The Energy Flow in our body - Nadis

As we all are well aware, we are all made up of energy. We are also aware that Energy can neither be created nor destroyed,  it can just change its form. The famous equation is well known E=mc² . In view of the above, it stands to reason that there must be some organised way that the energy that we are, functions. It is also logical to assume that everything being energy, each one of us must be interconnected! No religion here,  just basic reasoning!

Alright, I am personally aware that these connections exist and I have been playing with them for years now! More fun than any game I have heard of, and, definitely, more rewarding in terms of Life Experience. Are you with me till here? Okay, lets go deeper. In one of my previous posts I had talked about the Human Energy System in which I had written about the Chakras. In fact, that can be taken as a basic overview of our energy system. In another one of my posts I had dealt with the balancing of the 1^st chakra. But, I think it is important to learn about this energy flow in our bodies before I go on to the Chakra Balancing. In this post I would be introducing you to the Energy Flow.

In our body, the energy flows through energy channels which are called “Nadis”. Nadi literally means 'flow or current'. In the ancient texts of Ayurveda  it is written that there are seventy two thousand nadis in the psychic body of man. These are visible like currents of light to a person who has developed psychic vision. In recent times the word nadi has been translated as nerve, but actually nadis are not nerves as we known them, for they are composed of astral matter. Like the Chakras, they are not located in the physical body, though nerves of the physical body can be considered as their corresponding physical manifestations.

Nadis are the subtle channels along which the vital forces of prana flow. Out of the large number of nadis in the psychic body, fourteen are more important, and of these, three are most important. These three are ida, pingala and sushumna.

All the nadis are subordinate to sushumna, even ida and pingala. Sushumna nadi runs within the spinal cord, from mooladhara chakra or the First Chakra  at the bottom to Ajna Chakra or the Sixth Chakra at the top. It is silvery in colour. Emanating from the left side of mooladhara and passing through each chakra in turn in a curving path, finally ending on the left side of ajna chakra, is ida nadi. It is blue in color. Emanating from the right side of mooladhara and passing in an opposite manner to that of ida, up to the right of ajna, is pingala nadi. Pingala is fiery red in colour. Ida and pingala are the pathways of the two polar opposites of life force flowing within us. Ida is negative, and also called the moon (chandra) nadi, while pingala is positive and called the sun (surya) nadi. These force currents in ida, pingala and sushumna operate alternately and the current that is flowing at any particular time can be determined by noting the flow of breath in the nostrils. It the left nostril has a greater flow of air, then ida nadi is predominant. When the flow is greater in the right nostril, then pingala is predominant. If the flow is equal, then sushumna is ruling.

If you watch your breath you will find that it is usually flowing more in one nostril than the other.

·         When the right nostril is flowing, then vital energy is more active, allowing the individual to do physical work, digest food and so on. The mind is extroverted and the body generates more heat.

·         When the left nostril (ida) is flowing, mental energy is dominant, the mind is introverted, any kind of mental work; thinking concentration, etc., may be undertaken. Ida nadi also flows mainly during sleep.

If pingala flows at night, the person is very restless and finds it difficult to sleep. Likewise, if ida flows at the time of taking food, the digestive process may be inefficient, causing indigestion. All our activities are influenced by the flow of these nadis which alternate approximately every hour.

However, it is possible to alter the flow voluntarily by using willpower and certain yogic techniques, such as padadirasana and pranayama. For example, if there is work to be done but one feels sleepy, it is possible to direct the flow of prana to pingala nadi thereby gaining the necessary energy.

When these two nadis are purified and balanced, and the mind controlled, the most important nadi, sushumna, begins to flow. Sushumna must be flowing if there is to be success in meditation. If pingala flows, the body will be restless; if ida flows, the mind will tend to think too much. When sushumna flows, kundalini rises through the chakras.

In human physiology, the two nadis correspond roughly to the two halves of the autonomic nervous system - the sympathetic and parasympathetic. Pingala coincides with the sympathetic nerves, responsible for the stimulation and acceleration of activities concerned with the external environment and the deceleration of the organs which tend to utilize a lot of energy internally. The sympathetic nerves speed up the heart, dilate the blood vessels, increase the respiration rate, and intensify the efficiency of the eyes, ears, etc.

The parasympathetic nerves directly oppose the sympathetic nerves, for they reduce the heartbeat, constrict the blood vessels, and slow the respiration so that the individual becomes introverted. The flow of prana in ida and pingala is completely involuntary and unconscious until yogic practices control it.

Know your true power

There are times when we feel the pull to meditate but are swayed from it by the excuses that spring to mind. We may think that we are too busy, have no time to ourselves, or that we do not have the right place to meditate. Our minds can think of dozens of reasons to put off meditation. But those are even stronger reasons to look past the illusion of the hustle and bustle of daily life and to connect to the place within that intersects with the timeless power and limitless potential of the universe. From that place we can experience that potent stillness that exists at all times, and it is only as far away as our breath.

It might be useful to ask yourself why you would put off something so beneficial to your peace of mind and general well-being. There may be fear that if you were to stop your frantic pace, your world might fall apart, and then you would have to face the undeniable reality of who you really are and the results of the choices you have made. You might be afraid that you will be forced to make huge changes in order to align yourself with the universe and harness your true potential. Sometimes the frustrations of the known world seem less scary than the possibilities of the unknown. But the truth is that when we cooperate with the universe by creating our lives from the truth of our being, life becomes less of a struggle and more of a process of living blissfully on purpose.

Finding yourself alone for a few moments can give you the opportunity to turn within to infuse a sense of calm wisdom to your work. Whenever you can take the time to recenter and refocus, it will remind you how beneficial it is to connect to your source. Then you will make the time for longer sojourns of spirit, because once you are rejuvenated and enlivened by knowing that you are made of energy and light, you can channel the power to create your life in alignment with the highest potential of your soul.

The purpose of LIFE

Do you feel bored with your LIFE?

Does it no longer hold any meaning?

Does it feel aimless?

Does it make you feel purposeless?

What if I told you that your purpose in life is to taste it’s many flavors – and that what you are calling boredom is but your Higher Self’s signal to you that you have learned all you need to learn and that its time to move on?

What if you considered the possibility that a very acceptable way of journeying is to stay on the surface of it, at least for a while, experimenting and playing with whatever seems interesting for only as long as it was interesting and that what is most important is to smile often, to be happy, and to like yourself?

So many of us suffer needlessly because we have been taught that our life is suppose to look a certain way. By a certain age we are suppose to know what we want to be when we grow up and that we are suppose to then spend the rest of our lives happily being it.

Well, I was a little different. I surrendered, wanting to know the answers and started allowing what was, in this moment, to be OK. I started allowing who I was to be OK NOW – even when the world told me I wasn’t!

And then interesting opportunities began to present themselves and I played with the ones that caught my interest – until I let them go.

Sometimes we spend so much time trying to figure out what to do that we forget to BE. We spend so much time thinking there is something about us that needs to be fixed that we forget how awesome we are right now.

Many of you have asked for my advice – here it is…

For the next 7 days put down the lists, the journals, the self examinations, any and all of it that looks like a search for answers. Just put it down.

Also for seven days eliminate or severely limit anything that we humans like to use to distract us from ourselves – TV, radio, the computer, newspapers, alcohol, high intensity exercise, talking about our problems, etc.

Also for 7 days stop reading books – just let it all go.

What to do?
Well.....walk, sit, watch the thoughts that travel across the surface of your mind.

Doodle, sketch, color if you like

Dance

If emotions come up, let them and watch them, without judgement. Watch them come and watch them go and watch them come again.

BE WITH YOURSELF.
If this is too hard to do for 7 days – then do it for 2 or 3 – or even just one 24 hour period. Give yourself a break from this belief that you are required to be something you are not in order to be happy and fullfilled. Allow yourself to empty.

And then – when this period of quiet is over – pick up your journal and write about the experience – and write about the insights that came to you during this time…

I would also love to hear from you  :)

U or the EGO?

Do you really need other people's approval, acceptance, or appreciation first before you can give it to yourself? Absolutely not! Who you are is the energy and consciousness of love itself, and once you consistently realize this and openly shower this love upon yourself and others, you'll be free from everyone's opinions forever. Your ego was "programmed" by society to need approval, acceptance, and appreciation from the outer world. It hasn't realized that there is an infinite source of love beneath it at YOUR core, and that you can have access to it at anytime. The ego is a very ironic creation. It's about as real as your own shadow, and yet we build our entire relationships around its illusionary reality. As soon as you commit to the lightness and openness of your own being, the ego is no where to be found. What's the worst thing that could happen if you decided to let go of other people's opinions about you and chose to love yourself JUST AS YOU ARE 24-7?

One of the greatest secrets to transcending this game is that other people's opinions of you are only a reflection of what they see (or don't want to see) about themselves. Everyone is a mirror for each other. Their beliefs about you are a deep unconscious projection of themselves onto you, just to avoid looking inside themselves. So help out your fellow humans and give them their projections and opinions back to them! For 2011 don't take on ANYBODY'S projections or opinions about you! Stop the relentless ego from scheming to get others to like you, and instead, just practice loving yourself as you are. Be unguarded from their opinions. Let their opinions form freely, and honor that their beliefs are truly limiting thoughts about themselves in the end.

Trusting the Universe

As we create the life of our dreams, we often reach a crossroad where the choices seem to involve the risk of facing the unknown versus the safety and comfort of all that we have come to trust. We may feel like a tightrope walker, carefully teetering along the narrow path to our goals, sometimes feeling that we are doing so without a net. Knowing we have some backup may help us work up the courage to take those first steps, until we are secure in knowing that we have the skills to work without one. But when we live our lives from a place of balance and trust in the universe, we may not see our source of support, but we can know that it is there.

If we refuse to act only if we can see the safety net, we may be allowing the net to become a trap as it creates a barrier between us and the freedom to pursue our goals. Change is inherent in life, so even what we have learned to trust can surprise us at any moment. Remove fear from the equation and then, without even wondering what is going on below, we can devote our full attention to the dream that awaits us.

We attract support into our lives when we are willing to take those first tentative steps, trusting that the universe will provide exactly what we need. In that process we can decide that whatever comes from our actions is only for our highest and best experience of growth. It may come in the form of a soft landing, an unexpected rescue or an eye-opening experience gleaned only from the process of falling. So rather than allowing our lives to be dictated by fear of the unknown, or trying to avoid falling, we can appreciate that sometimes we experience life fully when we are willing to trust and fall. And in doing so, we may just find that we have the wings to fly.

When we believe that there is a reason for everything, we are stepping out with the safety net of the universe, and we know we will make the best from whatever comes our way.

Focussing

Staying focused in each moment allows us move with the rhythmic flow of the universe and harmonize our being. As modern life makes a wealth of information and opportunities available to us, we may find ourselves torn between a wide variety of interests and projects. Our excitement may entice us to try all of them at once, but doing so only diffuses our energy, leaving us unable to fully experience any of them. Like an electrical socket with too many things plugged into it, we may be in danger of overheating and burning out. But if we can choose one thing at a time to focus all of our attention upon, we can make the most of our life-force energy, engaging ourselves fully in the moment so that it can nurture us in return.

Our attention can be pulled in many directions, not only in our own lives, but by advertising, media, and the hustle and bustle of our surroundings. But when we take the time to listen to our inner guidance and focus our thoughts on the goals that resonate the most strongly within us, the rest of the world will fade away. This may mean focusing the spotlight of our attention upon developing one aspect of our work, one course of study, or one hobby to pursue in our free time, but it doesn't mean that we have to stay focused on only one thing forever. We may never know which of our interests is best suited to our abilities and heart's desires unless we give it a proper chance. By being fully present with all that we are and all that we have, we can experience each choice fully and make the most fulfilling choices for our energetic investments. Because we are multi-faceted beings, we are perpetually involved in many aspects of life in every moment. Our work in the world is necessary to attend to our physical needs, and our relationships are important for our emotional needs, but when we engage our spirit as well, we can choose the area that will nurture body, mind and soul. Staying focused in each moment allows us to stay balanced on all aspects of our being.

The First Chakra (Muladhara) Balancing

In dealing with all the chakras I would try to give a brief as it is in the texts and then I would be giving you a simplified version so that the post can address a wider audience.

The first Chakra or Muladhara is positioned close to anus, at the perineum, and it has four petals which match the vrittis of greatest joy, natural pleasure, delight in controlling passion, and blissfulness in concentration.

In Samkhya philosophy, the concept of Muladhara is that of moola prakriti, the metaphysical basis of material existence. Muladhara is the chakra that draws down spritual energy and causes it to assume a physical existence. It is like the negative pole in an electrical circuit, which provides the potential for the evolution of form.

Within this chakra resides sleeps the kundalini shakti, the great spiritual potential, waiting to be aroused and brought back up to the source from which it originated, Brahman.

Muladhara is the base from which the 3 main psychic channels, nadis, ida, pingala and sushumna, emerge.It is related to the physical processes of reproduction and excretion, and also to the various fear and guilt complexes associated with them. All a person's Samskaras ( potential karma ), are expressed here, in a physical form.

This chakra is associated with the deities Indra, Brahma and Dakini, the element Earth and the color red.

The energy that was unleashed in creation, called the Kundalini, lies coiled and sleeping, and it is the purpose of a tantric yogi( please do not entertain misconceptions that Tantra means sex because it does not, it literally means 'To Connect') to arouse this energy, and cause it to rise back up through the increasingly subtler chakras, until union with god is achieved in the Sahasrara chakra at the crown of the head. Sahasrara is positioned above the head or at the top of it and it has 1000 petals which are arranged in 20 layers each of them with 50 petals. Often referred as thousand-petaled lotus, it is said to be the most subtle chakra in the system, relating to pure consciousness, and it is from this chakra that all the other chakras emanate. When a yogi is able to raise his or her kundalini, energy of consciousness, up to this point, the state of samadhi, or union with god, is experienced. The earliest known mention of chakras is found in the later Upanishads, including specifically the Brahma Upanishad and the Yogatattva Upanishad. These vedic models were adapted in Tibetan Buddhism as Vajrayana theory, and in the Tantric Shakta theory of chakras. It is the shakta theory of 7 main chakras that most people in the West adhere to, either knowingly or unknowingly, largely thanks to a translation of two indian texts, the Sat-Cakra-Nirupana, and the Padaka-Pancaka, by Sir John Woodroffe, alias Arthur Avalon, in a book entitled The Serpent Power.

Now, the easiest way that I have found to balance and charge chakras is to think about it as if you were cleaning off a greasy marble.

Let's start with the first Chakra you should always start with, the "Root Chakra"

The corresponding color is Ruby Red. The chakra is located at the base of your spine where your "tail bone" is. The Root Chakra is in control of things like "the fight or flight" reaction, our inner feeling of safety and serenity. When it is out of balance, you will find that you are generally restless, anxious, worried, afraid, or feel generally unsafe. It can also manifest into physical things like extra weight around your thighs or stomach.

Now, close your eyes and picture your Root Chakra. It's not complex, just picture a Red Chakra at the base of your spine near your rear.

It should be fairly small and clear rudy red, it should also be spinning clockwise. If it seems dark, muddy, cloudy, darker red, black or anything other than Rudy Red and clear, then it needs to be cleaning.

Whether it seems fully clear rudy red or not, take the time to wipe it clean. Just imagine that it's a marble that you can pull out and rub clean, like your wiping some dust or old grease off of a marble. Or you can picture drenching it in water to cleanse it. The important part is not in how your visualize that it is done, so long as you 'feel' that it is cleaner. Remember not to worry so much if you can't quiet 'see' it in your inner eye, this will come with practice if you can't naturally see it. Just knowing you are doing it is enough in most cases and it is common to not be able to see it when it is out of balance.

Now, try to notice if you can tell what direction it is spinning, or how quickly. A balanced and charged chakra should be spinning clockwise without wobbling and should spin pretty fast.

for simplicities sake, lets say your not sure how fast it's spinning or in what direction. Mentally make the chakra stop spinning. This won't hurt during this time, so don't fear doing it. Just stop it from spinning all together and then turn it clockwise. Don't worry to much about whether your going the right way or not, your mind naturally knows which way it clockwise and you will notice if it's not going the right way by the way it feels.

Once you have it going clockwise, imagine that you take a finger and spin it around as you would a marble on a table. Or for another image, think about what a pinwheel does when you blow on it. Or one of those little hand held electric fans. It spins and keeps going and going without much effort on your part. This is called "charging" your chakras. Once you have cleaned, balanced and charged your chakras, it is most common to "see" the color of that chakra flash before your closed eyes, or you might feel a connected happy emotion that corresponds to that chakra. Don't worry if it doesn't happen right away, it will with practice.

Then you are done with that chakra!