Life has a habit of sending us testing situations to navigate during our life. When these things happen it is not always easy to bounce back. Having had a few of these moments in my life I know a thing or two about this. It can be a huge challenge remaining positive when testing times visit you. In this weeks video I offer my reflections, just hours after receiving some not so good news and feeling pretty rough!
Kundalini energy is a Hindi word for sacred, transformative energy that awakens the consciousness. It literally means coiled. In yoga, a “corporeal energy” – an unconscious, instinctive or libidinal force or Shakti that lies coiled at the base of the spine. The kundalini resides in the sacrum bone in three and a half coils and has been described as a residual power of pure desire.
Kundalini is described as a sleeping, dormant potential force in humans. It is one of the components of an esoteric description of the ‘subtle body’, which consists of nadis (energy channels), chakras (psychic centres), prana (subtle energy), and bindu (drops of essence). Kundalini is described as being coiled up at the base of the spine, usually within the root chakra. The image given is that of a serpent coiled three and a half times around a smokey grey lingam.
Through meditation, and various esoteric practices, such as Kundalini Yoga, Sahaja Yoga, and Kriya Yoga, the kundalini is awakened, and can rise up through the central nadi, called sushumna, that rises up inside or alongside the spine. The progress of kundalini through the different chakras leads to different levels of awakening and mystical experience, until the kundalini finally reaches the top of the head, Sahasrara chakra, producing an extremely profound mystical experience that is said to be indescribable.
Chakra Kundalini Diagram
During kundalini awakening, the kundalini rises from the root (or muladhara) chakra up a subtle channel at the base of the spine and from there moves up to the top of the head merging with the crown chakra (also known as the sahasrara). When kundalini energy is conceived as a goddess, then, when it rises to the head, it unites itself with the Supreme Being (Lord Shiva). Then the aspirant becomes engrossed in deep meditation and infinite bliss.
The arousing of kundalini is said by some to be the one and only way of attaining Divine Wisdom. Self-Realization is said to be equivalent to Divine Wisdom or what amounts to the same thing: self-knowledge. The awakening of the kundalini shows itself as “awakening of inner knowledge” and brings with itself “pure joy, pure knowledge and pure love.”
This energy builds up in the base of the spine waiting for a stimulus to awaken its potential.
Once active, an intense outpouring is experienced, usually around 38-42 years old, triggering what appears to be a midlife crisis.
Moving up towards the spine, in men a blockage can occur in the heart chakra if the man finds emotions hard then a physical illness can manifest. If the man is allowed to release the emotions, mostly negative, and to express positive emotions, then the blockage will be cleared.
In women, kundalini will block at the throat if the woman has been unable to express herself in order to get what she wants. A thyroid problem can result. If the woman is able to find her voice and expression, then the blockage will disappear and energy continues to flow.
The following physical and psychological effects are either common signs of an awakened kundalini or symptoms of a problem associated with an awakening kundalini (commonly referred to as Kundalini syndrome or physio-Kundalini syndrome):-
– Involuntary jerks, tremors, shaking, itching, tingling, and crawling sensations, especially in the arms and legs
– Energy rushes or feelings of electricity circulating the body
– Intense heat (sweating) or cold, especially as energy is experienced passing through the chakras
– Visions or sounds at times associated with a particular chakra
– Emotional upheavals or surfacing of unwanted and repressed feelings or thoughts with certain repressed emotions becoming dominant in the conscious mind for short or long periods of time
– Headache, migraine, or pressure inside the skull
– Increased blood pressure and irregular heartbeat
– Emotional numbness
– Antisocial tendencies
– Mood swings with periods of depression or mania
– Pains in different areas of the body, especially back and neck
– Sensitivity to light, sound, and touch
– Trance-like and altered states of consciousness
– Disrupted sleep pattern (periods of insomnia or oversleeping
– Loss of appetite or overeating
– Bliss, feelings of infinite love and universal connectivity, transcendent awareness
In psychiatry recently, there has been a growing interest within the medical community to study the physiological effects of meditation, and some of these studies have applied the discipline of Kundalini Yoga to their clinical settings. Researchers in the fields of transpersonal psychology and near-death studies have described a complex pattern of sensory, motor, mental and affective symptoms associated with the concept of kundalini, sometimes called the Kundalini Syndrome.
Rising of kundalini is not an endpoint but an awakening, a start of transformation. Most of those who experience this will discover who they really are and will gain contentment in their new lives and a stronger connection of who they really are.
Image reproduced from Wikipedia Commons
Certain parts of this article have been reproduced from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
“The Body is not what it seems to be with the naked eye. It is not a solid mass. It is actually a system of little particles or points of energy separated from each other by space and held in place through an electrically balanced field.” – David M. Cumes M.D.
Energy is our life force. We have complete control over it. How you perceive an event or outcome can influence it heavily.
Energy is the force of life. Also called an Aura which can be described as a field of subtle, luminous radiation surrounding a person, like a map of their thoughts and feelings.
We can feel other people’s auras by their body language, tone of voice and posture. We can tell when something is wrong with a friend or loved one because their energy level has changed.
We sense other people’s emotions and energies by using our own body and emotions, and react to hundreds of subtle vibrations at once which is controlled by the persons energy levels.
In Indian the energy is called Prana or Shakti. In China it is called Chi, life force, This universal concept of energy underlies the physical world. This energy can be harnessed for healing properties.
In China acupuncture has been around for over 2000 years, influencing the flow of Chi through the body’s meridians. The Chinese agree with the saying energy flows where attention goes, as they believe that The Chinese say that “Chi follows Yi,” where “Yi” is the mind or intention/attention.
Based on their knowledge of energy, the Chinese developed techniques to deal with it. To enhance health, Qigong and acupuncture were developed, in turn enhancing their understanding of energy. Based on that understanding, martial arts were developed, like Tai Chi and many others.
In India the chakras were discovered, and the intricate energy system supporting and interconnecting them. Here also techniques were developed to use that knowledge, like yoga and mudras. Many of these techniques entered into use in other countries as well.
Taking control of our energy enables us to take control of our state or mood. If you generally have a negative aura you may find people keep away from you. Changing this consciously by altering your thought process to become more positive will open up more doors and make you more approachable.
There are 7 chakras that relate to locations in the body, functioning as pumps or valves regulating the flow of energy through our energy system.
The functioning of the chakras reflects decisions we make concerning how we choose to respond to conditions in our life. We open and close the valves throughout the day. Positive thoughts make our energy levels higher.
The Seven Chakras
Whilst these chakras are not physical they are aspects of consciousness like auras but much denser.
Chakras represent particular parts of the physical body and consciousness. Tension in the consciousness causes tension in the related chakra. The location of the stress depends on why you feel the stress.
After a period of time, or depending on the level of intensity, a symptom can be created at a physical level.
Chakras help to vitalise the physical body interacting with physical emotional and mental aspects.
The loci of life energy, aiming to use the universal life force to keep the spiritual mental emotional and physical health of the body in balance.
People may operate from their power chakra being more frequently argumentative, others from their sexual chakra being more flirtatious, often attracting the wrong type of people.
Negative thoughts cause the electricity of the brain to change and so the meridian energy changes. This means that the organs connected with the meridian are not properly nourished with vital energy and disease develops.
The energy feedback changes in the chakra due to the bad thought. This thought has less vitality as it is out of the cosmic pattern and a block in the chakra occurs.
Negative thinking drains away the energy of the aura and allows negativity from the out-side to pour in.
When negative thoughts are radiated to the environment, all similarly negative thoughts will be attracted. The negativity becomes stronger and happens more often. Negative thoughts are against the universal plan of loving and attract bad conditions for life.
We recently reported on great ways to prepare healthy food easily. The readers of our fitness column asked us to complement the dietary suggestions we give with energy drinks, as they are a fantastic way to boost energy, feel healthy, live healthily and get full control over your life.
There are various ways you can prepare energy drinks and I will list a few that you might not find in books or the internet. The list is of course not exhaustive and I would welcome you to write to us if you want more advice or have comments and suggestions of your own. Obviously, there are also different philosophies and I usually do not advice people to use sugary drinks with caffeine or taurine to boost energy levels as they are not healthy if consumed too often. But of course, many energy boosters exist on the market. The drinks listed here are a bit more exotic and foremost healthy.
Milk with Cinnamon
A great energising drink that is also incredibly easily prepared is milk with cinnamon. Heat up a glass of milk and stir in a spoon of cinnamon or let a cinnamon stick steep in the milk for 5 minutes. Mix well. If desired, add a spoonful of acacia honey. Let the milk cool down and put it into the fridge. If you drink it warm, it might make you sleepy, but if you drink it cold it will give you tons of energy. This drink is very energising in the morning, or in the afternoon when many of us get tired after lunch.
Green Tea
Green Tea is a fantastic drink to give you energy. It is a “slow-releasing” energy drink and you will see improvements of energy levels during the day. Usually you will feel slightly more awake about 20-30 minutes after drinking it. Green Tea has great health benefits. Read here for more information.
Guava Juice
Guava Juice is a fantastic energy booster. You can prepare it using a blender or a mixer. Make sure you remove the hard seeds before you blend it. If you desire more sweetness, add half a spoon of honey per glass. This is a great drink in the morning!
Banana and Fig Smoothie
Blend one ripe banana, 2 to 3 sundried figs, one tablespoon of honey and a glass of water together. This drink is a wonderful energy booster and helps your nervous system too. You can drink this smoothie any time during the day except just before bed.
Flaxseed and Blueberry Smoothie
A fantastic smoothie in the morning as well as post work-out, is a smoothie made of flaxseeds, yoghurt, banana, blueberries and other ingredients as follows:
Put all the ingredients in your blender and blend until smooth and serve immediately.
Coconut Smoothie
Blend the following ingredients for an empowering energy drink:
Blend and serve immediately -Â best cold.
Of course, there are hundreds of energy drinks and smoothies that you may prefer. These are my favourites and work very well for me. We look forward to hearing what you think and seeing what works for you.
Images reproduced from http://farm3.static.flickr.com, http://s1.hubimg.com, www.mindbodygreen.com, http://inbalancenutrition.homestead.com and http://spilledingredients.com
Being human is a beautiful condition. It is what separates us from the void of emptiness and bestows a natural disposition towards seeking the light. In the language of Physics , the vacuum is the ‘grand state of all that is in the universe’. The vacuum is not empty, on the contrary, the vacuum spoken of by quantum physicists is filled with immense vibrational potentiality.
At heart we are all good. It is important to affirm this daily and never allow the demons of doubt, fear, negativity and hatred to blight your life since our waking consciousness is only a small portion of our actual real consciousness. Our deeper selves are often very different to our daily superficial selves.
Amanda Solk
Amanda Solk is a very special young lady who I would describe as a ‘light carrier’. This exceptional young woman has been for many years ‘opening’ people up to their assemblage point – the vortex of the human energy field. The (AP) Assemblage Point is the point in the body where as an embryo our life force is assembled. According to Amanda it is the seat of our human and spiritual life force and for us to function healthily it needs to be aligned in its optimum position which is in the centre of the chest, close to the heart. By exploring and understanding the origins and the potency of human forces, her concept is that we not only become much better able to cope with them but also gain a much deeper and more compassionate understanding of our own Soul and that of our neighbors.
The Greek word psyche translates in German to mean the ‘Soul’. In the Greek myth of Psyche there is an exploration and confrontation of the emotional underworld to retrieve special treasure (spirituality) before Psyche can attain her apotheosis and achieve transcendence.
Successful re-alignment of the Assemblage Point to its optimum position by Amanda’s skillful assistance can result in increased knowledge of the self and eventually even the universe as a living energy. Just as the body is subject to illness from excluded parts of the self, so society can be made sick and subject to violence from those whose pain causes them to lash out towards everything that excludes them. With war and violence on the rise in the world millions of us are struggling to just keep mind, body and soul together. Perhaps our knowledge of the world and matter can no longer just be derived from direct sensory experiences and requires a new way of seeing?
The discovery and the teachings of shifting the Assemblage Point developed out of the ancient mysterious sacred beliefs and practices of the Native American Indians and Shamanistic traditions. Jon Whale PhD a gifted electronics engineer was the one to rediscover the definite existence of the Assemblage Point, having been fascinated by its potential for healing for many years. With the aid of other doctors and physicists his biggest and most valuable find was that the Assemblage Point can be repositioned after suffering trauma and abuse, whether physical or mental. If our Assemblage Point is knocked out of position for whatever reason, we will only be operating on half our energy quota. This reduced quota can create such symptoms as; depression, panic attacks, stress, fatigue and general unhappiness. These self defeating, emotionally debilitating features can give rise to further problems such as lack of confidence and low self esteem, in turn creating a vicious circle.
The good news is that Amanda has received extensive professional training by Dr. Angela Blaen, Founder of The Assemblage Point Association and the first person to have the existence of her Assemblage Point scientifically proven by medical experts in 2000. The procedure itself takes over an hour and once undertaken needs to be revisited by regular 2-3 monthly checks to ensure stability of the Assemblage Point. The results are permanent and the benefits just amazing with clients repeatedly reporting a feeling of being grounded and centered. The centeredness offers individuals the liberating freedom to release pent up fears, grief, shock, guilt, hurt, rage and disappointment etc. The list is as endless and as varied as Amanda’s grateful clientele. More often than not, a greater personal peace is frequently experienced with the heightened attendant confidence and personal ability to ‘handle’ life. Negative emotions, various addictions and angry outbursts to name a few crippling conditions become a thing of the past and no longer control or influence the individual. When we start to make contact with our knowing selves we will begin to finally hear messages of our own profound inner truth and beauty. Thanks to Amanda Solk’s amazing talent and treatment perhaps we can all finally draw upon a cosmic reservoir of intelligent spiritual and universal power and no longer erroneously presume we are but a tiny drop in the ocean of life but rather instead to remember, we are the ocean.
If you would like help with repositioning your Assemblage Point you can contact Amanda in Huddersfield on: 01484 535371 or 0788 1665 909 or to find out more about her wonderful work visit her at www.fullspectrumhealing.co.uk and www.mandisolk.com.
London Life Coach & Wellbeing Consultant Sloan Sheridan-Williams talks about energy levels. Follow Sloan on Twitter @SloanSW_London and check out Sloan’s website www.sloansw.com
Thank you for your question on how to raise your energy levels and whether it could be supplemented by diet. As a Life Coach I am not a nutritionist but it seems quite evident from what you’re talking about that your decreased energy levels and decreased immunity may be based on iron deficiency.
I would suggest iron deficiency as my first port of call because of the hair loss, the brittle nails, the fatigue and the fainting and dizzy spells that you’ve been having. It is indeed a most common nutritional deficiency in our modern diet and it’s possible that even as many as 1 in 4 people could be lacking in iron.
Alternatively it could be a B12 deficiency because in addition to the symptoms you gave me you have also expressed that you feel quite angry. By not knowing the other symptoms or potential causes for this, it is difficult to jump to any conclusion with 100% satisfaction, however in a recent study of 100 people the majority of people who were anaemic we also found to be deficient in B12.
Therefore if you do not want to go to the doctor – although I heavily advise that you do – you may find  some relief from having a combined multi-vitamin tablet that includes iron, folic acid, vitamin B12 and vitamin C. I choose vitamin C to be taken with these tablets, either as part of one tablet or in addition because a lot of what I’ve suggested to you helps vitamin C helps the absorption of such. There are many products available be it from high street shops such as Holland & Barrett and GNC or online reputable companies such as GoldShield and Health Span.
However before you jump on the bandwagon of introducing supplements into your diet, which I know you have suggested, I would highly recommend buying a juicer or blender and trying to find natural alternatives for these vitamins. You will find that green leafy vegetables also play a part in a lot of the things that you may be lacking so I suggest Googling the items of fruit or vegetable you enjoy and seeing how many of these contain iron, B12, folic acid and vitamin C. Whatever you can’t naturally increase in your diet perhaps then supplement with nutrition.
In addition it is always good to increase the antioxidants in your system as you have mentioned a decrease in your immune system and these are highly sought after to increase your immunity.
Image reproduced from my.maillife.co.uk