Mapping the Energy Body
Spanda is the movement and pulsation of the entire universe. This pulsation of life on earth into form is energy; yogis call this energy Prana – the very essence and heartbeat of all life. If we took away food from our life we could exist for weeks, if we took away water, we could still exist for days, if we took away oxygen we could last for minutes but if we took away Prana we simply just wouldn’t live. Nothing would live; Prana is the electrical current to everything in our life.
Prana exists everywhere, even in the densest of inanimate objects, such as a table will have a low-level vibration of Prana to its makeup.
The extraordinariness of being human provides us with the incredible and unique ability to increase and decrease the vibratory level of Prana and pranic flow within the energy body. The strengths and weaknesses of the vibratory field correspond directly to our own physical, mental, emotional and spiritual input over our lifespan. When Prana isn’t flowing well, the frequency is dull and will clearly correspond to an element of our being. The vibration of our energy body is directly affected by all that we are surrounded by in both our past, present and future projected situations. What we eat, think, who we spend our time with, what our childhood was like and so on will have a direct impact on the flow and vibration of Prana within.
One of the primary intentions of Hatha Yoga is to purify, strengthen and increase the vibration and flow within the energy body. The yogic practices of asana, breath, relaxation and sound to name a few, tap into the energetic field and help to raise and shift the flow to address any imbalances, so the energy can sing and dance at a stronger frequency.
This electrical current – the life force is plugged into the hundred trillion cells that make us up as a human being, creating a mass of shinning, vibrating atoms, cells, channels and vortexes. This energetic activity – Prana moves through the energy body via a vast network of channels called Nadis through the yogic lens, meridians through the Chinese lens of the energy body.
The History of the Energy Body through the Yogic Lens
The idea of Chakras and Nadis first appeared in the earliest Upanishads (7th – 8th century b.c.e). The heart for example was said to be the centre of the 72,000 Nadis. The concept was developed in the later Upanishads – from 2nd century b.c.e to the 2nd century c.e. and later – and in the nascent Yoga and Tantric schools. According to the Tantras there are 72,000 or more of these Nadi channels, 108 chakras and dormant to be awakened Kundalini energy.
Yoga and Tantra propose that this Kundalini energy can be “awakened” by a Guru, but the body and spirit must be prepared by yogic austerities such as Pranayama, or breath control, physical exercises, visualization, and chanting. It rises from Muladhara chakra at the base of the spine up the main Nadi channel called Sushumna, and from there to top of the head merging with the Sahasrara, or crown chakra.
Book now for the Masterclass with Katy Appleton on 23rd March 2019