Thank you and Namaste to you NativeSpirit. I hope something I share here might be of use to somebody, also to learn from all of you.
I think I really meant to post this in the "Health" section as it's more about preventative things we can do to stay healthy, but as it's also about overcoming illness as well - we need a strong immune system for both - I guess the Healing section is appropriate too. Come to think of it we usually don't give attention to preventative health things until we get ill!
I watched the first segment yesterday on (
YouTube) and learned something new about AUM mantra I didn't know before - that the three basic sounds are directly related to the lower middle and upper part of the body. So this is about incorporating sound therapy into wellness. I'm really interested in this. Sound is deeply associated with the elements and with healing properties...something to explore.
A medical doctor also gave a presentation on how the immune system works which was really interesting! This helps me in my quest to get to know how my body works. Meditation on the navel chakra is supposed to reveal this kind of knowledge - so that's a work in progress for me.
What is really working well for me is the ujai breathing (this was also explained in yesterday's video). Using ujai with the breath really allows me to experience and follow the movement of prana. With the in-breath going up sushumna I gather energy at each chakra point and with the out-breath I pour it into my entire body (or I can focus on specific areas). In healing this is like targeting a laser towards certain cells or an organ to transform it. Ujai breathing is how I first began to become more aware of prana and how to move it.
Since then my Teacher (Sri Vasudeva) has been teaching about that part of the mind that helps the soul drive these pranas into the body. It's part of the brow chakra called manas chakra. I'm already energy aware and able to move prana so these energy anatomy things are coming alive to me.
I would say for now that manas chakra and ujai breathing are the most powerful tools I use. I also use other things (reiki for example).
The prana from the gross breath (oxygen) feeds the gross body. Prana from the mind or mental prana feeds the soul and can also sustain the gross body. In daily activity we use both.
Then there are other things that come into play, like positive thinking and positive emotions - I'm sure he's going to talk about these. Thoughts and emotions are also forms of prana. In fact all the chakras transmit and receive prana.
And then there is universal life force energy that we plug into via Kundalini.
So there is a lot to this ancient science but it begins with a meditation practice that includes the wellbeing of the body - so not only the soul but the gross body (and the environment around) benefits as well - paying it forward.
And yesterday I enjoyed gardening - breathing in the beautiful Spring fresh air and scents of flowers, grass, earth...sweating out toxins, burning calories I don't need...opening my heart chakra by tenderly carrying my seedlings outside (that I've been raising from seed since January!!). All of this is part of my wellbeing practice.
p.s. I'm going to post more about healing here and about prevention practices on a sister thread in the "Lifestyle: Health" section (
link).