Detoxification and the Breath
The use of breath exercises or pranayama is a longstanding health technique in the yoga tradition that is one of the fundamentals to help improve one's health And these breath techniques can even be foundational before beginning asana or posture practice that are guided by yoga teachers in studios across the country The question from an energy science perspective is how can breathing exercises give us such a physiologic advantage
The Elements and Tissue Layers
All the ancient healing traditions saw the mindbody as an energy field and spoke of the 5 great elements that were observed in Nature....space, air, fire, water, and earth Energetically the energy of space is nuclear energy, air electromagnetic energy, fire radiant energy, water chemical energy, and earth mechanical energy Each of these energies in the energy science of Ayurveda become Vata(space and air), Pitta(fire and water), and Kapha(water and earth)
The tissue layers are composed of these 5 elements in varying degrees...so the nervous tissue of the mindbody is mostly space and air while the muscle layer is mostly fire water and earth and the bone tissue is mostly earth due to its solidity So when you clear toxic load from the elements themselves you clear the toxicity from the elements that make up the tissues
Improving All Agnis Improves Detoxification of All the Tissues of the Mindbody
There is no energy science technique that can do so much for the overall health of the physiology than pranayama simply because there is no known technique available that can induce detoxification like it does for all the tissue layers This is due to its overall effect on agni
Not nutrition, not herbs, not changing lifestyle, not even panchakarma over time can beat the daily consistent practice of pranayama
Consistency in Practice Develops Strength Stamina and Endurance
Done on a consistent basis these breathing techniques gradually and slowly enhance the strength and stamina of the physiology One starts out with difficulty maintaining good posture during and creating strength during the exercise that gradually improves as one maintains consistency
Consistency also leads to better lung capacity and better posture This is played out over months of practice but the results can be nothing short of a miracle Another interesting thing that happens is that flexibility occurs particularly in the back muscles because fibrosis or scar is lost from around these particular muscles hence leading to better overall strength, better posture, and more ease at doing simple daily tasking
Done properly the techniques can lead to weight loss, reduction in cravings, improved mental clarity, and clearance of toxic load from the physiology leading to lightness and improved energy This is because each technique in this sequence improves the agni of each tissue layer of the mindbody Hence each tissue layer gets cleared of ama or toxic load This sets the stage for real healing to take place
Next week I'll cover the sequence that can change your life forever
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The Noon Meal
Have you ever noticed that you feel better when you eat your biggest meal of the day early, say around 12 noon and 2pm?
The energy science nutrition of healing has an answer for why that occurs. The digestive fire which is a collective term for all the enzyme systems from the mouth to the lower colon is hottest between 10am and 2pm. This is to say that our mindbody's transformative energy is strongest at this time. Our digestion is optimal.
Previous human experience would bear this out. Before the industrial revolution and the information age there is evidence that people observed this lifestyle pattern of behavior. But as with habits we can pick up bad ones and this has become one of them due to our aggravated societal Vata energy.
Even though digestive fire is transformative it is part of the Pitta energy, but not Pitta itself. It's like container(Pitta) and contained(digestive fire).
From a matter science nutritional view we don't have a concept of digestive fire. We mechanically look at the GI tract as a tube that can be viewed with a scope looking for obvious dis-ease.
It is precisely this kind of information that is deviod in the healing of today. And why should it be there anyway, since there is no double blind study devoted to demonstrate this simple concept? And how easy would it be to prove? Yet energetically it is tantamount to good health. And provides a solid foundation for good nutrition.
Yet we don't talk about this in contemporary nutritional circles because there is no matter science proof and it's not high tech. Digestive fire-what a silly concept to use in high tech medicine. Right?
So that's where we are right now. Do we have to be here?
No, I believe we as consumers can create a different direction with respect to our lifestyle behavioral choices. It begins with us.
Hang what the nutritional "experts" say. Find out for yourself!
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Seafood and Freshwater Fish
Freshwater fish will pacify everyone's physiology and promote energetic balance because the meat has not lived in salt water all its life Now shrimp is an exception to the saltwater rule but what if there were freshwater prawns Wow that would be hitting a home run! All of us could benefit from this novel animal food since freshwater fish can be used by everyone regardless of their energy pattern
A patient of mine told me about freshwater prawns that are farmed here locally. "What a great idea!", I said Then I began thinking of possible problems They'll probably have a weird taste "No", my patient explained, "they taste even better than the saltwater prawns." They're probably hard to find, I thought. "And they are locally available just off Lake street" My mindbody began searching for other possible reasons but having no more objections, I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to try them
The next day I found myself ambitiously getting ready for my sojourn to the store to try this new found possible taste thrill "Maybe I won't have enough time," I thought to myself Nonsense, just go get them and if I don't like them, my daughter will eat them
So I get the prawns and they're delicious! And now I noticed the same process that my mindbody goes through when confronted with something new There is hesitancy about what might happen if I do something out of the ordinary Something that's not in my realm of comfort. I'll have the saltwater prawns, thanks very much
What gives? Why do I get so resistant to trying something new? I think the simple answer is the fear of the unknown The uncertainty of predicting what lies ahead prevents us from moving off center and doing something different For some the acceptance of change may be easy, for others it may be more difficult And for all of us, there will be guaranteed issues that we balk at and say to ourselves, not today
Freshwater prawns may be easy but perhaps changing our whole nutritional pattern may be something else But the key to any change is realizing the fear and stepping through it Everyone has their pet ways of resisting change Predominant Vata people run away from fear, Pitta criticizes and becomes judgmental, justifying their resistance by talking themselves out of whatever they're fearing to change And Kapha simply resists by inertia-just not going to do it. A sense of complacency becomes overwhelming
Knowing this resistance to the uncertainty and realizing that we will always express our resistance is unique ways allows us to watch ourselves in the midst of our resistance and perhaps walk through it But if not, it's OK There will always be another day
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The Heavy Feeling and Toxicity
Have we ever felt physically heavy, sluggish, and just not wanting to move? And that's the groundstate for depression, isn't it? Because depression actually means to not move. Our mindbody energy has slowed down. When these qualities are felt they indicate either a buildup of the Kapha energy pattern or toxicity or both.
Energy that doesn't flow in the mindbody becomes like stagnant 
pools of water in a mountain stream or lake. The mobility of water is almost imperceptible. With less and less flow through the pool life begins to spawn. Small fish find a home, vegetative growth becomes obvious, and the quality of slow/dull overcomes the vibrational frequency of sharp/penetrating. The static quality has become more dominant over the mobile quality. And the pools of water become have less clarity and become cloudy because of the growth. So stagnant(static) energy in the mindbody promotes growth of debris.
"OK, so my mindbody energy flow is like a mountain stream. I can relate intellectually, but what is that like experientially? What does it feel like to have the mobile quality?"
In the realm of biological energy it's all about feeling. We feel slow/dull. We know our energy mindbody has become relatively reduced in mobility.
So mobility is sensed when we feel tingling in mindbody parts such as the extremities and we feel bright, "energized", and alive. Have we ever felt like that after a vigorous massage? The mindbody feels crisp and alert. Ask someone to give you a brisk massage and see if you can sense it.
As healing occurs stagnant pools of energy in the mindbody that have gone into a deep Rip VanWinkle sleep over literally years become awakened and alive again. To have mobility energetically is to be alive, rejuvenated, and participate.
Here's the deal. We can never know mobility unless we know static. So be grateful for those slow/dull times so you can feel the exhiliration of mobile and sharp/penetrating. But become addicted to neither. It's about balance. To good health DrBill
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