Welcome to Day 32 of our 40-Day Retreat.
Yesterday we spoke about the navel centre and about the relationship that we can experience between the soul consciousness and the physical body, a very important relationship. We spoke about experiencing the body as having organic intelligence and the soul consciousness living in the body as a vehicle. So we live in an intelligent body.
That allows for a wonderful relationship, taking responsibility, and treating the body as a gift, a precious gift of life. Yesterday I said as well that in Eastern wisdom that the navel area is given great importance, unlike Western thinking. The Japanese, Chinese and the yogis, consider the navel area to be very important, and today I want to speak a little more about that.
You have the power to boost your vitality
The navel area, in terms of the subtle energy system of the chakras, is an area that can boost your self-confidence, and self-esteem. It can take away your fear. It can boost your vitality and it gives a feeling of power. In the Japanese martial arts they focus on this area for power. In the Chinese system they focus on this area to store energy. In the yogic tradition this area is said to be the sun centre; it is a centre of vitality in the body.
When this centre is awakened, and the subtle energy of this centre is flowing, it makes a difference in how you feel. Your body system begins to support you. If your body is weak and lacking vitality, you can be as mentally confident as you want to be, but when you begin to act, you may find that the body is not willing. Sometimes we hear the spirit is willing but the body is weak. When this navel centre is awakened, however, it begins to boost the physical system in a way of super energizing it, and you begin to feel that your body is now supporting you. And that is a great feeling. That is exactly what happens in the martial arts because this system is boosted. The martial artist is able to perform what may seem to be super human feats, but that person is really tapping into the energy of the navel.
Creating that state of vitality and confidence
When your body is weak in vitality, do you notice that you don’t want to speak to people? You become more reserved, and you find yourself contracting if there is a difficult situation. You do not want to face it. Sometimes you feel butterflies in the stomach area, the feeling of nervousness, or the feeling of fear. This represents the navel. If you learn how to boost the energy of this area, you begin to feel these things going away. It’s as though you are supporting the body in such a way that its fears are going away; its nervousness is going away. And that brings a tremendous amount of confidence at the vital level. So we may be mentally confident but the body may not be able to support that.
Ways to energize the navel
It is extremely important to explore how to energize this centre so the body can be supportive to our mental confidence. Then it is as though your entire being now supports your vision, or, your drive to achieve your goals. Your entire being is involved in it. When you look at those who are really into action in sports or dancing or exercise, and you see that the performance is excellent, if you were to find out about some of the secret, they will tell you about this centre.
In normal lives we do not think that there is a centre within us that we can actually boost, which can make a difference at the vital level. Of course, when your body is stronger, when your body is healthier, you find that your mind is better; your drives are more powerful. So in the ancient wisdom of the East we see this kind of power. In Tai Chi, Qigong, yoga and in martial arts you see the use of this power centre. In one of the yoga books called “Hatha Yoga Pradipika” there is an exercise which it says, that if you perform it you will remain as a youth of 16.
The idea here is to arrest the outflow of energy from the lower centres, and in yoga they teach the energy lock. You lock the energy at the base because there is an outflow of energy. You may not be aware of it, but there is an outflow of energy. If you bring energy into the body, by inhalation of course, and you learn how to send this energy downward to the navel and learn how to lock the energy from below, this action of arresting the lower flow of energy and bringing energy into the system and directing it to the navel, and holding it, gives a magical boost to the whole system. It is a yoga exercise. You find that your whole system is boosted. You actually begin to feel younger.
This centre is also associated with your digestion. When this centre is awakened, developed, used, you can feel greater digestive power. It is also related to your immunity. When you begin to develop this system or this energy centre more, you can actually feel that your resistance to disease becomes greater. This centre is therefore worthy of exploration.
Enjoy boosting the body - it’s an act of love
I remember at university the days that were difficult due to a lot of exams. I remember how much I had to use this process and what a difference it made. I’d boost this energy centre, and then I wanted to be active; I wanted to talk, I wanted to get involved. I was more willing to go to my exams, more positive. And I’d see how after difficult exams, studying, writing and going through the tense moments, how vitally depleted I would be. Just breathing into this area and learning how to energize it, gave me a lot of power; I wish that every student knew it. I utilize this centre all the time, even now as I speak to you.
Importance of a good guide to help develop this centre
It’s so important to explore this hidden field of energy that we have that can boost the physical, and to see how it energizes you in daily life and keeps you sustained. In yoga this is called the “manipura chakra” which means the city of jewels, radiance. It gives you a different kind of radiance when it’s active.
Therefore, if you want to boost your self-confidence, if you want to boost your resistance, if you want to boost your vital energy, if you really want to learn how to enjoy living in a physical body, begin to explore developing this centre. Needless to say, you need a good guide, because if you are guided by someone who really knows it, then you can catch it easily. Notice I said, “catch,” because when it comes to these subtle energy centres, if we work with someone who has it developed, then there’s a kind of energy transference. Those who have it can awaken it in us; hence the saying, “Associate with those who live at higher levels of awareness and energy.”
I leave you with this, this morning for contemplation and action.
Post-Meditation Words:
Sometimes we go through our day unaware of how much we can do to boost our vitality. We accept the conditions of poor vitality. We have the gift of this navel centre that ancient cultures have told us how to use. Let’s become more aware of it and let’s learn how to tap into this power that we have and use it to live healthier and more productive lives.
Have a divine day everyone.
