In his book, Radical Healing, Dr. Rudolph Ballentine suggests that people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis try wearing a copper bangle. Of course, this is not meant to substitute for correct medical treatment when appropriate, but it dials us in to this idea that in yoga therapy, the more subtle is the more powerful. In my personal experience, I have found that there is a subtle way in which the body’s biomagnetic field interacts with metals placed on the skin. I found a cheap copper bangle with small magnets in it at my local hippie jewelry store!
Dr. Ballentine has several other suggestions to support people experiencing rheumatoid arthritis: such as taking a copper oral dietary supplement, herbs, homeopathy, vitamin C, digestive enzymes, and dealing with feelings of being held prisoner. If you want to understand the basis for my multifaceted work, Radical Healing is the first book to buy. It deals with hundreds of ailments from the perspectives of dozens of world healing modalities.
In his book, Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda says that his Guru, Shri Yukteshwar, recommends a bangle of equal parts copper, silver, and gold wire, twisted together, to symbolize three of the primary energy currents in the human body. This is an expensive piece of jewelry, and I hate to think of a Vedic jeweler taking advantage of anyone. This bangle is for general purposes of a prosperous householder well established in yoga meditation. Having a Vedic astrologer read your charts and then purchasing a piece that is less expensive but tailored to your constitution, make up, circumstances, and time of life can be equally, if not more, powerful. Gemstones can be fun too. I like Lapis. More on that later.
Kriya means action. In the Kriya Yoga of Paramahansa Yogananda’s followers, the Self Realization Fellowship, I think the entry level kriyas have a lot to do with keeping open the third eye. But this is hidden some degree of secrecy, not to make it elite, but because it is special. It has to be taught by an expert. According to the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the philosophical treatise used by many modern yoga teachers to define yoga, the yoga of action is a combination of discipline, study of self and scripture, and surrender to the divine.
Swami Rama taught Agni Sara Kriya. This is the main kriya that we use in SpandaⓇ yoga therapy. “Agni Sara Kriya” means the action that energizes the sun in the body. There are many versions of Agni Sara, but the idea is that it strengthens the fire in the body, the energy of cellular metabolism. This materialist boon is not the end goal of the yogic kriya. The transformative power of spiritual fire is the true yogic kriya. In SpandaⓇ yoga therapy, “kriya” also means spontaneous movements or body impulses that come up during moving meditations, such as a dance or a flowy asana practice.
Yogi Bhajan taught many many kriyas. Some of them, such as breath of fire, Sat Kriya, and Sodarshan Chakra Kriya, are very similar in their action to Agni Sara Kriya. Swami Satyananda Saraswati of the Bihar school of yoga says that if you just work on your kriyas every day you don’t need to bother about the mind. No on can tell you “think this” or “don’t think that.” The main thing that I want you to grasp about kriya is that it means the movement action. It means you did something. You didn’t just sit around waiting for your life to get better.
I hope you enjoyed.
Blessings,
Jamie
Comments