back as our survival instinct pushes us to respond. Since we usually neither run nor fight, that energy of fear gets stuck there and begins to haunt us, resurfacing again and again with every new experience or rehashing of that same event. While we no longer have to flee wild animals or spear carrying enemies, modern society is permeated by fear – fear of losing your job, your home, your status, your loved ones or of becoming sick.

Its presence, according to universal law, begins to attract more of the same. Every experience that carries that same charge and is not fully processed and allowed to return to Source, continues to accumulate in this area becoming denser and more charged with that emotion.

On the biological level, every such experience triggers a massive release of chemicals into the system. Glands that correspond vibrationally to the energy center in question become dysfunctional when the charge in that area is too much. The body cannot process the chemical releases fast enough and sensations of discomfort, of dis-ease begin to appear. They usually come up in areas or organs that are genetically, environmentally or otherwise predisposed to weakness

These sensations are messengers that something is not right. If ignored for too long they develop into life threatening disease. And while modern medicine has refined its knowledge of dealing with these sensations on a physical level, the drugs used to treat them are temporary resolutions at best as they often mask what needs to be addressed. The cure comes only from within ourselves.

While being diagnosed with a potentially fatal disease can be terrifying, the knowledge that we can undo what we created in our bodies is very empowering. Anything can be reversed.  The blocks that were created by us can be pushed through and released returning our systems to balance and wholeness. In balance we allow ourselves to feel fully and thus process experiences in a way that they can continue returning to Source. In that state our bodies become our fullest human expression allowing us to enjoy life through all our senses.

Yoga Therapy is an effective way of pushing through and dissolving energetic blocks. In our next post we will go deeper into how to create well being.

This title from Anodea Judith’s “Opening the Seven Windows to the Soul”, captures the essence of Vissuda, the fifth chakra.

When you open yourself to love, you create from your heart. The energy rising from the lower chakras through a balanced heart center, becomes the power of creative expression at the throat chakra. Here, when in balance, you confidently speak your truth. You communicate clearly with a good sense of timing and you listen to what others have to say. You express yourself freely through speech, song, music or writing. You go with the flow vibrating into full expression.

However, this center is a very vulnerable spot for it is here that the inside comes out.

Vissuda, the chakra of sound, develops roughly between 7 and 12 years of age. As you begin to acquire communication skills, you also develop symbolic thinking and creative expression. But as you learn to express yourself, these new skills are often shut down by authoritarian parents, through excessive criticism or verbal abuse. To protect yourself, you learn how to lie or you shut up and become tone deaf as you stop listening. Free speech until the advent of the internet was a very relative thing, mostly conforming to rigid cultural parameters. Very few parents would listen to their children or encourage them to be themselves. Fear of being ridiculed, misunderstood or simply ignored may have been enough to suppress your voice.

The inability to freely express emotions and your truth, eventually shuts down this center and in the process inhibits conscious creation.

According to Anodea Judith, “…blocks in this chakra are pretty universal and often intensely charged”.

“The lower chakras must be functioning in order to give proper support to an open throat chakra. We need a good, solid ground in chakra one; we need to be in touch with our feelings in chakra two; willing to take our power in chakra three; and be emphatically connected to ourselves and to others in chakra four. If any of these are missing, then it is no surprise that chakra five would be affected.”

Blockages appear in the throat, ears, voice, neck, mouth, thyroid, shoulders and hands. When this center is deficient, it is difficult to verbalize feelings. A shy and introverted individual may have a small and weak voice. An excessive fourth chakra will appear as continuous talking as defense, the inability to listen or constant gossiping.

Eventually, when not addressed, sensations in these areas become hearing problems, constant colds and sore throat, locked jaws, laryngitis as well as gengivitis and other diseases of the mouth, ears and throat.

There are, however, many ways to balance this center.

Singing, chanting or storytelling are great healing practices for the fifth chakra as are writing and journaling. For an excessive chakra, practicing silence helps to balance it.

A simple yet effective way is by visualizing breath like a blue river flowing through your throat. The Ujjayi, or ocean breath brings awareness to the throat, expanding Prana into the thyroid area at the base of the neck.

Move with the sound of the breath. Allow the sound to vibrate in your body and then release with an open mouth through the Haaaaaaa. Experiment with sounds as in Brahmari or bee sound breath as well as mantras, feeling the vibrations in your throat, your ears and your upper chest.

In healing yoga, we use breath flow to loosen the shoulders and neck. Shoulder stretches, lifts and rolls release years of protective holdings in this center.  Asanas like Camel, Bridge, Shoulder Stand, Cobra, Fish and Plow work with this area. Mindful head rolls and gentle neck stretches bring awareness to sensations that are a result of withholding. Anything that impacts us strongly creates a vibration within us that needs to be somehow expressed, otherwise it contributes to the density and disharmony of the body.

And while it is important to say what we need to in order to keep this center in balance, this communication has rules – What you’re saying needs to be true, kind, necessary and timely. Good communication begins by listening and then speaking from the heart. Truth is a vibration that comes from the core and when it is spoken it is freeing and elevating.

Inspiration, from the Latin “inspirare”, to breathe into, is the energy of breath joining the heart and the mind and it is behind every form of divine expression. The neck is the physical bridge here. It is only when this center is in balance that you can live creatively and be fully alive.