Layayoga: The Definitive Guide to the Chakras and Kundalini (86 page)

Table 12.2 Chakra-location table

PART
3

CONCENTRATION PRACTICES

CHAPTER
13

Physical Purification and Vitalization

It is often ignored that the body plays an important role in the development of mental calmness and concentration. Only a purified and vital body can function efficiently at a certain organic functional level without radiating disturbing influences on the mind.

The brain which is the central organ of the body is connected with the mind. A high order of functional activities of the brain depends very much upon the state of the blood and its adequate circulation through the brain. The blood functions affect the cardiac, respiratory, alimentary, eliminative, endocrine and muscular functions. Physical culture, based on hathayoga, should be adopted for the normalization of the body as a whole.

Normalization of the eliminative functions of the body is an essential factor of blood purification and this creates a very favourable condition in the brain for its more perfect functioning. Some surplus materials tend to accumulate in the body during the course of time which do not contribute to its vital functions. This state is mainly due to a lack of vigorous blood circulation, consumption of foods in excess of the body’s needs, and the bacterial unhealthfulness of the colon.

Fasting is a natural means of consumption and elimination of the accumulated materials. So, it is a very important factor in the purification of the body. By fasting, all the organs of the body are rested and become functionally more efficient. Moreover, the cells of the body are reenergized. However, knowledge of how to fast properly is very important.

Blood circulation should be accelerated above the normal resting level by muscular exercise. General muscular exercise serves this purpose. Automatic deep breathing exercise should be a part of the general exercise. Running at slow and moderate speeds, and swimming are excellent automatic deep breathing exercises. In growth-strength exercise, vigorous circulation takes place in the skeletal muscles. In constitutional exercise, circulation is increased in the skeletal muscles as well as in the vital organs.

Pranayamic breathing has special value, so it should be an important part of exercise. In pranayamic breathing, circulation is accelerated through the activities of the respiratory muscles and the big muscles of the body remain inactive. Under this condition, the increased circulation seems to produce better effects on the nervous system and the internal organs, as the muscular avidity for materials from the blood is less. It is our experience that circulation should be accelerated both by muscular exercise and pranayamic breathing in order to develop and maintain a high degree of efficiency of the nervous system and vital strength.

Kumbhaka (breath-suspension) is an essential part of pranayamic breathing. It produces a specific effect on brain functioning. By kumbhaka, a measured compression on the brain can be applied through compression on the ventricles of the brain and the subarachnoid space by causing an increased venous pressure of the brain. This compression arouses the vital activities of the nerve cells. In a prolonged kumbhaka, outwardly directed mental tendencies causing mental disturbances begin to be internalized, and an inner calmness develops. The practical aspect of the purificatory and vitalizing processes of physical culture can be briefly considered under the following five headings: purification, internal cleansing, diet, muscular exercise and pranayamic breathing.

Purification

Undertake a short fast. It cleanses the system, improves the power of digestion and absorption, gives the body a physiological rest and builds vitality. The duration of the fast is three days. The three-day-fast with colon washing will remove all the accumulated contents of the colon and make it clean and healthy.

First day of fasting.

After a normal evacuation of the bowels in the morning, take a glass (about 300–350ml; 10 or 12 ozs) of lactose drink. This consists of a glass of warm water in which lactose (2 or 3 heaped table-spoons) has been mixed and flavoured with fresh lemon juice. Then rest for 30 minutes. Thereafter, water should be drunk in the following manner:

Drink a cup of warm water with a little lemon juice taken at intervals of 30 or 40 minutes for 3 hours. If there are free evacuations of the bowels during the water-drinking period or immediately afterwards, it is not necessary to cleanse the colon with water. Then take a bath and rest. During the resting period, a cup of cold water can be drunk now and then. But if there is no evacuation of the bowels, or evacuations are not satisfactory, then cleanse the colon thoroughly by autolavage. There should be three or four lavages. Then cleanse the stomach by gastric lavage (only once). Thereafter take a bath and rest. In the evening, take a glass of fresh orange juice.

Second day of fasting.

In the morning, start water-drinking (warm water with fresh lemon juice) for 3 hours as on the first day. Then colonic autolavage, bath and rest as before. Drink a glass of fresh orange juice in the evening.

Third day of fasting.

Same as second day.

On the fourth day, the fast should be broken. In the morning, perform colonic autolavage once. Then take a bath. Thereafter, take 250 ml (8 ozs) of fresh orange juice 4 times a day. Drink cool water as desired.

On the fifth day, take a milk diet, a milkfruit diet, or a fruit-greens diet with some milk; continue the diet for 7 or 10 days. Thereafter, normal diet should be adopted.

This mode of purification can also be done as a yearly cleansing.

Internal Cleansing

The abridged yogic internal cleansing comprises oral cleansing, gastric autolavage, colonic autolavage, and pharyngonasal water bath. A special colonic exercise has also been described here.

Oral cleansing.

Clean the teeth with a fresh tooth-stick made of the semi-hard twig of some suitable plant, or a good toothbrush and toothpaste. Use a tonguescraper in cleansing the tongue. The thumb should be used in cleansing the palate. Plenty of water should be used in oral cleansing. The mouth should be well-rinsed. Oral cleansing should be done every day in the morning.

Gastric autolavage.

Drink 4 to 6 glasses of water and vomit it out. This gastric cleansing should be done when the stomach is empty. So, the best time for it is the morning, after oral cleansing. It can be done about once or twice a month, and during fasting.

Colonic autolavage.

Assume a squatting posture in a bathtub filled with water about navel-deep, or in a basin with water. Suck water into the colon through the rectum and get it into the caecum. Then evacuate the bowels. The temperature of the water should usually be lukewarm. For a thorough cleansing, suction, from three to four times, should be done in the morning when the stomach is empty. It is done during fasting. Suction is also done in the evening, after exercise and before dinner; this suction is usually done once. Thorough cleansing can be done once a week, or once a fortnight or every month, Evening suction can be done once or twice a week.

Care should be taken not to depend too much on colon washing. Colonic health and efficiency should be developed by exercise and diet. Washing is a supplementary means, but it is also necessary.

There is a special colonic exercise which is helpful in training the colon to evacuate completely. This exercise should be done in the morning when the stomach is empty and, if possible, after a normal evacuation of the bowels. Laxative foods should be added to the diet in varying proportions according to need. The technique is as follows.

First suck water through the rectum to reach only the lower half of the descending colon. Retain the water and then perform the following abdominal exercise in this order: [1] Nouli, from right to left, 15 to 30 times; (2) Nouli, rolling, 15 to 30 times; (3) Downward abdominal wave-motions, 15 to 30 times. Rest.

There may be an evacuation after this exercise; if not, do not worry. Practise this exercise either every day or on alternate days, until colonic efficiency is sufficiently developed.

There is also a suggestion-method which is helpful in making the colon evacuate normally. Suggest to your colon, with concentrated thought and with the belief that it will obey it, that it should function normally and effectively every day. Do it for a few minutes. It can be done any time. Mental calmness is very helpful for the evacuative function of the colon.

Pharyngonasal water bath.

Take a glassful of water. Draw the water through the nostrils and eject it through the mouth. The water should be lukewarm or cold (not too cold). Take about 450 ml (15 ozs) of water. This should be done every day in the morning, preferably after oral cleansing.

Diet

Prana as life-dynamism infuses its ojas (intrinsic force) into a suitable form of matter by which it is transformed into a living body. Ojas operates in the living body, as the basic life-force, and from it three fundamental principles of operation have come into being, by which the body is maintained as living matter, termed protoplasm. Brahmanic physiology does not accept that protoplasm itself is the life-substance but explains that life-force is not a part of matter. It is accepted as a subtle force capable of being infused into matter and making it life-like.

The cells of the body are not life-substance units, or life-minims. If it were so, then there would have been life in the atoms of which the cells are constituted; but there is no trace of life in them. Atreya says that the body and its different structures are composed of innumerable extremely minute and imperceptible constituents, that is, atoms. The atoms are the minima of matter and they maintain the entire material structure. Atoms maintain the material aspect of protoplasm, in which the life-force functions. This physiological dualism was the accepted theory in ancient Indian physiology.

The three principles, by which the body as a living organism is maintained are technically termed wayu, agni or pitta, and soma or kapha. Wayu is the principle of bioenergy. It operates in the body in relation to, and in cooperation with, agni and soma, Agni is the catabolic principle by which substances of the body are broken down to release energy to be utilized in the bodily functions. On the other hand, soma is the anabolic principle by which the broken down parts of the body are reconstructed and also new construction is effected. The anabolic processes require energy to function and this energy is released by the catabolic processes. The catabolic functions also require energy and that is connected with wayu.