Yoga for Energetic Balance
Wisdom from the Bhagavad Gita (2:40)
“Follow the principles of yoga. By practicing them, you can free yourself from the bonds of karma. On this path, nothing is ever wasted and there is no failure. Even the smallest effort in the direction of spiritual awareness will protect you from your greatest fear.”
Ayurveda and Yoga meet in the practice of awareness
According to Ayurveda, the body's energy—or prana—is held within a system of vital centers and is maintained in balance through our actions. Through awareness in our actions, thoughts, and feelings, we can take a step toward rebalancing our energetic equilibrium. Life is an experiential process that requires constant adjustment: the yogic path, through daily practice, facilitates this process of personal evolutionary transformation.
In our meditation workshops, you will be guided through a process of sublimating the physical experience, using the sound of mantra as a primary tool for awakening and rebalancing vital energy.
Practice as a Gateway to Transcendence
In the life process, pranic energy connects the body and mind as long as there is breath; thus, our breath sustains the existence of both body and mind. In everyday life, we express our being through the three fundamental states of existence: wakefulness, deep sleep, and dreaming. In each of these states, our perception of reality inevitably changes over time, along with our body and mind.
So, what does all of this have to do with the practice of yoga? The yogic path invites us to journey through this earthly pilgrimage by following the ethical principles of yama and niyama, external and internal disciplines aimed at cultivating peace and harmony within and around us. This helps us find ease and comfort in asanas, while practicing hatha yoga and pranayama, so we can eventually relax into a seated posture, breathing and perceiving the flow of prana.
In this position, we can then focus on the points in the body where, according to Ayurveda, our vital energy centers or chakras reside. By directing the breath to these points, we learn to regulate vital energy and, in turn, the mind—since breath and thought are intimately connected.
In fact, the mind cannot be controlled, but it can be directed toward the various energy centers through pranayama techniques that influence our body-mind processes, creating harmony between the physical body and the subtle mind.
Awareness practice teaches us to focus on the first five vital centers:
Earth, at the base of the spine.
Water, in the genital area.
Fire, at the solar plexus.
Air, at the heart level.
Ether, in the throat region.
From there, we can touch a limitless space beyond these five elements, turning our attention to the area between the eyebrows and then to the crown of the head.
What does it mean to go beyond these elements—usually experienced energetically in various combinations during waking, sleeping, and dreaming? Yoga is one of the possible gateways to transcend these ordinary states of awareness. Through the repetition of mantras, it allows us to enter a meditative state in which there is no room for external experiences or the limitations of the body-mind. This leads us toward the cessation of mental fluctuations and beyond the objectivity of the mind.
When our presence in this state becomes continuous, we enter a perceptual state known as samadhi: a higher awareness that transcends body, prana, and mind, becoming a harmonious and peaceful union of the individual Self with the Whole.
Connecting with Our Vital Energy and Keeping It in Balance Through Yoga
Where do we store the energy associated with our thoughts, feelings, memories, experiences, and actions? In the vital centers.
Let’s imagine them as invisible whirlpools of energy located along the spine, corresponding to major nerve plexuses. These energy spheres extend along the spine, encompassing the corresponding nerve centers and surrounding organs, reaching beyond the boundaries of the physical body. They can be perceived and nourished intuitively through awareness practice.
To keep our energetic flow in balance, it is essential for the chakras to be open, aligned, and flowing. When meditation reveals areas of likely imbalance, the practice invites us to bring attention back to the energy centers where we sense either a blockage or an excessive opening, in order to restore balance.
Over time, a consistent personal practice will awaken from within valuable qualities such as:
Courage
Creativity
Vitality
Compassion
Expressiveness
Intuition
Wisdom
As the epic poem Bhagavad Gita reminds us in the context of self-realization (2:40):
“Follow the principles of yoga. By practicing them, you can free yourself from the bonds of karma. On this path, nothing is ever wasted and there is no failure. Even the smallest effort in the direction of spiritual awareness will protect you from your greatest fear.”
Wishing you a joyful practice. Namaste.