Disease of any kind whether physical, mental or psychosomatic indicates some imbalance inside us. This imbalance is nothing but imbalance in the energy body. It is interesting to note that this life energy or prana is linked both to body and mind. It is an intermediary or bridge between the two and this only explains how physical body affects the non physical mind and how non physical mind affects the body.
Anything happening in the body also affects the mind through the agency of prana. Similarly, anything happening in the mind also affects the body through the agency of prana. Hence body and mind are functioning in a healthy manner, energy or prana is flowing freely and uniformly everywhere. There is no blockage, congestion or depletion of prana anywhere. Hence there is no disease.
However, when body and mind are being misused, functioning unhealthy, abnormally or are overexerted, energy flow becomes unbalanced, i.e. energy becomes blocked and congested at one place, depleted at another place leading to some kind of disease in body.
Physical Factors Causing Imbalance
Now at the bodily level there are many factors by which we disturb the natural and healthy functioning of energy body. Some of them are listed below:
- Irregular lifestyle (e.g. sleeping, walking, eating at irregular and odd timings)
- Overeating, oversleeping
- Use of alcohol, smoking (tobacco), tea, coffee, narcotic drugs
- Faulty diet (Rajasik & Tamsik foods)
- Overexertion
- Overindulgence in sensual pleasures
- Excessive talking/gossiping/roaming unnecessarily here and there
- Faulty postures, faulty breathing
- Living in polluted, noisy environment. Living in extremely hot/cold/humid environment
- Excessive company and mingling with people
- Drugs and medication
In short, if any Rajasik or Tamsik activity disturbs the energy flow of the body then it generates negative energy. On the other hand, Satwik lifestyle and activities promote the balanced and free flow of prana and generate positive energy. Whatever organs or systems get damaged due to the negative physical factors mentioned above, pranic flow in the corresponding nadis and chakras get disturbed.
Mental Factors Causing Imbalance
As mentioned earlier, just like physical factors, mental factors can also affect energy flow and damage chakras. If we want to sum up all the negative mental factors in two words, which disturb the flow of prana and health of chakras, those two words will be ‘Negative thinking’. Now the next question comes ‘ why negative thinking arises’? The simple answer is—not accepting and understanding the things as they really are. The more the gap between the reality of things and your imagination/assumption about them, the more tense, nervous and anxious you will be.
Because of this huge gap between how things really are and what we imagine them to be, we are continually suppressing, rejecting and fighting with ourselves and outside world. This doesn’t allow us to be integrated, whole and complete in our personality. We become a fragmented personality where one portion is going this way, another portion is going that way and third portion is another way. The result is tension and conflict which doesn’t allow energy to flow freely. As per yoga psychology, in such a state our unconsciousness is relatively vast and consciousness not well developed.
So, the first thing to do is to stop suppressing things and start seeing and understanding things from a broader perspective. We should start accepting and integrating everything into our consciousness avoiding nothing. This integration finally leads us to a state of unity, wholeness and completeness. Suppression brings about separation which creates loneliness, discomfort and a feeling of disease. Whatever is suppressed and not integrated into our personality becomes alien to us and a constant source of disturbance. But as we develop, a process of integration takes place among all alienated or conflicting aspects of ourselves leading to increased happiness and satisfaction.
When our consciousness is fully developed, we finally reach that state of enlightenment and equilibrium from which all can be understood, appreciated and accepted. It is also to be noted that when consciousness is not fully developed and integrated, there is lot of egocentric move and selfishness in one’s personality and lack of concern for others. But as consciousness gradually becomes expanded and integrated, we become less self-centred with more concern for others. This, in spiritual parlance, is also stated as moving from a state of separation (selfishness) to the state of unity (selflessness).
Now when the personality is not integrated, it is reflected in our behaviour in various forms as mentioned below:
(a) Negative emotions e.g. anger, irritation, impatience, intolerance, fear, anxiety, worry, nervousness, hatred, jealousy, revengeful nature, hurry, over-ambition, restlessness, depression, sadness, hopelessness and helplessness, lack of confidence, etc.
(b) Desires and expectations.
(c) Craving and passion for name, fame, power, status, control, domination.
(d) Various ‘Vikaras’ like greed, attachment, selfishness, ego, etc.
(e) Unsteadiness and distractions in mind, inability to focus.
Now the most important question is how these negative mental factors affect our energy body and then the physical body.
The explanation of this question is that these negative mental factors create corresponding vibrations in our astral body. Since astral body is connected to etheric body (or pranic body) at the point of chakras or energy centres, hence corresponding chakras get affected and start malfunctioning. Now the organs to which these chakras feed energy, also start malfunctioning as a result.
The following table shows the relationship between the energy centres (or body part having this energy centre) and corresponding mental factors which influence them.
Energy Imbalance From Yogic Perspective
In yoga, the energy balance is explained in terms of activity of Ida, Pingala and Sushumna nadis, and it is very interesting to know about it.
Imbalance towards Left Side
As has been explained earlier, Ida nadi (or moon’s channel) travels along the left side of the spine starting from the Mooladhara chakra and ascending upto Ajna chakra. The qualities assigned to this nadi are Tamoguna, past events and subconscious. It always brings to consciousness the memories of the past. The persons who are left sided (i.e. in whom Ida nadi mostly remains active) are those people who keep on thinking of the past, are very emotional, prefer darkness, avoid meeting people and are introverts. Such persons get various types of diseases of the left side. They become very lethargic, retreating into passivity and self obsession which finally culminates in lunacy, epilepsy, senile decay.
Persons who are left sided should balance it with the right side by activity, work and action, discarding all ideas of self destruction and self pity. Our left side is represented on the whole left hand.
Imbalance towards Right side
As has been mentioned, Pingala nadi or the sun channel runs along the right side of spine starting from Mooladhara up to Ajna chakra. This nadi has qualities of Rajo Guna. It represents our desire for action (Kriya Shakti). It makes us think, work, plan and organize for the future events.
The symptoms of right sided persons are that they are very aggressive, over-ambitious and dominating type. Right sided persons become very dry and lose all soft feelings. They are concerned only for their selfish material achievement and power over others. Blinded by ego, they take pride in exploiting and fooling the world. Such people get diseases of right side. Problems on Pingala nadi result largely from our presumption that it is we who are doing something while in fact all work is done only by Almighty God.
Any extreme physical or mental activity can paralyse our left emotional side and move us on to the right side so that we move into supraconscious (future) where we see visions like those induced by hallucinogenic drugs.
Overactive right side is brought into balance by moving the energy towards the centre, to Satoguna, Our right side is represented on our whole right hand.
Balance at the Centre
When the powers of both left (Ida nadi) and right side (Rajoguna) are brought to balance, we get established in the centre or Satoguna.
The central channel or Sushumna nadi begins at Mooladhara and goes straight up to the highest chakra namely ‘Sahasrara’. The qualities of this nadi are Sato guna, present centredness and superconsciousness. It is represented in both the hands. It is through this channel that we become superconscious and integrated into one whole. When Sushumna nadi gets opened, Kundalini can ascend in this central channel and go right up to Sahasrara chakra leading to our enlightenment. Doing regular meditation in thoughtless awareness (pure perception) and leading virtuous life is vital to opening of Sushumna.
Sushumna nadi is also called the channel of the Eternal present, where the only time is not. In this way, we transcend time and space by opening of Sushumna and Kundalini awakening.
Achieving the Balance of Nadis
In ‘Sahaj Yoga’ some simple techniques are suggested to achieve the balancing of right and left sides of the body as mentioned below:
If a person is right sided then the energy of Ida nadi is raised by making ascending movements of the right hand along the right side and brought to the left side or the person’s spine .
If a person is left sided, i.e. apathetic and depressed, then the energy of Pingala nadi is raised by making ascending movements of the right hand along left side of the body and brought to the right side of the person’s spine.
Clearing the Chakras
A chakra could also be cleared by simulating its clockwise rotation with the fingers of the right hand by a healer and asking the patient to keep his right hand on the afflicted chakra and keeping his left hand on the left knee with palms up and fingers open. In the science of prana, left hand is always used for receiving energy and right hand for imparting energy. Now depending on which side of chakra is afflicted—whether left side, right side, front or back, there can be slight variations accordingly in the healing.
There are other methods of clearing the chakras also, e.g. candling. It clears the chakras on the left side. Here a burning candle is moved up and down on the left side of spine. Similarly, there are other methods for clearing chakras like foot soaking in lukewarm salt water. Right side chakras are normally cleared by cold water treatment in the form of foot soaking in cold water. Foot soaking in river or sea water is said to clear Solar and Hara chakras. Sitting on mother earth or walking barefoot on the earth or grass clears Mooladhara chakra. Putting hands on earth or in flowing river water or in lukewarm salt water is equally beneficial for clearing chakras. Salt has the special quality of breaking down the negative energy. Doing concentration or ‘Trataka’ with open eyes on some object especially candle flame helps in awakening the Ajna chakra. Even when in a normal way our mind is focussed and centered in some activity, it helps in activating Ajna chakra. Meditation is the strongest method for energizing Ajna chakra.
Yoga science also speaks of reciting (mentally) specific mantras for awakening each chakra. This science is based on matching the subtle frequency of each chakra with subtle frequency of specific mantra so as to create resonance. However, since the subject is Reiki, we won’t go into these details in this book.
Another technique of clearing chakra is by strengthening their qualities as mentioned in the table of chakras. As has been mentioned earlier, the chakras which are catching and blocked are only responsible for psychic and physical problems.
One of the easiest method to awaken chakras is to mentally focus your attention (with eyes closed) on them. To increase your concentration on a particular chakra you can imagine that you are breathing through that chakra (i.e. inhaling and exhaling through that point).
All the above information for clearing nadis and chakras is given here only for general enlightenment of the reader. However, since the purpose of this book is to cleanse the energy body through Reiki healing , the other chapters have the details of healing your energy body through Reiki. Nevertheless if you continue to use other techniques for balancing your energy body as described in this chapter and also in chapter titled ‘ Supporting aids for Reiki Practice’, it will definitely do you more good.
