“It is more important to know what sort of person has a disease, than to know what sort of disease a person has.”
~ Hippocrates, father of modern medicine
Did you know that you have 72,000 energy channels in your body?
To a yogi, this system of energy is referred to as prana. And for those of us who practice, the challenge is to harness this energy so it can fuel our physical, mental, and spiritual development.
To quote Bernie Clark: “Yoga is never a competitive sport. It is an inward practice designed to build awareness, non-attachment, equanimity and contentment. We do not use the body to get into a pose. We use the pose to get into the body.”
Our 72,000 nadis channel pranic energy to every cell. Some are wide and rushing; others are a mere trickle. When this system flows freely, we are vital and healthy; when it becomes weak or congested, we struggle with poor mental and physical health. When we work towards balance, both sides of the energy channel become equal. There is still a slight oscillation around the middle position, and this re-balancing is the return to wholeness and health.
Back in 2009, after my friend and colleague passed away, I was under alot of stress. This stress became embodied in my tissues, which eventually lead to extreme shooting pain down my left arm. This “injury” lead me both to my meditation teacher and my yoga teacher. Both worked with me on the energetic level, to finally clear the blockage that was causing my muscles to constrict, so that finally my chiropractor was able to get my body back into alignment. This work took over 3 months and still continues to this day.
My meditation teacher told me that my shoulder pain was meant for me. And she suggested that I read the book “Frontiers of Health” by Dr. Christine R. Page. This is the book that I decided to pick up yesterday from my bookshelf. It goes hand-in-hand with another book that was required reading for my yoga training: “Anatomy of the Spirit” by Caroline Myss, Pd.D.
It is the premise of both of these books that we have the capacity to be in complete control of our health through our energy body, the 72,000 nadis, and what is termed the Chakra energy system that flows from top to bottom of our subtle energy body.
During her studies, Dr. Page became more and more aware that, despite a similar diagnosis, different patients reacted in different ways to disease and to the chosen treatment. There was no such thing as a “sure bet” as to who would leave a hospital cured or who would die without advance warning.
It prompted the great medical researcher, Claude Bernard, to state:
“Illnesses hover constantly about us, their seeds blown by the wind. But they do not set into the terrain unless the terrain is ready to receive them.”
Dr. Page concludes “I have no doubt as to the influence on the mind in the creation and continuation of the disease process. True doctor’s care must include the activities of the mind and the soul. The physical body is purely a vehicle for the soul and the spirit. Treating one aspect in isolation from the others will lead to an incomplete cure, although on a physical level the patient may appear healed. 80% of patients with chronic illness, for which medicines are prescribed, although the symptoms are relieved, the underlying disease is not cured. Until the emotional issues are resolved, disharmony will remain even though the signs of disease can be suppressed by modern drugs.”
“Healing can never restore anybody to their original form.”
“Disease by it’s very essence must bring about change in the individual and this point is often misunderstood and even avoided by both the patient and by their practitioner.”
“Amazing things happen when people are ill. They develop strengths which up to that point had been well and truly hidden. In the end, it is not relevant what disease is present. What is relevant is how we deal with the situations which come towards us, and use these experiences to enrich and expand our soul consciousness.”
So, if you are “suffering” from something out there, maybe this next series is for you. I love the study of the chakra system. It’s fascinating! And the good news is that whatever you are suffering with can actually be a golden opportunity for necessary soul growth and true healing.
