POWER OF HEALING –THROUGH THE MIND

Winter was quite chilly in Delhi and to keep himself warm, a middle aged man obese man had a swig of Old Monk rum. He felt warmer and chewed a piece of chicken with great relish. But soon, he started perspiring and feeling nauseous. His facial muscles twitched and he felt a real thud in his chest region.

The anxious home maker rushed to the neighbours seeking help. The anxious neighbours called for an ambulance and rang up the doctor. It was a state of emergency.  Visiting the neighbours was an Art of Living Teacher, who immediately rushed to the aid of the patient.

He advised the patient to adopt a posture called the ‘Sanjivini’ Mudra and take deep breaths. Sanjivini Mudra , entails fixing the index finger on the base of the thumb and middle and ring finger touch the thumb , while the little finger is spread apart. And while adopting the’ Mudra’ the individual needs to take deep ‘Ujjayi’ ( victory) breaths.  While inhaling Ujjayi breaths an individual feels the stimulation in the throat region. This duration of the breath increases and becomes finer too.

The patient afflicted with the heart attack surrendered  to his saviour and continued with this breathing technique, till he was hospitalised.

The ECG did not reveal any great damage to the heart and the medical team  grudgingly accepted  the intrinsic and therapeutic values of ‘Sanjivini Mudra’.

Along with the breath, the mind was relaxed during those tense moments as the patient was wheeled into the ICU.

On recovery from myocardia infraction the middle aged person undertook courses of the Art of Living and learned the unique breathing technique of Sudarshan Kriya, which detoxified his system and craving for drinking and helped him to stage both physical and mental recovery.

‘Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes a matter of great opportunity ‘said Hippocrates.

This window of opportunity is provided by the human mind. If we feel that we are sick and chronically ill, then healing process gets thwarted and impaired.

Mind plays a pivotal role in healing process of an individual.  When we get up every morning, we should take a few deep breaths and feel grateful, blessed and abundant to whatever has been provided by the nature , our Universe. This augurs well for the body and the mind.

It would be a worthwhile exercise to scan the body and check our levels of freshness, are we suffering from any stiffness or soreness, headache etc to maximise the vitality of system.

Mind remains  an enigma , with reservoir of potential which we fail to tap. If exploited to optimum level , it can help in destroying  cariogenic cells , eliminating toxins, combating infections, fighting foreign bodies and enhancing self –repair mechanism.  The placebo effect of human mind plays a major role in recovery of a patient.

Mind has also been called an amygdala which may harbour negative thoughts, wrong beliefs such as financial woes, relationship problems, work stress, general pessimism and feelings of threat. These attributes act as a roadblock from attaining good health.

Stress at work place often results in various illnesses. A woman suffered from what is called Paroxysmal Atrial Tachycardia ( PAT). In such a condition, the heart beats with great rapidity and the patient suffers from excessive sweating and perforce needs to be hospitalised till the condition normalises.  The lady surrendered to the will of Lord , while reciting a deep and sincere prayer. ‘Ask and it shall be given you; and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you.’- MATT7:7

Later in life, when her son turned an alcoholic, she once again developed  a similar heart condition. She had to steel herself and become mentally adept and strong to undertake courses in Vipassana , Art of Living Courses , Siddha and Pranic healing. These courses had an immense therapeutic impact on the mind and body which enabled her to recover both physically and mentally. An Art of Living teacher taught her Mudra Pranayamas , which have helped to fortify her system.

Breath and mind have deep relationship. By just observing the breath, toxins are purged from the system and there is great mental clarity to view life in its totality.

Meditation and breathing techniques like Nadi Shodhan Pranayama ( alternate nostril breathing), Sudarshan Kriya ,  Mudra Pranayama act as shields to ward off illnesses. These processes clear the mind of several cobwebs is an individual thought process is positive.

A power of discrimination dawns on the individual and he/she can focus on what the body really needs, the quantum of exercise to performed, exact intake of food which is required, the amount of medication required, whether the job or living conditions are irksome and if any changes are required to be made and take necessary steps in that direction.

There is a chilling story of an alcoholic , who met with nine near fatal accidents. He lost his memory for a period of time. He attributes his recovery to the Alcoholic Anonymous.

In order to quit Bacchus he used to go on the 41 day Ayyapa pilgrimage which of course was a temporary measure as on completion of the pilgrimage he hit the bottle.

The mind was fixated with the bottle and he could not conquer those baser instincts. As the noted singer Bob Marley sang.’ Herb is the healing of the nation; alcohol is the destruction.’

Finally, the battle against the bottle was won in the mind after a spiritual awakening that there is a superior power which governs our lives. Surrender to the superior power and accepting the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous enabled the individual to regain sobriety.

An architect imagines a building and conceives a blue print and designs a beautiful home. Similarly a dancer or a painter through their mental imagery visualise a piece of art which appeals to the eye of the cynosure. Soulful singers conjure melody and symphony which strike right notes and chords in our hearts and we are transported to an ethereal world. All this creation is the magic of the mind.

Similarly the middle aged man( who suffered the heart attack), the woman a long time sufferer of PAT and the alcoholic surrendered  their physical and mental  unwelcome situations to a superior power and adopted various techniques and strategies of self-healing.

But the success of the therapies lies in the orientation of the mind. The mind has to be necessarily a YES MIND believing that success is guaranteed and their lives would be transformed with the power of mind injecting positive affirmations such as ‘ I am transformed’, ‘ I am healed’ and ‘ I am feeling wonderful’. This auto suggestion mechanism of human mind begets positivity all around.