For those of you who practise yoga, you will know that pranayama is a powerful, focused breathing technique used to direct the energy flow of the subtle body to promote healing, vitality, and spiritual self-realisation. It is one of the more esoteric practices of self-development. In the book Infinite Mind: Science of the Human Vibrations of Consciousness, Dr. Valerie Hunt details a study she conducted at UCLA labs which involved directing the flow of energy within the subtle body. She found that people who lacked vitality, felt ungrounded, or suffered from a hypo- or deficiency disease were often missing a certain frequency of energy associated with the ‘red’ frequency band of the root chakra and the Earth. She was then able to bring these people back to health by introducing the missing frequency with visualisation, breathing, and the laying on of hands.
Ungrounded states, where we do not feel fully in our body, lack physical vitality, and may experience cold hands and feet, represent an imbalance in our energy spectrum. Specifically, we will have low energies in the root chakra and may not be drawing enough energy from the Earth. This is often connected with dissociation or numbing out. Weakness, fatigue, depression, and a general under-functioning of the body may be an indication that the body has insufficient subtle energy in this ‘red’ frequency band.
According to Dr. Valerie Hunt, in cases of bodily degeneration, regeneration may only occur if the body’s subtle energy field is activated in the ‘red’ frequency range.
Using Pranayama for Grounding and Vitality
While pranayama is often taken out of its original context and thought of as just breath-work, it is actually all about energy attunement, energy breathing, and energy direction. What we need to attune to in cases of ungroundedness and under-functioning of the body is the ‘red’ or physical band of energy in the energy spectrum. We will then use our intention to draw this missing frequency into our body’s subtle energy field.
The Practice
Find a place where you will not be disturbed and adopt either a seated or standing position, preferably with the soles of your feet on the ground. Barefoot in nature is ideal. If you are standing, balance your weight evenly on both feet and feel them pressing into the ground that supports you as you feel the weight of gravity holding you to the Earth.
Set your intention for the practice, which is to become more grounded and vital, and centre yourself by relaxing, turning inward to your inner stillness, and placing your attention on your breath. Spend a few moments following your breath, inhaling through your nose, allowing your breath to expand your lungs, ribcage, and belly before exhaling through your nose.
Continue with the breathing and imagine roots spreading down from the soles of your feet to the centre of the Earth, anchoring you to the Earth.
As you inhale, imagine that you are inhaling red vital energy from the Earth, up your roots, and up through the soles of your feet. Continue to breathe this red energy upward through your legs and into your pelvic floor and the spinning, rich red vortex of your Root Chakra where you sense the energy being absorbed and distributed to your body. Hold your breath for a brief natural pause on the end of the exhale if you wish.
Exhale from the Root Chakra down your legs, through your feet, and down your roots to the centre of the Earth.
Repeat this several times, focusing on how grounded and alive your legs and hips feel with the energy flow. Feel the stimulating effects on your body.
Optional: Now begin a new set of breaths, breathing the red Earth energy even further up your body and its chakras, encompassing your entire body if you desire. You can also breathe into any areas associated with under-functioning, feeling the stimulating effects of the red Earth energy upon them. Exhale back down to the centre of the Earth and repeat for a few cycles of breath.
Practise this technique regularly and feel free to share in the comments below how you get on.
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