5 Element 5/19
spinning the water wheel
photo : Karnak with tears of joy in my eyes
Extending Sushumna Nhadi Breath
Dear Anahata Yogi,
This passage covers the movement ‘Spinning the Water Wheel’.
This week we extend the practice of breathing up and down ‘Sushumna Nhadi’.
Start with last week’s Sushumna practice :
Imagine, visualize, feel at the center of your body, at the location of your spine a luminous energy channel. The stronger you allow yourself to see and experience it, the stronger it will imprint in your mind. Allow your Sushumna Nhadi to be as beautiful as you like.
Inhale, imagine energy rise up Sushumna, from the base of your spine to the crown of your head.
Exhale, imagine energy descend down Sushumna, from the crown of your head to the base of your spine.
With each cycle of your breath, your conscious awareness cycles up and down your spine, strengthening the connection between body to mind and mind to body.
Once you establish and sense the flow of connection in Sushumnha Nhadi, extend it out further.
Imagine the crown of your head is connected to the heavens, the universe, element of Akasha, mystery and surrender.
Imagine the base of your spine is connected to the soles of your feet to the planet earth and Earth element, strength support, stability.
Now,
Inhale, earth energy rise up through your soles, legs, Sushumna, through the crown of your head, to the universe.
Exhale, energy from the universe gracefully descends down through the crown of your head, through Sushumna, legs, soles into the earth.
The energy of Earth and the Universe are circulating through your spine with your breath, clearing the blockages from Sushumna Nhadi. Be the awareness of this process.
You are the rainbow bridge(chakras) between heaven and earth. The vessel in which Spirit experiences matter and matter experiences Spirit.
Like the practice of connecting with earth, being the bridge between heaven and earth is seen as a personal CHOICE that creates a paradigm, effecting how we experience and interact with reality.
the symbol of the wheel
‘Spinning the Water Wheel’ is inspired by a simple village scene of a river turbine, a big moving circular structure harnessing the natural current of water. In the 5 Element movement, the river is your Sushumna Nhadi Breath. The wheel is your body and imagination.
The circle is a universal symbol of unity, wholeness and completion. The wheel, a moving circle is the experience of change and cycles within the unity. It’s a concept that takes us out of linear thinking and time. Some actions and routines seem to repeat; washing dishes, brushing teeth etc. but each moment is also new never to be repeated.
Here we are learning 5 Element movements, exploring them and ourselves in them for the first time. But the movements are not new and have been practiced thousands of times for thousands of years. I like to imagine that the Anahata lineage is like a great river that I am stepping into. Thousands have practiced before, and thousands will practice after me. Yet each Anahata yogi in their practice, so completely unique.
To Do
This week practice Heaven-Earth Breath/Extended Sushumnha Nhadi, be the channel that connects heaven and Earth energies (inhale Earth energy rises up your spine, exhale Universe energy descends down you spine) even when you aren’t doing the 5 Element movement.
Practice the movement ‘Spinning the Water Wheel’.
Mantra: ‘I am the vessel in which Spirit/ Divine consciousness experiences matter and matter experiences Spirit/ Divine consciousness.’
Going to your Nature Spot and practice Heaven-Earth Breath
GO TO YOUR NATURE SPOT
Go to your nature spot and practice Heaven-Earth Breath.
Remember to connect through the points in your body, the base of your spine, soles of your feet and the crown of your head.
Send Akasha energy from the universe deep into the roots and planet earth and invite Earth energy high up into the universe.
Allow these energies to clear any (energetic, emotional, mental) blockages in your Sushumna Nhadi with each circulation. Observe the process.
