Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Pranayama can heal anxiety…and so much more
Anxiety is something most people go through almost as a matter of course, on a regular basis. There are degrees of severity, however, and based on this psychiatrists have classified them into three types, namely general anxiety, phobias and panic disorder. Some amount of anxiety we are told is actually a good thing because it acts as an alarm when danger is close.
However, if you are always anxious about everything and nothing and anxious about being anxious on top of that, then it is a vicious cycle, which can impair your normal day-to-day functioning.
Whatever the case, be it phobia, panic or general anxiety, there are implications for the person’s social, emotional well being and in some cases even their physical well being.
One of the ways in which anxiety can be managed is through the regular practice of pranayama.
Pranayama is an age-old technique developed by the Yogis of ancient India as the key to inner wellness. Pranayama is the technique of breath manipulation to achieve desired levels of emotional and physical wellness.
Yogis often say, “Breath is key”. Well, key to what? While the body is a tangible entity, the mind for most of us is an abstraction. That is to say, it is not as easy to become aware of the mind, as it is to become aware of the body. The breath is therefore, the bridge that connects body and mind. Becoming aware of your breath then, is key to becoming aware of your mind.
Consider this: when you are angry or upset, observe your breath. You will notice that your breath is guided by the emotion – there is a distinct shortness of breath when it is associated with anger. Similarly when you are upset, you feel a lump in your throat and so on. It follows logically therefore that if your breath can bear testimony to your mental state, then your breath can also be used to alter your mental state. Your breath can guide your emotions. This is precisely where pranayama can be invaluable.
At its worst, pranayama is a tool that can change your mental state, alter negative thought patterns, and create an environment of wellness in body and mind. At its best, it can bestow upon the practitioner enlightenment.
The word pranayama is derived from two words, prana, meaning life force and ayama meaning to lengthen or expand. Yogis assert that prana is the energy of the breath, not the breath itself that pervades the body.
Breathing, an involuntary action can be made voluntary through the practice of pranayama. That is, the part of the brain that controls our breathing is the primitive brain or brain stem. This control can be shifted to the frontal lobe through the sustained practice of pranayama, so that it is no longer a mechanical activity, but a conscious one.
The point here is two-fold:
1.The next time you feel an emotion rise up in your chest or throat, take your awareness to your breath. You will find yourself calming down very quickly and your body relaxing along with that.
2.Your breath is your best ally, so learn to use it to your advantage. Try pranayama.
Start with a simple practice. Sit in your favorite seat and take your awareness to your breath at the nostrils. Notice the normal, natural movement of breath. Keep your awareness on this for a few minutes, maybe five or ten. Spend these precious five minutes everyday for the next ten days simply watching your breath. Then add another dimension: namely visualization. As you breathe, you become aware of the movement of your abdomen in tune with your breath. As you inhale, feel your abdomen expanding and moving outward, simultaneously visualize sparks of light rising up along the spine. As you exhale, feel the abdomen contracting and moving inward, and visualize the sparks of light falling, again, along the spine. Do this a few times and when you stop sit with your eyes closed and notice the effects of your practice. You will be surprised at how brilliant you feel. Besides, the extra oxygen will make the brain and muscles function optimally.
The rationale behind the visualization is that prana, if you can actually see it, will look like sparks of light. Prana is light. So the visualization of prana permeates the body with light energy. It is a healing visualization; moreover, it keeps the mind engaged with something as vital as life force. Your breath is life. But more than that, the energy of your breath, that is prana, is the cosmic light that pervades everything.
So don’t just breathe, do so with awareness!
However, if you are always anxious about everything and nothing and anxious about being anxious on top of that, then it is a vicious cycle, which can impair your normal day-to-day functioning.
Whatever the case, be it phobia, panic or general anxiety, there are implications for the person’s social, emotional well being and in some cases even their physical well being.
One of the ways in which anxiety can be managed is through the regular practice of pranayama.
Pranayama is an age-old technique developed by the Yogis of ancient India as the key to inner wellness. Pranayama is the technique of breath manipulation to achieve desired levels of emotional and physical wellness.
Yogis often say, “Breath is key”. Well, key to what? While the body is a tangible entity, the mind for most of us is an abstraction. That is to say, it is not as easy to become aware of the mind, as it is to become aware of the body. The breath is therefore, the bridge that connects body and mind. Becoming aware of your breath then, is key to becoming aware of your mind.
Consider this: when you are angry or upset, observe your breath. You will notice that your breath is guided by the emotion – there is a distinct shortness of breath when it is associated with anger. Similarly when you are upset, you feel a lump in your throat and so on. It follows logically therefore that if your breath can bear testimony to your mental state, then your breath can also be used to alter your mental state. Your breath can guide your emotions. This is precisely where pranayama can be invaluable.
At its worst, pranayama is a tool that can change your mental state, alter negative thought patterns, and create an environment of wellness in body and mind. At its best, it can bestow upon the practitioner enlightenment.
The word pranayama is derived from two words, prana, meaning life force and ayama meaning to lengthen or expand. Yogis assert that prana is the energy of the breath, not the breath itself that pervades the body.
Breathing, an involuntary action can be made voluntary through the practice of pranayama. That is, the part of the brain that controls our breathing is the primitive brain or brain stem. This control can be shifted to the frontal lobe through the sustained practice of pranayama, so that it is no longer a mechanical activity, but a conscious one.
The point here is two-fold:
1.The next time you feel an emotion rise up in your chest or throat, take your awareness to your breath. You will find yourself calming down very quickly and your body relaxing along with that.
2.Your breath is your best ally, so learn to use it to your advantage. Try pranayama.
Start with a simple practice. Sit in your favorite seat and take your awareness to your breath at the nostrils. Notice the normal, natural movement of breath. Keep your awareness on this for a few minutes, maybe five or ten. Spend these precious five minutes everyday for the next ten days simply watching your breath. Then add another dimension: namely visualization. As you breathe, you become aware of the movement of your abdomen in tune with your breath. As you inhale, feel your abdomen expanding and moving outward, simultaneously visualize sparks of light rising up along the spine. As you exhale, feel the abdomen contracting and moving inward, and visualize the sparks of light falling, again, along the spine. Do this a few times and when you stop sit with your eyes closed and notice the effects of your practice. You will be surprised at how brilliant you feel. Besides, the extra oxygen will make the brain and muscles function optimally.
The rationale behind the visualization is that prana, if you can actually see it, will look like sparks of light. Prana is light. So the visualization of prana permeates the body with light energy. It is a healing visualization; moreover, it keeps the mind engaged with something as vital as life force. Your breath is life. But more than that, the energy of your breath, that is prana, is the cosmic light that pervades everything.
So don’t just breathe, do so with awareness!
Labels: anxiety, breath awareness, breathe, breathing, heart meditation, prana, pranayama
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
The powerful three - Combining Reiki and Visualization with EFT - Tri it!
My five-year-old daughter used to develop throat infections at the drop of a hat. We had tried various things on her and finally resorted to anti-biotic treatment and pain killers every single time, not to mention cough syrup by the bottle. When I first came across EFT I was excited at the prospect of driving away my daughter’s respiratory allergy (that was the clinical diagnosis, anyway). As was to be expected, I had several opportunities during which to try out EFT as a way to help her heal. EFT not only drove away her incessant bouts of coughing one particular night, it also worked so deeply that the problem never returned for a very long time. This in itself was a major milestone for us because the rate at which she was falling sick was fairly high. We have been through almost 9 months without respiratory allergy, no colds or fever and increased tolerance to changes in food, environment and other factors that used to trigger the condition.
Now all of a sudden, the problem has returned, albeit, in a very mild form, which leads me to believe that some component of the problem, maybe emotional, could be lingering. We have been through significant changes recently,such as a move to another country; and settling down, though we tried to make it fun for the kids, came with its own set of challenges. Therefore, I am under the impression that something is triggering this allergy, which we have not encountered before. So my husband and I, both ardent fans of EFT, started working on her this morning.
We made her repeat
“Even though I have this throat pain, I love and accept myself”
“Even though I have a blocked nose….
“Even though I have a fever…
“Even though I don’t feel good……
After five rounds of the standard EFT protocol, she had relaxed enough and was up and about, playing and going about as usual.
Later we went through another round of EFT-ing and this is when we added the reiki and visualizations
“Even though I feel this way…….
And as we tapped on the meridians, we said (and made her repeat or visualize)
“I choose to let this pain go
I can see it peeling off one layer at a time, flaking, crumbling, falling to the ground and disappearing altogether”. Now this visualization in particular, I find, works remarkably for adults, but could be a bit challenging for children because it tends to be slightly abstract. This is where we added, “I can see it peel off like the peel comes off a banana” “I throw the peel in the trash”. Another type of visualization is one that involves the senses as well, in a pleasing way, especially for children (for example, “I can see a pink rose and the smell is so refreshing”) has profound impact on their body’s ability to heal itself. (Healing visualizations and its impact on the body is a separate discussion altogether!)
After a few rounds of EFT-ing combined with reiki and visualizations, we found her smiling from ear to ear, generally being more amenable to suggestions regarding helping her health improve and overall, was cheerful and active – her usual self, that is.
There is one more remarkable visualization that I discovered in combination with EFT: white light and golden light. I think they will work for children and adults alike.
"Even though I feel this way (specify your problem, whatever that may be), I send myself some golden light energy from the sun and some silver light energy from the moon". Visualize this when you say it.
The sun and moon visualizations are classics. They are used avidly in children's Tai Chi quite a bit and in Yogic visualization techniques as well. They represent male (sun) and female (moon) energies and are supposed to help balance them in the body. This said, the golden and white light visualizations are generally supposed to have very powerful healing effects on body and mind.
Another thing I found very interesting was this: there are times when I am too exhausted and trying to EFT on the exhaustion only results in a fuzzy repetition of the problem with very little progress and invariably, I just fall asleep. I realized that when exhausted, all I need to do is sit in front of the mirror and tap. This is something kids will enjoy as well. I know my daughter will! Sitting in front of the mirror does two things – it forces you to face yourself, but in a very natural, non-threatening way (we are all used to looking at ourselves in the mirror) and moreover, you can look at the EFT points in your reflections and simply go from point to point mentally, even without physically tapping. I tried this once and realized it was such a great way to tap when exhausted, pre-occupied or both.
And remember facing yourself might actually be as simple as looking in the mirror! If only we would look in the mirror more to appreciate our beauty, from the inside out, rather than to criticize it. If only we would look at that reflection, into the eyes especially, and say “even though………this is going on (whatever you are EFT-ing for), I completely love and accept myself", I am sure we will discover self acceptance from a totally different angle.
Happy tapping everyone!
Now all of a sudden, the problem has returned, albeit, in a very mild form, which leads me to believe that some component of the problem, maybe emotional, could be lingering. We have been through significant changes recently,such as a move to another country; and settling down, though we tried to make it fun for the kids, came with its own set of challenges. Therefore, I am under the impression that something is triggering this allergy, which we have not encountered before. So my husband and I, both ardent fans of EFT, started working on her this morning.
We made her repeat
“Even though I have this throat pain, I love and accept myself”
“Even though I have a blocked nose….
“Even though I have a fever…
“Even though I don’t feel good……
After five rounds of the standard EFT protocol, she had relaxed enough and was up and about, playing and going about as usual.
Later we went through another round of EFT-ing and this is when we added the reiki and visualizations
“Even though I feel this way…….
And as we tapped on the meridians, we said (and made her repeat or visualize)
“I choose to let this pain go
I can see it peeling off one layer at a time, flaking, crumbling, falling to the ground and disappearing altogether”. Now this visualization in particular, I find, works remarkably for adults, but could be a bit challenging for children because it tends to be slightly abstract. This is where we added, “I can see it peel off like the peel comes off a banana” “I throw the peel in the trash”. Another type of visualization is one that involves the senses as well, in a pleasing way, especially for children (for example, “I can see a pink rose and the smell is so refreshing”) has profound impact on their body’s ability to heal itself. (Healing visualizations and its impact on the body is a separate discussion altogether!)
After a few rounds of EFT-ing combined with reiki and visualizations, we found her smiling from ear to ear, generally being more amenable to suggestions regarding helping her health improve and overall, was cheerful and active – her usual self, that is.
There is one more remarkable visualization that I discovered in combination with EFT: white light and golden light. I think they will work for children and adults alike.
"Even though I feel this way (specify your problem, whatever that may be), I send myself some golden light energy from the sun and some silver light energy from the moon". Visualize this when you say it.
The sun and moon visualizations are classics. They are used avidly in children's Tai Chi quite a bit and in Yogic visualization techniques as well. They represent male (sun) and female (moon) energies and are supposed to help balance them in the body. This said, the golden and white light visualizations are generally supposed to have very powerful healing effects on body and mind.
Another thing I found very interesting was this: there are times when I am too exhausted and trying to EFT on the exhaustion only results in a fuzzy repetition of the problem with very little progress and invariably, I just fall asleep. I realized that when exhausted, all I need to do is sit in front of the mirror and tap. This is something kids will enjoy as well. I know my daughter will! Sitting in front of the mirror does two things – it forces you to face yourself, but in a very natural, non-threatening way (we are all used to looking at ourselves in the mirror) and moreover, you can look at the EFT points in your reflections and simply go from point to point mentally, even without physically tapping. I tried this once and realized it was such a great way to tap when exhausted, pre-occupied or both.
And remember facing yourself might actually be as simple as looking in the mirror! If only we would look in the mirror more to appreciate our beauty, from the inside out, rather than to criticize it. If only we would look at that reflection, into the eyes especially, and say “even though………this is going on (whatever you are EFT-ing for), I completely love and accept myself", I am sure we will discover self acceptance from a totally different angle.
Happy tapping everyone!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Your Feelings are your Guides
Over the last days, I have been working on issues in my life, trying to take my work to new heights. I use various methods to prop myself during trying times such as heart chakra meditation, EFT and creative visualizations, for example. I also find it particularly important to collaborate with other healers and teachers. Combined insights always take you further in your search for answers.
Lately EFT has played a very key role in my personal wellness journey. I have learnt a multitude of ways in which to approach my affirmations. When I feel stuck, which I do from time to time, I ask for help. How should I frame my affirmations? How should I get to the core issue? What are the blocks that people tend to experience and which one of those do I have? People, complete strangers, mind you, have been helping me find answers to these questions.
One of the key insights I received recently I consider worthy of sharing.
When EFT-ing, I was told, “look for the feeling”. It is what you would like to feel, not what you see yourself doing that is important. I quote “What is it that you really want in your life - not to be doing but to be feeling?” I found that pretty fantastic.
Now that put a whole new spin on my EFT practice. I was laying down contemplating this idea and I slowly allowed myself to focus on my heart chakra. What does my heart feel at this moment? I realized then that what I was doing really, was trying to find clarity. Often our emotions can be our flashlights, lighting up the way so we can see more clearly. This can sound a bit confusing because when we are emotional, we are foggy. What I am saying is, our higher emotions such as compassion and love can lend great clarity. They lead the way (even negative emotions such as anger and hatred are our teachers, i am not suggesting otherwise. But for this particular sharing, i am focusing on the positive emotions). Therefore, you approach your future goals, for example, through the feeling they represent.
If you really want success, how does success feel according to you? Close your eyes and feel the feeling.
Let your heart do the talking. Now you can EFT on the feeling. “Even though I want to feel that feeling, but I don’t right now, I love and accept myself” or even though I am so far from feeling successful/happy/rich/blessed….....i completely love and accept myself.
At this time, I am reminded of Marianne Williamson’s poem:
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness
That most frightens us.
We ask ourselves
Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small
Does not serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking
So that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine,
As children do.
We were born to make manifest
The glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us;
It's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we're liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.
This poem is an inspiration to me as I EFT my way to freedom.
How often we let our fears and insecurities do the talking. How often we give in to them and get carried away. How often, we simply forget to shine. Well, right now I’m saying “even though I forget how fabulous I am, I completely accept myself….”
Even though I let fear be my guide rather than trust, and even though I forget who I truly am, I am beautiful, fantastic, and perfect exactly the way I am…..”
Lately EFT has played a very key role in my personal wellness journey. I have learnt a multitude of ways in which to approach my affirmations. When I feel stuck, which I do from time to time, I ask for help. How should I frame my affirmations? How should I get to the core issue? What are the blocks that people tend to experience and which one of those do I have? People, complete strangers, mind you, have been helping me find answers to these questions.
One of the key insights I received recently I consider worthy of sharing.
When EFT-ing, I was told, “look for the feeling”. It is what you would like to feel, not what you see yourself doing that is important. I quote “What is it that you really want in your life - not to be doing but to be feeling?” I found that pretty fantastic.
Now that put a whole new spin on my EFT practice. I was laying down contemplating this idea and I slowly allowed myself to focus on my heart chakra. What does my heart feel at this moment? I realized then that what I was doing really, was trying to find clarity. Often our emotions can be our flashlights, lighting up the way so we can see more clearly. This can sound a bit confusing because when we are emotional, we are foggy. What I am saying is, our higher emotions such as compassion and love can lend great clarity. They lead the way (even negative emotions such as anger and hatred are our teachers, i am not suggesting otherwise. But for this particular sharing, i am focusing on the positive emotions). Therefore, you approach your future goals, for example, through the feeling they represent.
If you really want success, how does success feel according to you? Close your eyes and feel the feeling.
Let your heart do the talking. Now you can EFT on the feeling. “Even though I want to feel that feeling, but I don’t right now, I love and accept myself” or even though I am so far from feeling successful/happy/rich/blessed….....i completely love and accept myself.
At this time, I am reminded of Marianne Williamson’s poem:
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness
That most frightens us.
We ask ourselves
Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small
Does not serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking
So that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine,
As children do.
We were born to make manifest
The glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us;
It's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we're liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.
This poem is an inspiration to me as I EFT my way to freedom.
How often we let our fears and insecurities do the talking. How often we give in to them and get carried away. How often, we simply forget to shine. Well, right now I’m saying “even though I forget how fabulous I am, I completely accept myself….”
Even though I let fear be my guide rather than trust, and even though I forget who I truly am, I am beautiful, fantastic, and perfect exactly the way I am…..”
Labels: EFT, emotional healing, feelings, healers, heart chakra, heart meditation, marianne wiliamson, negative emotions, visualizations