I consider myself fortunate to be associated with one of the most fabulous yoga gurus of our times. I have had the opportunity of meeting various yoga exponents and masters, but the lady I am talking about will simply take your breath away. That, perhaps, is the reason why I do my Pranayama routine every time I have a session with her (to get my breath back, of course!).

Ashiya Sumiyoshi is an amazing yoga exponent. At the age of 76 years she is doing things a 25-year old cannot even dream of. Her understanding of yoga is impeccable and her performance astounding.

Ashiya is from the old school of yoga and learnt the intricacies of this art form from the country of its origin – India. She started learning yoga in the year 1967 under the tutelage of the then renowned Yoga Master, Swami Dhirendra Brahmachari at his Vishwa Yattan Ashram in New Delhi. Ashiya was among his foremost students, and later along with the Swami imparted yoga lessons to the then Prime Minister of India, Mrs.Indira Gandhi.

Ashiya Sumiyoshi is a widely traveled lady and finds diluting of the established yoga techniques, to feed the fad, a disturbing trend. According to her, Yoga, developed by the Master Yogis of yore, can only help mankind of its physical and mental maladies in its purest form. She cannot be wrong with a 39-year experience backup. Ashiya’s routines consist of what she terms “the most powerful stretch-yoga techniques”. You can see from her pictures how effortlessly elastic and flexible she is at an age where people barely manage their daily routines. And, she very humbly credits her state of the body and mind to the great science of her yoga. Greed, according to her, is the root cause of our maladies. The philosophy of yoga guides the practitioner away from greed and leads him to light that makes life a beautiful experience.

Ashiya has held many yoga workshops and programs worldwide during her visits to various countries. She has been, in her own little ways, instrumental in introducing yoga to the world during her younger days.  She dreams of a world free of health problems through Yoga. May her dreams and efforts help bring good health and inner harmony to all.

She still holds private classes in Hong Kong, where she is residing at present. Ashiya can be contacted at +852-98131806.
 

I have dealt with the energy body and the chakras in my earlier blog post titled “How Does the Energy Body Work?” (6th July 2006). Chakras are energy centers that whirl continuously and alternately in the clockwise and anti-clockwise directions. Their job is to absorb energies from the surroundings and expel the used up energies.

Yoga recognizes seven major chakras that control and supply energies to all the organs of the body. Each chakra is connected with a network of energy channels (nadis) that route the energies to the organs controlled by that particular chakra. According to ancient masters and yogis a disease first enters the energy body before manifesting in the physical body. Remember, they were great clairvoyants and could observe how disease entered into the physical body. Great healers that they were, the clairvoyant yogis and masters would remove the diseased energy from the energy body before it could manifest into the physical body. 

Certain energy healing systems, such as pranic healing, are very effective in keeping the chakras and energy body clean. It is so obvious that a clean energy body and chakras will ensure a constant supply of healthy energies to the physical body.

[Above: Ashiya Sumiyoshi - All grace and elegance]

Diseased energies create blockages in the energy channels, which reduces the flow of energy and in certain cases cuts off the flow completely. The related physical organ is thus deprived of energies and, resultantly, first it starts to mal function then falls sick.

Thus, it is important to keep the energy body healthy. Physical exercise is one effective way to keep the chakras activated. Activated chakras will absorb sufficient amount of energies and expel the used-up energies completely. If you do not keep your physical body active, your chakras are likely to remain in a de-activated state, which will result in insufficient quantities of energy absorbed, and incomplete expulsion of the used-up energy from the energy channels. The used-up energies keep piling up and create blockages in the channels resulting in weak and sick organs.

So, keep your energy body healthy by doing a lot of physical exercise and meditation.

In my previous blog - How Do the Physical Body and Energy Body Coordinate? – I had mentioned that energy is required to create cells in the body. Millions of cells die and about the same numbers are produced to replace them. The entire process requires a lot of energy.

I had also mentioned that new cells are produced to heal a cut and close the split skin. Let us assume that it takes 1000 units of energy (whatever that means!) to produce the amount of cells required to heal a cut. And, it takes three days for the new skin to emerge. Now theoretically, if we increase the energy input to 2000 units, the healing should take half the time i.e. a day and a half. The body works at its own pace and distributes energies for its day-to-day functioning. Say if a wound occurs on the skin, it has to divert additional energies to heal it, depriving some other area or areas of its regular dose of energy. I am assuming this scenario, in case the body has a fixed amount of energy available with it.

The fact is that the body constantly absorbs energies from the surroundings through the chakras. So, it is constantly absorbing energies from the surroundings and releasing used-up energy. What energy-healing systems do is enhance the levels of energy by providing more energy to the body. With more energy available to the body, certain organs that are deprived of energies start reviving because more energy is directed towards them.

The above process might appear simple, but there is more to it. However, my idea is to introduce you to a few thousand years old knowledge on how energies heal the physical body. More the energies, quicker the healing.

Other systems work the external muscles and body-parts, whereas yoga  exercises the internal organs by stimulating and energizing them. 

[Left: Ashiya Sumiyoshi is an amazing yoga exponent. At the age of 76 years she is doing things a 25-year old cannot even dream of. Her understanding of Yoga is impeccable and her performance astounding.]

• Yoga has a greater influence on the mind and other subtle energies and promotes both physical and mental health of the practitioner.
• The capacity of the lungs undergoes great increase and the lungs are used to their fullest capacity through the practice of yog-asanas and pranayama. This helps in increased activity of blood purification and improved blood circulation.
• Yog-asanas keep the spinal column flexible. A flexible spine is the sign of youth, good health and longevity.
• Yoga is an inexpensive form of exercise. All the practitioner needs is open air, loose clothing and a mat to sit on.
• Yog-asanas stimulate the different glands of the body. Healthy glands produce secretions in the required proportion, which is so necessary for the body to function properly.
• Yoga practitioners achieve peace of mind and inner harmony.
• Yoga promotes the moral way of life.
• Age is no restriction for the aspirant of yoga.

It might take a little time to comprehend how both the physical and energy bodies function as a team. I have made an effort to put the process in simple and in minimum words. The physical body exists in the physical plane, while the energy body is from a different dimension of existence. Besides physical existence, life exists in various other forms. The energy body is part of the energy dimension. For instance, living beings that we refer as spirits live in a plane diverse from the physical dimension.

Nature’s law appears to have put a system in place that does not allow beings of one dimension to trespass to another, though accidental trespassing may occur. Hallucinations caused by drugs are, in fact, an act of trespassing of human consciousness into another dimension of existence. Science may term the experience as hallucination, but the fact is that the experience is “real” - an interaction with the beings of some other world of existence. Now, that is another long story. Let us revert to our original discussion on how the physical body and energy body coordinate despite existing on two separate planes.

Suppose you have a cut on your hand and the skin splits open. The body produces new cells to form new skin to close the split. How do new cells form? Well, they need strong doses of energy to come into existence.  Now, where does the energy come from? From the energy body, of course. At a very deep level, and at a particular point, energy manifests into matter. At this point, both physical and energy dimensions meet and the energy changes into matter. This is happening all the time. Thus, in brief this is how energies that the chakras receive manifest into the physical. 

We know how the physical body works. But, many participants, who attend my workshops, show keen interest in knowing how the energy body works. According to yoga, the energy body (sukshama sharira) contains seven major chakras (pronounced as chuck + raas). The chakras are energy centers that absorb fresh energy from the surroundings and expel used up energy from the body. Constantly rotating in the clockwise and anti-clockwise directions alternately, the chakra absorbs fresh energy in the clockwise motion and expels used up energy in the anti-clockwise motion.

You could correlate this action to the breathing process. Every inhalation leads to drawing of fresh air (oxygen), while an exhalation causes the release of used up air (carbon dioxide). Each chakra controls and energizes different sets of organs. Did you know that the energy body has a large network of energy channels, called nadis (pronounced as naa +rheez), akin to the blood vessels in the body that carry oxygen to all parts of the body? These nadis carry fresh energy to different organs of the body and take back the used up energy to be expelled through the chakras. Nadis are said to be the energy counterpart of blood vessels.

You must be wondering how this knowledge was ever made known to man, since the entire process works on an invisible plane. In ancient India, sages and saints had a highly developed sense of clairvoyance. They were trained to see the aura and energy body, and study how it functioned. It is similar to your seeing the aura, though on a highly advanced level. Clairvoyance ability, at a basic level, comes naturally to every human being, which can be further developed through meditation.

So, we too can develop our clairvoyant faculty, provided we make a conscious effort to develop it, and try to see how the energy body works.

People are fascinated by the aura. When I do my lectures on the aura they just sit there in disbelief, not knowing whether to trust me. Believe me when I say that the aura exists. It is a dynamic body that extends and retreats constantly like a mass of fluid. Watching the aura in motion is a one-of-a-kind experience. Did I say, “Watching the aura”? Yes, I did.

We certainly can see the aura with the naked eye, without the help of any instrument or external tool. I train people how to use their natural faculties - the eyes - to see the aura. And, I love to watch their reaction when they see a human aura in fluid motion. Their smiles say it all. They never knew that they had been carrying such a dynamic force with them. The animation, used here for demonstration purpose, just cannot do justice to the real thing.
The Aura is a mass of energy that surrounds the physical body like an envelope. It follows the contours of the physical body extending beyond it. Did you know that the existence of the aura was known to the Indian saints and yogis thousands of years back? Moreover, they had deep insight into the functioning of the aura and the role that it plays in sustaining the physical body. Yes, the aura, also known as the energy body, provides the physical body with vital energies for its sustenance and maintenance. Most ancient civilizations recognized the existence of the aura. The Chinese call it “Chi”, the Japanese – “Ki”, the Indians – “Prana”, and the Arabs – “Ruah”.
Science too has recognized the existence of the aura, thanks to Dr. Kirlian, who invented Kirlian photography. The device that he invented captures the aura in all its pristine colors.

This is one question that I have been asked on many occasions. The answer I would say is simple yet complicated. The simple explanation is that meditation provides us with peace of mind, and helps us do away with stress.  

The Inner Explanation
Our body not only constitutes of the physical parts clearly visible to the eyes, but also the invisible portion known as the energy body. Meditation has a direct affect on the energy body, which then manifests in the physical body. The energy body is better known as the aura that surrounds our physical body like an envelope and penetrates it as well. The aura has scientifically been termed as an electromagnetic field around our body.
It has been noted that when we meditate, the aura or energy body expands in size. (We can measure the size of our aura!) In other words, our energy body is strengthened as more energies flow in. The inner feeling of peace and freedom from stress is due to the strengthening of the aura. It has been seen that the feeling of irritability, anger, frustration, and listlessness, normally associated with stress, is due to a weak aura. Stressful people have weak auras. The lack of energies gives rise to these symptoms. As meditation builds your energy reserves stress starts to disappear. 

So, we need to meditate to build a strong energy body, not only to keep us stress-free, but also physically healthy.  

4th of July is a very special day for Americans. A day to feel proud of, a day to remember those brave-hearts who sacrificed their all for future generations to live in freedom. We couldn’t have chosen a better day to salute those heroes, and try to live their dream of freedom – in this case, from ill health.
We chose this day to launch our blogsite with the sole aim to promote good health. Nature has provided various means for man to remain healthy. Yoga, pranayama, tai chi, energy healing, acupressure, and many such practices have been practiced for a few thousand years; and they have survived for the simple fact that they are effective. Yes, many will agree that this is an understatement. What else can one say for such proven healing systems that have withstood the test of time (a few milleniums)? 

We invite all you fitness and health enthusiasts to share your thoughts and experiences, and further enlighten the world through your writings. You do not have to be a professional writer to participate in our noble endeavor.

Let us all carry forward the torch and help people looking for succor and peace.

Good Luck and Good Health to you all.

The Healing Guru Team