Читать книгу Quantum Supplements - Deanna M. Minich - Страница 21

A bodily disease, which we look upon as whole and entire within itself, may, after all, be but a symptom of some ailment in the spiritual part.

NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE

When it comes to the human body, there is much more than meets the eye. Ancient traditions embraced the concept of the person being an interwoven matrix of body, emotions, thoughts, and spirit. We can visualize ourselves as having layers like an onion, one layer tightly nestled on top of the next. The physical layer is what you see when you first meet someone. You see the color of their eyes, their skin, the texture of their hair, the size of their body, and their clothing. When they speak, you may start to formulate some idea about their emotional and mental state. You may start thinking to yourself, “How smart they are! And they seem so happy.”

Aside from what we see and assess about people or situations using our five senses, there are more subtle parts of us that add to our analysis. On a less obvious level, each person encompasses the accumulation of all of his likes, dislikes, fears, family issues, phobias, hang-ups about money and relationships, and the culmination of his upbringing, as well as his ability to create and show emotion, be powerful and loving, to communicate effectively, to listen to his intuition, and to connect with Divine guidance. Those multilayered parts of us are wrapped into the fabric of our being and, in a consolidated form, they become a focal point for how we live. We may not be showing them outright, but they collectively make up what we can refer to as our energy field, or the nonphysical, bubble-like structure around us that carries the essence of who we are. Some people have expansive energy fields. They walk into a room, and you feel them perhaps before you see them. With others, you may not know they are there until you bump into them. And then there may be circumstances when you are around someone and you start feeling drained, like their energy field has blanketed you.

If we zoom into the anatomy of a person's energy field, we see it is the culmination of many energy threads, and we can dissect the spectrum of different vibrations—these are called chakras or wheels in Sanskrit, also referred to as “energy centers” throughout this text, all of which correlate to important life issues. “Chakra” is not a new word. Its roots run deep into ancient East Indian texts that are thousands of years old. One way to envision chakras is like invisible doorways for energy to enter and exit our subtle body. Like a revolving door, each chakra lets in energy from the outside and removes it from the inside. There may be times the door opens wide one way but not the other, creating an imbalanced flow of energy, such as when we find ourselves taking care of others more than ensuring that our own basic needs are met. Other times, that door may be whipping open and closed so quickly that the energy in your body may feel overwhelming—this sensation may appear in the body as any number of physical manifestations, such as feeling butterflies in the stomach, the head spinning, the heart racing, and even the classic fight or flight response when we are afraid.

Chakras are positioned in the subtle body and correlate to physical organs. Another way to think about the chakras is like pearls on a necklace, hanging down your spine at the levels of specific endocrine glands. Symbolically, chakras represent a variety of aspects of our being—how we survive, feel, energize, love, speak, intuit, and connect. As we dive within the subtle body landscape, let's approach it from a symbolic perspective. Imagine that the human being has several layers, and in the chakra system, there are seven main ones.

Figure 1. The body with chakras

The first one is the obvious physical body—flesh and bones. Our physical body connects us symbolically to the issue of survival in the physical world: it allows us to eat, sleep, breathe, and drink. Think of the needs of infants—they need to feel safe, that they can trust, and that they are connected to a family that will provide shelter and food for them. If they didn't have these things, they could not survive. This aspect of our survival stays locked within the vibration of who we are throughout our lives.

You can imagine that if we don't trust or feel safe, we may have some issues with survival, and the opposite is also true. I have seen this with people's eating behaviors, especially in individuals who grew up in poverty. When people do not trust that there will be “enough” for them to survive, they tend to overeat. Conversely, when people do not feel that they have a right to exist, perhaps due to low self-esteem or feeling suicidal, they may tend to forget about eating. They may lose weight and even develop eating disorders.

A person who has an imbalance in her “survival center” doesn't have this energy vibration to a significant degree and may seem like she is “not in her body” by appearing absent-minded, fatigued, or excessively fearful. Sometimes this is referred to as “being ungrounded.” The absent-minded professor is a classic example of someone who is so fixated on intellectual concerns that he neglects the needs of the body, like eating or getting enough sleep. A woman who is fearful and worried about survival, whether she is unable to make enough money to support her basic needs or feels her ability to make money is threatened through a potential layoff, may have issues with support not only in the physical world but also in her body. I have seen people in distress like this develop low back pain, knee pain, and sciatica, as their bodies are literally translating the message of not being supported, and so they manifest symptoms of lack of support, particularly in the lower half of the body.

The survival vibrations are instinctual. In ancient traditions, the central point, or hub, of the part of us that resonates with the purely physical aspects of our being and yokes us to the earthly venture of surviving on this planet is called the root chakra, or muladhara (Sanskrit for “root”). The designated body location of the root chakra begins the point just under the pubic bone in the front of the body, and penetrates through the body to the level of the tailbone, or coccyx, at the base of the spine. Even though its central point is at the level of the tailbone, its energetic influence is directed downwards toward the lower half of the body, into the legs and feet.

Once we are comfortable with feeling grounded in our physical body and the elements that comprise much of our basic survival needs as they relate to the physical world, we are then able to direct our energy up the body to the next energy center, which is the font of raw emotions and creativity. Think of the infant becoming a toddler: screaming, crying, demanding, giggling—the “terrible twos” as they are called. We are now moving past our basic survival needs and into the realm of feeling. As a young child, we find our own inner voice, we begin playing with others, and amplifying our every need. If we take this into the adult life, this part of us translates into our ability to be freely creative, have fun, express how we feel, and develop relationships. To some extent, this is the part of us that psychologists refer to as the “inner child.”

There are various ways this aspect manifests when it is out of balance: a workaholic who makes no time for play, a woman who isn't comfortable showing her emotions and so she stuffs them in by eating, the tortured artist type who feels that his feelings and creative expression are misunderstood, a person who has difficulty committing to a relationship or maintaining friendships.

The energetic part of us associated with our ability to be creative, wildly emotional, and full of pleasure is kept in the area between our lower belly (just below the navel) and the sacrum. It is referred to as the sacral chakra, or svadhisthana (Sanskrit for “one's own abode”). Think of how when you laugh heartily or breathe deeply—your lower gut feels relaxed and free of tension. Whereas the root chakra is symbolically associated with our ability to feel grounded and secure in our bodies, the sacral chakra has been likened to the aspect of us that embodies the water element through its flowing, yet still, abysmal depth; our expanse of emotion; and our ability to dive into the unconscious. When we are in touch with our lower gut and its energetic resonance, we dance to the music of our raw creativity, our unruly emotions, and our love of companionship. These parts of us ripple through our gut and undulate into finer expression with the help of the heart (love and passion) and throat (voice and authenticity) chakras. This chakra seeks relationship with another. It propels us out to the world to find connection and synergy. When we are deeply committed to our own sensitivity and creativity, we can be open to sharing this beauty with another, and in this process, create something anew.

Swimming upwards from the low belly, we enter our fiery, transformative energy-exchange center. With the vehicle of the body (root chakra) and the ability to emote, create, and form relationships with others (sacral chakra), we now have the tools needed to make our way in the world, and to exchange the energy of our self with the energy of society. If we can symbolically position this stage of our development, it would be at the ages of five to seven years old, when we are forming and solidifying our identity.

It has been said that who we were at this young age sets the stage for who we are to become as adults. We begin to have strong views, develop opinions, and have a sense of self as separate from the whole. Individuals with imbalances in this center often has issues around self-worth. For example, they are often the ones who can never have enough material possessions to give them a sense of worth. They continue to collect and hoard but ultimately receive no gratification in return. An overachiever seeks to find fulfillment through her accomplishments rather than who she is from within. Sometimes the most egocentric person is masking low feelings of self-worth; in other words, all that grandiosity is not who they really are. When it comes to foods and eating, these individuals are hungry for internal fulfillment and confidence, and may use external sources like foods and overeating in an attempt to fill this need.

The part of us that filters societal information and allows us to distill our own opinions, beliefs, and identity is held in the upper abdominal area and is known as the solar plexus chakra, or manipura (Sanskrit for “city of jewels”). The middle of the torso is the energetic home for the essential organs of transformation associated with the solar plexus chakra: the gallbladder, liver, pancreas, small intestines, and stomach. Energy, whether from the purely physical like food or from a charged interaction with a group of people at work, will enter in from the outside and is converted through this conduit into a form that we can process and recognize. In response to taking in the energy, we may even decide to give back energy from this center through movement, activity, and acting from our core.

An example of this exchange might be the simple act of eating a meal. The body sees the food as a vehicle of energy and breaks it down to the degree that it can reap the energy embedded within. As a result of taking in this energy, we may feel more alive, invigorated, and propelled into action. That energy may help us exercise, move through the day, and do our tasks.

The three lower chakras, the root, sacral, and solar plexus centers, form the physical basis of a person. The root chakra could be compared to the bricks of a house, giving a solid structure and foundation. The sacral chakra is like the windows built into the house, allowing us to see to the outside using our senses and our urge to connect with others. And the solar plexus chakra is like the front and back doors, enabling people to enter and for the inhabitants to exit.

From this point on, the chakras become much more ethereal in nature, and they are aligned more closely with the spirit than the body. Although no more significant than the lower three chakras, the upper four chakras have more delicate and finer vibrations than those of the lower chakras. Collectively, the upper chakras encompass the parts of a person that allows them to love, communicate, think, and connect with the Divine. If we continue with the metaphor of the house, they go beyond the house structure and take us into the periphery: into other neighborhoods, cities, countries, and even dimensions.

The journey of the upper chakras begins with the much-cherished heart chakra, or anahata (Sanskrit for “unstruck” or “unbeaten”). Common expressions such as “living from the heart” or “following your heart” have infiltrated people's lives, as has the ubiquitous heart symbol, which has made its way onto everything from t-shirts and lunchboxes to bumper stickers and greeting cards. The heart chakra is unique because it bridges the physical and the spiritual aspects (sometimes referred to as the “heaven and earth”) of a person through love.

Coming from the place of the heart center enables us to smooth any gaps between our body and spirit, and once this connection has been made, we are able to extend it to others by giving and receiving love through sound, song, and embrace. The heart chakra keeps the physical heart and lungs circulating with currents of blood and oxygen. Without the heart chakra and its organs, the body is unable to live on the earth plane of existence.

Working upwards from the heart chakra in the center of the chest is the throat chakra, or vishuddha (Sanskrit word for “pure wheel”), which oversees the throat, thyroid gland, mouth, ears, and nose. The throat has been likened to a birthing canal for the heart: it is the part of us that is responsible for choices we make, and we express those choices and who we are through the vehicle of the voice. In its highest form, it speaks the language of the heart.

Since there is choice and communication involved in this center, it also has a connection to a more refined form of creativity than that of the sacral chakra. The sacral chakra births raw ideas in a primitive form, and the throat chakra sculpts them according to the wishes of the heart. The throat chakra provides the physical manifestation of vibration through chanting, singing, and spoken words. It is also the point of entry for much of the energy that is exchanged through the solar plexus chakra, since the throat chakra can take in food, liquid, dietary supplements, and sensory input through the mouth, ears, and nose, and give out words in response to what the solar plexus chakra is processing.

All the energy exchange, sensory input, and communication produce thoughts. The activity of the brain falls within the realm of the third eye chakra, or ajna (Sanskrit word for “command”). Logically formed thoughts, emotional pattern recognition, and the master control center for much of the body's hormones live within this chakra's rapid vibratory rate. Think of the speed of a thought or the blink of an eye; this quick and dynamic energy reflects the resonance of this chakra.

The chakras are largely vessels of transition, places of our invisible, energetic landscape that funnel energy in all forms through the ethers into the flesh, and from the flesh into the ethers. The third eye chakra spins in many directions, gathering and receiving energy like an antenna, from many sources. It may be processing information from the physical plane, or it may be receiving signals from abstract, otherworldly places. So the third eye manages not only thoughts, but also intuitive insight that may be an amalgam of our earthly experiences and universal guidance underlying a Divine plan.

Finally, the crown chakra, or sahasrara (Sanskrit for “the supreme center of contact with God”) sits at the top of the head like a halo. It has the finest, lightest vibration of all the major seven chakras, and it feeds the body with cellular intelligence, universal consciousness, and life force. It represents our direct line to the spiritual part of us, the essence of us that knows no time, boundaries, form, or opposites. When we are in union with this part of ourselves, through prayer or meditation, we remember our true nature and origin and their spiritual roots.

Figure 2. The body with anatomical structures