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What is
'Prana'?
Prana is a Sanskrit
word that literally means 'before (pra) + breathe (an)'.
In sanskrit and hindi, the words for breath, wind,
life-breath, life-essence are same. Prana is both the
physical breath and the subtle life energy of the body.
In different cultures this is referred by different
names: Chi(Qi), Barak, Mana, Logos, Energy, etc.
The living force within all
creature is the 'consciousness', however, this consciousness
is unconscious of the complex and dynamic physiological
and psychological process which result from 'consciousness'
and mind dwelling in a physical body. Most of these
processes continue without any conscious input at all.
There is, for example, a gap in consciousness between
mental intention to walk, and actually walking. The
individual consciousness is quite unconscious of the
complex nervous, muscular, chemical, electrical, and may
other biological processes that are involved in 'simply'
walking. All the intermediate process between the
conscious decision to walk and walking itself are unconscious.
Even the brain function associated with original
intention happen automatically and unconsciously. All
this is due to the presence of the life essence, prana,
controlling and activating all bodily processes. Prana
is directed by the mind, and the mind is activated by
consciousness. In other words, the consciousness or
Dweller in the body, functions through mind energy.
Prana unites or links the mind to the form or body so
that it can function in it. Mind then utilizes
this form and functions through the senses, and gains
satisfaction, experience and learning through pleasure
and pain.
In physical aspect,
prana is also responsible for the forces that science
calls gravity and electromagnetism. These two
force-fields are effects or physical manifestation of
the implicit order supported by prana. In fact,
according to Vedic philosophy, the physical universe is
really changing patterns in space, and that
creation manifests into being through the movement in
the stillness that is eternally existent.
In subtle body, five
key pranas are identified (that govern the major
physiological and psychological functions): prana, apana,
samana, udana and vyana.
Siva Samhita explains:
In heart, there is a
brilliant lotus with twelve petals adorned with
brilliant markings. It has the (Sanskrit) letters ka
to tha, the twelve, beautiful letters.
The prana live here,
adorned with various desires, accompanied
by its past works that have no beginning, and joined
with ahankra (ego).
From the different
modification of prana, it receives various names. The
seat of the prana is the heart; of the apana, the
anus; of the samana, the region about the navel; of
the udana, the throat; while the vyana move throughout
the body.
Prana is thus the
intelligence or cause lying behind the tremendous order
and organization of all body functions, as well as the
universe at large. It is not visible to the physical
sense organs, and thus can be describes as a subtle form
of energy.
Pranik Craniosacral
Pranik Craniosacral Therapy is an integration of traditional holistic healing systems which focus on
harmonizing the movement of Pranas in the body. It
includes Ayurvedic, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Craniosacral
Therapy.
Holistic
Healing
Holistic Healing refers to a alternate healthcare
movement which considers health as a dynamic and unified state of the human
being. It is based on the principle that symptoms of a
disease may be found
in certain tissues or organs however, the health and wellness is not a mere
removal of such symptoms by the treatment of the
affected tissues or organs, but a wholeness of
multidimensional experience. The body, mind, spirit and environment are in a
state of continuous interactive balance and the maintenance of this
balance in an optimum state is the definition of 'health'. Sushruta, an Ayurvedic authority who lived 4,000 years ago, defined a healthy person as "He
(who is) in balance, whose digestion, assimilation, and metabolism are good, whose tissues and wastes are created properly, and whose self, mind, and senses remain full of bliss."
It is
a sense of unified well-being as opposed to dis-ease.
Holistic health does not reject the orthodox system of
western medicine but complements it. In the case of infectious diseases,
nutritional and hormonal deficiencies and bodily defects
which need surgical intervention, it follows the western
system. Psychosomatic dis-eases such as stress, hypertension,
peptic ulcer, allergic asthma, rheumatoid arthritis,
irritable bowel syndrome, etc., can be helped by
holistic health practices. Holistic health provides a
way of life which prevents the recurrence of some of
these ailments.
Holistic health practices gives the responsibility of
health in the hands of patient because that is
where the awareness and control of the key aspects
(diet, stress, exercise, action, emotion and medication)
reside. The one
person who knows about the patient more than anybody
else is the patient himself.
In the Holistic Model, the cause of any disease is
understood in terms of the whole person and not in terms
of a particular organ or tissue. Plato
remarked that "the treatment of the parts should not be
attempted without treatment of the whole". Most of
the holistic health practices are based on the model of
unified life, i.e. unified body, mind, spirit and environment.
Unified-life Views: unifying body, mind, spirit and
environment
Unified life is the aim of Vedic philosophy. The Seers believed in the fullness of life (materialism and
spirituality). They realized the unity of life before the
unity of consciousness. The complete physical awareness
is as important as spiritual awareness. In other words, we have to become
self-aware before we can develop the cosmic awareness
within us. It is resonates more closely with modern New
Age view where material awareness is perceived equally important
as spiritual awareness.
A more broader view of unified life was developed by Tantras
which arose between the 6th and 9th centuries AD. The
reality is perceived as the manifestations of Chit-Shakti
or Conscious-Mind-Force. Matter, Mind and Self are all
regarded as manifestations of this universal field which
is personified as the Divine Goddess or Adi-Maya. All activities are
carried on by the Conscious-Mind-Force (universe is
the playful dance of Conscious-Mind-Force) and all we
have to do is to open ourselves to this divine power through
self-awareness for the cosmic prana or universal
life-force to flow-in.
The universe displays
the beauty of Thy Comeliness!
The goal is Thy Beauty - all else is pretext. -- Rumi.
A far more encompassing
unified view of life is developed by mysticism. Mysticism
regards that our consciousness is a tiny wave of supreme
consciousness and all the creation is created and sustained
by the 'Creative Will' (or Word) of the Supreme
Consciousness.
Prana is essentially the diffused power of the Word, the
presence of 'Creative Will' in everything, which holds
all the matter and energies together. In this model
everything perceived by our mind and senses is
considered as veils. Only consciousness is real. Rumi
says:
Man is a mighty
volume; within him all things are written,
but veils and darkness do not allow him
to read that knowledge within himself.
The veils and darkness are these various
preoccupations
and diverse worldly plans and desires of every kind.
In all unified-life views the dis-ease is caused by the
blocakges in the flow of pranas within
the individual or between the individual and the cosmos. These obstructions are caused by Samskaras,
psychic memories or residual traces of our past actions
and experiences. Samskaras are of two kinds, those which
only produce memories (smriti) of past experiences and
those which produce impulses or drives to repeat these
experiences (vasanas). These two are interlinked to form
complex patterns of love, hate, fear, doubt, anger, pride,
lust, attachment, greed etc. It is these
patterns that obstruct the free flow of pranas in
us.
Most of these patterns are formed from traumatic or unpleasant
experiences. When unpleasant or traumatic experiences
take place, our tendency is to suppress them (using unconscious
fight, flight or freeze mechanisms) instead of accepting
and learning from them. Suppression pushes the energy of psychic memories into the unconscious
mind. The growing person may not be able to recollect
those psychic memories again, but the suppressed samskaras lodged in the
unconscious will manifest as psychological and
psychosomatic disorders or painful experiences and
forces the person to gain the experience and learning.
If the person fails to learn and uses various methods to
blunt the pain and suppress the memory then the nature
will re-manifest the circumstances/experiences until the
learning is complete.
Charaka Samhita,
states "The disturbance of the three doshas are caused
by Prajnaparadha, produced by the distortion of the
intellect, will and memory ". In other words, the root cause of
most of the psychosomatic or constitutional disorders is
Prajnaparadha, the misuse of our intellect and cognitive
faculties.
It is our unbalanced way of living,
out of harmony with natural rhythms, that is the cause
of dis-ease. Health can be restored by enhancing the
self-awareness and promoting the the free flow of prana
that improves the coordination, rhythm and balance in working of the
whole body.
Think of the
soul as the source and created things as springs.
While the source exists, the spring continually flow.
Empty your head of grief and drink from the stream.
Don't think of it failing -- This water is endless.
-Rumi.
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