Yoga Philosophy
Kundalini is the kinaesthetic energy that is created when prana circles around the body. It moves through the 7 chakras. The sahasrara chakra is the crown chakra and it is located at the crown of the head. It corresponds biologically with the pineal gland, which is located in the hypothalamus at the base of the brain. This chakra is associated with cosmic consciousness, enlightenment and understanding. The hypothalamus in the brain is responsible for many activities such as energy maintenance, memorising, stress control, body temperature and it is directly connected to the pituitary gland which corresponds to Ajna Chakra, the third eye. I have been meditating for about a year now and in the last few months I had noticed that I started to feel pressure in between my eyebrows when I was meditating. From learning and researching more about the chakras and their correspondents to the glands in our body, I realised that this was the Ajna chakra, pituitary gland that I was feeling. I learned that this may be because my third eye was starting to open, that I was possibly starting to ‘see’. After learning this, I started to focus my attention on my third eye and noticed that the feeling of pressure expanded. Learning about the other chakras, like the sahasrara and its connection to the pineal gland, I was then able to focus my meditation on more than one chakra at a time. As we learned in class if you focus your meditation on a chakra then it will become stronger. It may sound completely crazy but I was able to focus my attention on both my Ajna and Sahasrara chakra, and even felt the connection between them within my own head. Something miraculous happened after a while and I believe I entered a very brief period of deep trance. Trance experiences happen when I meditate, however this brief moment was a much deeper state of trance than I had ever felt before.
Within the time in the classroom, I also learned which of my chakras was possibly at a lower frequency, and this was the Vishuddha chakra, throat chakra. When I had learned this, I knew it to be true, I do sometimes experience difficulty in communicating my truth to others. During my mediation practice, I therefore tried to focus my attention on this chakra so as to hopefully increase its power. Sirsasana is known as the king of all yoga poses as the hypothalamus sends information to the pituitary gland which sends information to the other glands. The headstand activates the pituitary gland and through practicing the headstand repeatedly, I have noticed a difference within my confidence to speak within the class and to express my own personality. Hopefully this means my chakras are balancing! Knowing that teaching requires a good amount of self confidence I also focused my mediation on the Manipura chakra, solar plexus, to increase my self confidence and will. Whenever I have meditated in the past and now, I have always noticed a great, powerful energetic feeling within my chest and heart region, suggesting that my Anahata, heart, chakra is quite strong. Learning about chakras has been one of the most interesting topics I have learned because in a way they are not scientifically proven but from experience, I can feel their energetic vibrations within me and their correspondence to the endocrine system, and how they make me feel. Another theory that I had, which I am not completely sure is correct, is that I have always had flexible or open hip joints and used to do ballet for many years of my life, which includes a lot of hip opening postures. I feel as though my Muladhara chakra is open, or at a reasonable frequency, as I feel like I have always known my path or have always felt a strong magnetic pull towards the topic of psychology in my life. Whether I have deviated my interest from the grounded topic of psychology into for example music or meditations, it has always come from a place of interest within psychology.
On another topic, learning about the foods of the 3 gunas and pranic and apranic foods have made me more conscious about what I eat. A bit more than a year ago I stopped eating meat, however I have recently started eating meat again as I have come back to Singapore on holiday and really enjoy singaporean dishes, and I find them so hard to resist! However, since eating tamasic food again, I have noticed my body transform into states of tiredness very easily, as this type of food creates inertia and therefore is considered lethargic. The negative pranic foods include garlic, onion, chilli peppers, eggplant, vinegar, cacao, cocoa, coffee, tea, alcohol and tobacco. When I first started this class, I would come back home and roast some vegetables including eggplant, onion, and garlic. However since learning of these negative impacts to prana (life force) within the body, I attempted to stop eating them to see if there would be a change in my state of consciousness. Negative pranic food leads to a duller and less refined state of consciousness, aka its harmful to the mind and body. It can cause stress to any physical organs. So far I have cut out all of the apranic foods on that list, except for coffee (my guilty pleasure!). Since cutting these foods out about a week ago, I have noticed a very big difference in my overall mental state. Although I am not 100% sure if this has been due to my increasing amount of mediation, or because I feel very comfortable being in the class with all of the people in it, I feel very positive everyday about each session, and notice that I am able to apply deeper states of consciousness when practicing the postures.
