Medicines of Yoga of Healing (54)

Ayurveda medicines are all remedies provided by Mother Nature. It is believed that what Nature gives us is the most valuable and at the same time the best medicine for the body and mind. The Energy of Nature is accumulated, among others, in stones and crystals, in various herbs, essences and oils, or in the radiation of places, colours and shapes. Potions or preparations are prepared based on basic ingredients such as spring water, honey, starch or wax. Perhaps the most popular medicinal mixture is a decoction or infusion of herbs suitable for a given ailment. To prepare the infusion, the herbs are heated (without allowing them to boil violently) in an appropriate amount of water until its volume is reduced by two times. The infusion is usually prepared in an amount intended for one dose or for one day. It is easy to calculate that the initial measure of water is twice the dose intended for consumption. Macerate is also used, i.e. an infusion made from cold-infused herbs. This process usually takes several hours. Such medicines are stored in tight containers, often dark or black in colour.

Some herbal recipes may be very simple, containing a mixture of one or two ingredients, others may be more complex and contain up to a hundred ingredients! Spiritual treatment is always comprehensive, and the use of medicines is only one of the components of this treatment and is combined with other methods, such as a proper lifestyle, appropriate diet (vegetarian), calisthenic therapeutic gymnastics and meditation, massages and biotherapies, psychotherapy and the like. Every adept of Health and Longevity Yoga should collect and store recipes for spiritual healing.

The basis of traditional medicine and folk recipes have always been herbs – medicines of plant origin, even such as mosses, seaweed, grasses, vegetables and fruits. Another group are drugs of inorganic (mineral) origin, and yet another are drugs of animal origin, such as ghee (clarified butter), honey, musk or wasp nests. Diet therapy is based on treatment with vegetables, fruits and cereals (seeds, grains). Therapeutic nutrition must be primarily vegetarian, i.e. healthy (vegetarian). The basic principle of treatment through proper nutrition is not to overeat, because overeating is always harmful to everyone. Similar principles, methods, medicines and recipes are found in the teachings of Healing Yoga (Ayurveda) as well as in Persian, Arabic, and even Chinese or Tibetan medicine. These systems are closely related to each other, even strictly associated, based on meditation, gymnastics, massages and pressures, herbalism, and breathing.

Inorganic medicines

Ayurveda attaches great importance to the healing power of fire and water, to which a huge part of ancient knowledge is devoted. In particular, introducing a subtle balance between the elements of water and fire is associated with healing and life extension. The water lotus (six-petalled) and the fire lotus (ten-petaled) are the two basic places where these subtle energies of our psyche are concentrated. Hydrotherapy and fire therapy are two methods of typical Eastern, Ayurvedic origin. Rainwater is used to prepare medicines, various infusions and tinctures. Rainwater, although one of the best medicinal waters, must come from a clean area and usually be boiled for medical use. Dew is administered orally in cases of lung diseases, especially tuberculosis, as ‘gilded water’, that is, dew collected in a golden vessel or in a vessel in which gold was lying. Fresh morning dew is usually collected by shaking the drops into a suitable container. ‘Moon water’, i.e. dew collected on the surface of a mirror on a moonlit night, is considered an effective remedy against many eye diseases. This ‘moonlight’ improves visual acuity and improves eyesight. Sea water is used externally for skin diseases and orally as an emetic. Water salted with sea salt is sometimes used instead of pure sea water. Bathing in pure sea water is a typical method of water treatment for various ailments of the skin, sense of touch and sensation associated with the heart lotus. Hot mineral waters, primarily sulfuric, but also carbonic acid, iodine and ferruginous, have long been used in diseases of the static-motor system, skin, circulatory system and many other ailments. Microelements contained in various spring waters are a treasure trove of Mother Nature’s handy pharmacy.

Fire treatment is used, for example, by gazing at the sun or a candle flame, which effectively eliminates depression, anxiety, despondency and melancholy. It also heals the eyes and improves vision.

In many cases, traditional Eastern medicine uses salts and other mineral compounds. Table salt (unrefined) is used as a stomach medicine and laxative. It should not be abused as a spice. Sulfur compounds are used in rheumatism, disorders of the static-motor system, skin diseases, some febrile diseases, and also as a general strengthening and anti-maggot agent. Substances such as chalk, lime and plaster are also widely used as medicine. In particular, gypsum is used as one of the best disinfectants and antitoxic agents. It is part of many recipes used in poisonings and infections. Red ferric oxide containing ferric oxide is used in a dose of 3-5 grams a day to stop vomiting (including vomiting of pregnant women) and as an antihemorrhagic agent in case of various types of bleeding. Ore containing potassium, manganese and silicon, used in powder form in the amount of 3-6 grams per day, has a bactericidal and generally strengthening effect. It is also used against male sexual impotence and female infertility. Quartz has a similar effect when administered in the amount of 1 gram of powder per day or in the form of a ‘decoction’. Volcanic magma, containing large amounts of sulfur and arsenic, is used to treat skin diseases (scabies) and as an antidote to snake bites. When taken orally in the amount of 1.5-3 grams a day, it is also a good antidysenteric agent.

Spiritual healers, for example, use pearl administered orally as a medicine against weakness, poisoning and bone diseases. Powdered pearls are sprinkled on the tonsils in case of angina, chronic tonsillitis or diphtheria. Great healing values are also attached to diamonds, rubies, emeralds, malachite, corundum, calcite and other stones (minerals). Diamond, for example, called the ‘king of stones’, is considered one of the most valuable medicinal minerals on our earth. It brings the entire human body into balance with its colourful, rainbow-hued radiation. Ayurveda recommends diamond powder for the treatment of leprosy, consumption, schizophrenia, excessive weight loss, diabetes, anaemia, and swelling. This powder is used prophylactically – it prolongs life, strengthens the body, improves the complexion and gives good well-being. It is also used in many brain diseases: including: in brain fever, tumours, pituitary and pineal gland disorders, cerebellar and medulla oblongata diseases. It can also be used to successfully treat patients with strokes, inflammations and disorders of the cerebral hemispheres and meninges. Diamond powder, or more precisely ground diamond (ash) is often the only effective medicine for autism, dyslexia, epilepsy, concentration problems and vision disorders. Diamond is also used for these ailments as a stone to be placed on top of the head, temples or medulla oblongata. This ritual is repeated 4-6 times a day for half a muhurta (24 minutes). You can also rub these places with diamond water, i.e. water in which the diamond has been soaked for at least six hours (better two days). Diamond water compresses are also used in a similar way. Lips are also moistened with diamond water or it is given orally, 3-5 times a day, a teaspoonful to patients whose lives are in serious danger. Diamond water in large doses is sometimes used as a ritual lie detector for criminals. For this reason, people who are permanently hypocritical and dishonest should take diamond medicines very carefully, because they remove the toxin of false conscience in a drastic (traumatic) and even destructive way. The diamond is a symbol of truth, sincerity and honesty (Satya). Diamond has a cleansing effect on the human body, removes all toxins from it, thus improving the functioning of the kidneys, bladder and all endocrine glands, normalizing metabolism and balancing the hormonal system (related to the seven dhatus). Diamond stimulates, energizes and revitalizes the thymus gland, which increases the body’s overall immunity and inhibits the aging process. Debilitating diseases such as AIDS have little chance of fully developing when we take diamond medicines. In case of migraine syndromes and chronic headaches, as well as tension in the back and temples (computer syndrome, etc.), rub a diamond or apply a compress of diamond water around the medulla oblongata.

Gold (Metal) is an indispensable ingredient of all longevity elixirs, because it strengthens the body and has a beneficial effect on the nervous system and heart. Gold consumed in ghee (clarified butter) is used as a medicine against tuberculosis, also as a preventive measure. Silver is also recommended for lung diseases. Anaemia is treated with iron, which also facilitates wound healing and strengthens bones. Copper in the form of copper sulfate is used as an emetic, it promotes the rapid absorption of hematomas and the healing of bone fractures. Against gout, lead is recommended in small doses in water that has been stored in lead vessels for some time (several hours to several days). However, large doses of such water or too frequent use can be toxic, so be careful. One of the more widely used medicinal metals is mercury, which kills parasites, treats abscesses, boils and syphilis, and can be an antidote for precious metal poisoning. Be careful because mercury easily causes miscarriages and is toxic in large doses. Lead and mercury are used in very homeopathic doses. Alum is also known as a remedy commonly used in diseases of the mouth, throat, digestive tract, various skin diseases, and as an expectorant in upper respiratory tract infections.

Medicinal products of animal origin

Honey (Madhu) has been used since ancient times as a general strengthening agent, tonic, sedative and analgesic. It is used medicinally in an amount of 30-60 grams a day. Nowadays, honey is used to treat hypertension and peptic ulcer disease. In case of hypertension, it is recommended to mix 60 grams of honey with the same amount of crushed (grated) sesame, pour 200 ml of spring water and drink it in two portions during the day. The entire treatment usually takes 2 to 4 weeks. In case of peptic ulcer disease, 10 g of licorice and 6 g of orange peel are boiled in 400 ml of water until half of the volume of water is boiled out, 60 g of honey is added and taken in three portions a day. Treatment lasts about a month.

Musk is another ancient animal remedy. It is a somewhat mysterious secretion from the ‘smelling navel’ (skin gland) of the musk deer. Musk is used for general stimulation of the body, opening blood and energy vessels (nadis), increasing the feeling of lightness and freedom (antidepressant), also against stomach indigestion. Yellow wax is sometimes used as an antiseptic and antihemorrhagic agent. Dried and powdered wasp nests (approx. 0.5 g of powder or infusions are used) are used for antitoxic and anticonvulsant purposes (fever, epilepsy), as well as for male impotence and female infertility.

Medicinal products of plant origin

The healing effects of most plants used in Eastern folk medicine have been confirmed by centuries of experience. It is impossible to list all medicines, especially those of Indian origin, which enrich the world’s resources of spiritual medical and healing knowledge, so it will be better to use separate studies on this matter. Suffice it to mention that garlic, onion, cabbage, wormwood, cherry, peach, ginseng, asparagus, cinnamon, ginger, saffron, aloe, rose, hawthorn, licorice, black pepper, thyme deserve special attention… Yoga practitioners are recommended the so-called tea of yogis prepared as follows: mix together 2 teaspoons of freshly grated ginger, four whole cardamom seeds, eight whole cloves, a whole cinnamon stick and eight cups of water. Cook until half the liquid remains. Add 30 grams of cow’s milk, cool and drink. It removes and soothes the symptoms of meditators related to cleansing the body and mind of various toxins and poisons.

Calisthenics Exercises by Rishi Ćaraka and Suśruta (Bhaishajya Sthula Kriya)

When starting the exercises, start by focusing your spirit, so stay calm, detach your thoughts and emotions from all things and phenomena. The heart should rest in the chest, the mind be in a state of alert self-forgetfulness. Maintain an attitude of calm observation and dispassionate assessment. Exercise with a sense of pleasure and satisfaction. Practice with joy that comes from the depths of your heart. Smile gently from the bottom of your heart until your face and eyes are filled with a gentle current of joy.

Both when standing and sitting, keep your head, spine (torso) and heels vertical. In particular, the head and neck rest straight on the body. The breasts and belly should not be too stretched or tense. We call sthulla kriya exercises Pavanmuktasana because they free us from tension and worries.

It is important to close on both ends: the mouth should be closed with the teeth slightly touching and the anus should be slightly retracted. We try to do everything freely, without unnecessary tension of any muscles. The breathing is calm, slow and deep, as if to the end. It begins and ends with resting in a sitting, contemplative posture, in peace, with half-closed eyes, pushing away all thoughts and worries. It is important to pay attention only to what was good and pleasant in our lives. Focusing on nightmares, horrors and all negativity only poisons the body and mind and darkens the emotional sphere.

Especially during illness we need to detach our consciousness from the outside world, from the past and present, from what surrounds us and from ourselves. Fixing your eyes intently on the tip of your nose you should focus your thoughts and feelings on one point in the sphere of varipitha (svadhi, tanden), three thumb widths below the navel (nabhi). As you concentrate, your breathing should become more and more regular, thinner and deeper, and finally reach a state that feels like your lungs sinking into your belly. At the end of such a session, the patient gradually returns to normal state. During the session, the rhythm of brain waves should fall within the range of so-called alpha waves (7-10 Hz). In this state, you should also repeat healing affirmations to yourself or imagine all the organs of the body as functioning properly. Bedridden patients practice breathing sessions lying on their side or back, and whenever possible, sitting on the edge of their bed. Breathing therapy begins with one session a day lasting about half a muhurta (24 minutes), gradually increasing the frequency to up to four sessions a day and extending to one muhurta (approx. 48 minutes) or even one hora (hour of the day). These remarks apply well to exercise No. 1 in our Bhaishajya Sthula Kriya series.

The entire series of the given exercises can be freely performed by people of all constitutional types mentioned in Ayurveda, i.e. both kapha (earth-water type), pittha (fire type) and vata (air-etheric type) people. The pitha type will usually tend to speed up the rhythm of the exercise, and the kapha type will be more effective putting more force into each exercise. To be more effective, the Vata type tries to exercise as if the body and muscles did not exist.

1. Sitting in the Śiva position (lotus posture – padmasana or sukhasana with legs tucked under and crossed), with your hands covering your thumb and curled into a fist, placed in the lower part of the abdomen on the thighs, take slowly 50 breaths through the nose.
2. In the same posture, move the jaws 36 times (the number of sun) as if chewing food. This is a ‘cow chews the cud’ exercise. Another variant adds chewing with the teeth tapping together.
3. Massage the knees and their surrounding area 100 times in a circular motion. You can massage each knee with a corresponding hand, and in the second version, we rub each knee 50 times with both hands at once, making circular movements.
4. Bend your arms at elbows and place your palms on your hips. Spread your fingers apart and rub the spine in its lower, lumbar-sacral section with vertical movements 100 times. The thumb that hooks the hip is like a half-turn axis for the rest of the hand.
5. In the same position as the previous exercise, spreading your hands apart so that they are parallel, rub your back 100 times in a horizontal movement. In this and the previous exercise, we especially rub the lumbar sacral knot, which is the gateway to the second lotus, the gateway to the life essence of the self, gathered in the six-petalled varipitha lotus (svadhishtana) at the bottom of the abdomen. These are the so-called gates of immortality (long life).
6. With your hands placed in the same way, similarly massage the side surfaces of the torso 100 times from the armpits to the hips.
7. Rubbing the abdomen with rotating hand movements, 20 times with the right hand, then 20 times with the left hand, changing the direction of rotation. We do circles around the navel (nabhi) in a circular motion, trying to touch the periphery of the abdominal area.
8. Massaging the breasts and belly with an oval movement, 20 times with each hand. The centre of the oval is the Manipuraka point above the navel or the xiphoid process (beginning of the sternum).
9. The same, only in the chest area, where the centre of circling for the hand is the centre point of the sternum, the area of ​​the fourth lotus (cardiac, anahata).
10. Massaging (stroking) along the midline of the body from top to bottom, from the breast to the navel, with each hand 20 times. The centre of each hand’s movement is the nipple line (hridpankajakantha).
11. Massaging, initially with the right hand, then with the left hand, the neck from the ear to the spine and back, along the appropriate shoulder. We stroke 30 times with each hand. The variant assumes the movement of the right hand from the left ear and vice versa with the other hand.
12. Grab the wrist of your right hand with your left hand and make 20 movements to tighten the right arm, and then use your right hand to tighten the left arm the same number of times. The hands are stretched out in front of you.
13. Massaging the forehead, temples and cheek with the right hand from right to left, and then with the left hand – from left to right, 20 times each.
14. Warm the medial edge of the right hand by rubbing with the left hand and massage the area around the right eye 20 times, repeat the same with the other hand with the other eye. The exercise effectively improves vision and heals the eyes. The second variant puts the right hand to the left eye and similarly the left hand to the right eye. Circular massaging movements are performed in the direction of eyebrow growth (from the centre out).
15. Using the same medial edges of the hands, massage the nose 10 times from top to bottom.
16. Using hand movements as when washing, massage your face from top to bottom 10 times.
17. Using the base of your thumbs with rotating movement from front to back and then in the opposite direction, massage the temple area 10 times.
18. One by one, use both hands to massage the parietal area 10 times in a circular motion.
19. Massage the ear area from front to back and vice versa simultaneously on both sides 10 times.
20. Press your hands to your ears and, taking your index finger off your middle fingers, rub the back of your head 10 times.
21. With an exhale, throw your arms forward to the width and level of your shoulders, palms inwards (fingers spread), then, with an inhale, bend your arms to your chest while clenching your fists. Repeat 10 times. It’s best to start from the starting position and clench your fists in the same way.
22. Raise your hands up and perform 10 rotational movements, flexing your little fingers with your palms facing outwards and flexing your thumbs with your palms facing inwards.
23. Stretch your arms in front of you at shoulder width, palms up, then, bending at the elbows, bring them closer to your torso (inhaling) and straighten them again (exhaling). Repeat 10 times.
24. Make fists and raise and lower your arms 10 times without bending them at the elbows.
25. Hands with clenched fists, stretched out in front of you at shoulder width, spread to the sides 10 times (inhaling) and bring them back again (exhaling).
26. Place your hands with clenched fists to the sides to shoulder level (trikona), then, exhaling, raise them up 10 times and, exhaling, lower them to the starting position. The movement resembles clapping above the head (as in jumping jack exercise). (Vajramuhti can perform exercises 20-26 each 30, 50 or 100 times, depending on their advancement).
27. Stand in a upright position with your legs slightly apart (feet shoulder-width apart, with your toes parallel or directed out – the angle of the foot triangle is approximately 60 degrees). The body is positioned straight and relaxed, with the knees slightly bent. Perform 50 half-squats with arms moving forward, up, sideways and back, with palms bent and fingers spread.
28. Legs together, feet together. Arms at shoulder level, bent at the elbows, brought to the body, are spread to the sides with an exhalation, while body raises on the toes. With an inhale, we return to the starting position. We repeat 10 times, resembling a bird stretching its wings. This is one of the Garuda (Bird) exercises.
29. Previous starting posture. Arms stretched forward, palms straight like an arrow. Then bring your arms to your chest 10 times, moving your elbows out as far as possible and clenching your fists, then returning to the starting position.
30. Repeat the previous exercise without moving your elbows outwards.
31. Stand – feet shoulder-width apart, hands on the sides of your thighs. Perform 10 torso bends to the right and left.
32. From the previous position, turn the torso 10 times to the left and right, looking upwards.
33. Repeat the previous exercise with the gaze directed downwards.
34. Bends the torso forward and backward from the same standing position. Practice 10 times.
35. Do 10 deep (full) squats in the same starting position.
36. Alternately raise the leg bent at the knee 10 times, then, tensing the thigh, pull it forward and return to the starting position.
37. Legs together, feet together. Move your feet outwards 10 times, turning them at the ankle joints (heels together, toes spread outwards).
38. We march with our torso straight and our arms clasped, throwing our legs strongly forward.
39. Marching in place with a sudden throwing of the corresponding arm forward.
40. Alternate movements of the same limbs in different directions 10 times (when leg forward, then arm backward).
41. Rotational movements in place, initially to the left, then to the right. The arm, half bent at the elbow, should be raised to the level of the shoulder and moved in the same direction. We follow our hand with our gaze, turn our head, then the whole torso, and move from the same leg to the other.
42. Standing peacefully in a straight position (feet shoulder-width apart, hands along the body or together under the navel), perform 50 deep and slow breathing movements. This is a breathing session in a standing, upright position.

The spiritual or energetic gymnastics of yoga is very widespread in the East and practiced not only in India. It is practiced in the morning before starting the working day and in the evening before going to bed. The basic version is easy to perform for both older people and children. Variants for Vajramuhti (Shambhala Warriors) require more practice and specialization. By omitting the massage exercises, we get a very intense series of yoga exercises for Vajramuhti. Here we have practice No. 1; 12; and No. 21-26, which is a series of eight sitting exercises, and practices No. 27-42, which constitute the standing series of this sthula kriya series. Both parts can be performed as separate series of practical yoga exercises and applications. The series of exercises from No. 1 to 20 are typical practices related to energy regulation and learning to massage yourself, self-therapy consisting of breathing and therapeutic body massage. All exercises and the use of healing recipes should be learned directly from specialists who are well versed in Ayurvedic medicine. Hum!

Many Blessings on your Path to Awakening and Realization!

Om Namaśśivaya! Hum!

Aćaryaćarya Swami Lalita-Mohan G.K.