Boost Your Energy
How to Boost Your Energy Levels?
Curious about the benefits of yoga for your health and well-being? Interested in discovering how to naturally increase your energy levels? Want to explore working with nature's elements to achieve this? Look no further!
Check out my 'Boost Your Energy' blogs for all the information you need. These blogs focus on using yoga and meditation tools to enhance self-care and awareness. Tune into your needs and desires through practice, and find your flow in life!
The steps are available online for free, and donations are always appreciated. You can practice them whenever and wherever you choose. Keep an eye out for the SUN ☼ symbol in the blogs for some reflective exercises. I sincerely hope you find them enjoyable and beneficial for your overall well-being.
How to Restore Your Health?
Looking to improve your health? In our 'Boost Your Energy' blog series, we have 10 insightful articles on yoga philosophy and coaching exercises that can help you restore your well-being and increase your energy levels by harnessing the power of nature's elements.
If you're eager to dive right into yoga classes centered around the five elements of nature, click HERE. Alternatively, keep reading to discover more about the connection between yoga philosophy and aligning your heart, body, and mind with the elements of nature: water, wood, fire, earth, metal, and ether.
Heart, Body and Mind
Let's begin by exploring the concept of 'body' before we delve into the ways you can naturally boost your energy levels through yoga practice that focuses on nature's elements. Yoga involves specific poses that are believed to purify and balance these elements, ultimately restoring your overall health. During yoga classes, instructors often emphasize the connection between the 'heart, body, and mind', highlighting that the poses you perform aim to unite these three aspects of yourself. However, have you ever wondered how exactly these aspects are interconnected?
Body Concept in Yoga Philosophy
1. When we talk about the interconnectedness of the 'heart, body, and mind', it can be a bit perplexing because the 'mind' encompasses not only your thoughts but also your body and heart, along with the wisdom they hold. This wisdom is a combination of your experiences, intuition, and instincts, making your mind a reflection of your entire being. Exploring the philosophy of the 3 bodies in yoga, the 5 koshas (layers), and the 7 chakras can help us delve deeper into the understanding of 'heart, body, and mind' in order to enhance our energy levels.
Yoga Philosophy in Practice
Don't stress too much about these theories! They are simply concepts that help us understand reality, and you don't have to grasp them completely. Similar to chakras, you may not believe in their existence, but exploring their themes can still provide valuable insights on how to bring balance into your life. So, take some time to learn about these concepts, reflect on them, and then release any attachment. Just like the rhythm of your breath, inhale, exhale, and keep moving forward.
Concept of Three Bodies
From the perspective of our "body", we can view it solely from a physical standpoint. However, we are much more than just our physical form. In the realm of yoga philosophy, they discuss the concept of the 3 bodies, which encompasses more than just the gross physical body.
Physical body
Gross body: skin, bones, muscles, organs and other tissues.Astral body
Energetic body: thoughts, feelings and actions.Spiritual body
Body that connects us to the divine.
Five Koshas (sheats)
In Eastern philosophy, it is explained that our soul, the essence of our existence, is enveloped by four sheaths or layers. The outermost layer, known as the Annamaya Kosha or the food sheath, represents our physical body. These five koshas or layers are referred to as follows:
Annamaya Kosha (food sheath)
Physical body that consists of your skin, bones, muscles, organs and other tissues.Pranamaya Kosha (sheath of prana or life)
Energy body that helps moving your life force (chi) through your body such as breathing, digestion and circulation.Manomaya Kosha (mind sheath)
Mind body: feelings, thoughts, emotions, memory and imagination.Vijnanamaya Kosha (knowledge or wisdom sheath)
Intellectual body: intellect, intuition and inner wisdom.Anandamaya Kosha (bliss sheath)
Bliss body (soul) that allows us to feel connected to others and that allows us to feel to feel joy, love and happiness.
Seven chakras (energy wheels)
When learning about the connection between the chakras (energy wheels) in our body and the three bodies and five layers, a common question that may come up is: “How are they linked?”. Yoga Alloy explains it well: “Chakras serve as the energy centers, filled with energy and capable of directing it. They act as the command center of your life. These energy centers are vital as they resonate through all the Koshas.” Ultimately, the chakras play a crucial role in balancing the body's energy, affecting the different layers of your existence.
Taking Care of Yourself
Why is it important to understand the different bodies and layers when it comes to taking care of yourself? If you're looking to improve your overall health and well-being, starting with the outermost layer, the physical body, can be a great first step. One way to do this is by incorporating a short daily yoga practice into your routine, which can help you become more aware of how you're truly feeling.
From my own experience, this increased awareness often leads to a desire to make changes in your diet and lifestyle as well. When I mention 'diet', I'm referring to everything you do to nourish yourself on all levels. In my blogs on 'Create With Ease' and 'ReTREAT Yourself', I refer to these as 'Energy Givers' and 'Energy Takers'.
Furthermore, as the 5 bodies are interconnected, any actions taken at the level of your physical body will affect all other aspects of your existence. Therefore, enhancing your physical well-being will result in a positive influence on your thoughts and emotions, ultimately influencing your desire to continue pursuing better health and overall well-being.
Boosting Your Energy
I really appreciate the way Sarah Powers broke down the different levels of our being during one of her Insight Yoga Teacher Trainings that I had the pleasure of attending in Amsterdam. It's truly enlightening and can provide valuable guidance on which aspect of our 'body' to concentrate on when we want to enhance our energy levels. She introduced us to the concept of the 5 yoga bodies, and it completely transformed my perspective.
physical body
emotional body
mental body
spiritual body
energetic body
I appreciate the way she views things because it simplifies the concept. By simply glancing at this list, you can determine the level at which you need to take care of yourself, making it simpler to decide on an approach. In 'Boost Your Energy', I will provide guidance on the practices you can engage in to rejuvenate yourself.
Elements of Nature and Your Physical Body
Every action you take affects you and can be experienced on different levels. The most straightforward approach to interacting with nature's elements is by considering it in relation to the body. How? By maintaining a healthy body, it is believed that having knowledge about nature's elements enables us to comprehend the natural laws and recognize the symptoms we experience, as well as how to avoid (chronic) illnesses.(s)
Nature’s Elements
Our bodies are composed of nature's elements, as stated by Natural-cure.org. The human body consists of 72% water, 12% earth, 6% air, 4% fire, and the remaining percentage is Ether.
Different ancient healing traditions have their own unique lists of elements. For instance, Chinese medicine focuses on wood, fire, earth, metal, and water as primary elements.
On the other hand, Ayurveda identifies water, fire, earth, air, and ether (or space) as the elements present in the body. Each element plays a role in supporting various structures and functions within the body.
How to Stay Healthy?
In order to maintain good health and take care of your physical well-being, it is crucial to ensure a balance among the elements of nature. But how can you identify which element is out of balance?
Your symptoms can provide valuable clues. Nature-cure.org offers a fascinating list of symptoms that indicate an imbalance in an element. This list demonstrates how such an imbalance can lead to various (chronic) diseases. According to Nature-cure.org, "Chronic diseases arise when any of the elements are impure or when they are imbalanced with other elements in the body."
In essence, neglecting the signals your body sends can result in poor health and eventually lead to disease. This is when a state of discomfort becomes a full-fledged illness, eventually turning into a chronic condition. To prevent such illnesses, practicing YOGA can be extremely beneficial!
How Can Yoga Maintain Your Health?
Being mindful is crucial in yoga. During your practice, you can center your attention on your body using different techniques. For instance, you can take deep breaths and synchronize your movements with the steady flow of your breath. By slowing down your breathing, your heart rate will decrease, leading to a sense of calmness as your parasympathetic nervous system kicks in.
Although the term 'activate' might be confusing, it simply means that the part of your nervous system responsible for relaxation will help you unwind. From this relaxed state, you can focus on the sensations within your body. This mindfulness is essential for recognizing what is truly happening inside you. Once you are able to perceive what your body is feeling, you can begin to pay attention to its cues. With enough practice, you will become adept at interpreting these signals and making conscious decisions about how to proceed.
What’s next?
Let's delve deeper into the health benefits of yoga as we begin our practice sessions focused on aligning with nature's 5 elements. Check out the details of each session in the blog 'Yoga and the Elements'. Moreover, we'll explore self-inquiry coaching exercises related to these elements to enhance personal growth.
➳ Let’s begin …
Signs. When you see a ☼ on the ‘Boost Your Energy’ blogs it means ‘Try this exercise!’.
Five Bodies. ☼ When you’d like to learn more about the five bodies, 5 layers and other yoga philosophy topics, go to Arhantayoga.org or find your own answers to these topics via one of the many search engines.
Koshas and Chakras. ☼ You could read more about the ‘Koshas and Chakras’ on the website of Yoga Alloy if you’re interested in learning more about these layers and energy wheels.
Elements of Nature. ☼ Perhaps read Theory of the elements of nature on how to balance the 5 elements of nature. It’s a very informative article.
Vagus Nerve. ☼ Would you like to know more about the nervous system? Perhaps google the term ‘Vagus Nerve’ and also check My.clevelandclinic.org for more information on the nervous system.
Yoga online and on Mallorca. Check my Yoga pages: Yoga Classes Mallorca and Yoga Retreats Mallorca or find me on YouTube and Insight Timer App.
Learn more. Check my ‘Categories’ and ‘Tags’ in the main menu of my website from other interesting topics!
Continue. Go to the next blog ‘How Can Yoga Help?’ and learn more about yoga’s health benefits and discover what sessions I offer you to work with nature’s 5 elements.
Bring me (back) to the overview of the ‘Boost Your Energy’ blogs on doing yoga for better health based on nature’s 5 elements.
Need help? I’m here in case you would like more personal support on practicing yoga, meditation and breathing exercise to find your flow in life, contact me.
Ready for the next step?
Go to the next blog ‘ ‘How Can Yoga Help?’ and learn more about yoga’s health benefits and discover what sessions I offer you to work with nature’s 5 elements.
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