The Energy Body by Osho

“The second body, pranamaya kosha, gives you a new freedom, gives you more space. The second body is bigger than the first; it is not confined to your physical body. It is inside the physical body and it is outside the physical body. It surrounds you like a subtle climate, an aura of energy. Now in Soviet Russia they have discovered that photographs can be taken of the energy body. They call it bioplasma, but it exactly means prana. The energy, elan vital, or what Taoists call chi, it can be photographed now. Now it has become almost scientific.“One very great discovery has been made in Soviet Russia, and that is: before your physical body suffers some illness, the energy body suffers it — six months before. Then it happens to the physical body. If you are going to have tuberculosis or cancer or any other illness, your energy body starts showing indications of it six months before. No examination, no testing of the physical body shows anything, but the electric body starts showing it. First it appears in the pranamaya kosha, then it enters into the annamaya kosha. “So now they say that it has become possible to treat a person before he has fallen ill. Once it becomes so, then there is no need for humanity to fall ill. Before you become aware that you are ill, your photographs by Kirlian methods will show that some illness is going to happen to your physical body. It can be prevented in the pranamaya kosha. “That’s why yoga insists very much on the purity of breathing, because the pranamaya kosha is made of a subtle energy that travels inside you with the breathing. If you breathe rightly, your pranamaya kosha remains healthy and whole and alive. “Such a person never feels tired. Such a person is always available to do anything. Such a person is always responsive, always ready to respond to the moment, ready to take the challenge. He is always ready; you will never find him unprepared for any moment. Not that he plans for the future, no, but he has so much energy that whatsoever happens he is ready to respond. He has overflowing energy. “Natural breathing has to be understood. Watch small children, they breathe naturally. That’s why small children are so full of energy. The parents are tired, but they are not tired. “From where does the energy come? It comes from pranamaya kosha. A child breathes naturally, and of course breathes more prana in, more chi in, and accumulates it in his belly. The belly is the accumulating place, the reservoir. Watch a child; that is the right way to breathe. When a child breathes, his chest is completely unaffected. His belly goes up and down. He breathes as if from the belly. All children have a little belly; that belly is there because of their breathing and the reservoir of energy. “That is the right way to breathe; remember not to use your chest too much. Sometimes it can be used — in emergency periods. You are running to save your life; then the chest can be used. It is an emergency device. Then you can use shallow, fast breathing, and run. But ordinarily the chest should not be used. And one thing to be remembered: the chest is meant only for emergency situations because it is difficult in an emergency situation to breathe naturally, because if you breathe naturally you remain so calm and quiet you cannot run, you cannot fight. You are so calm and collected you are buddhalike. And in an emergency — the house is on fire — if you breathe naturally you will not be able to save anything. Or a tiger jumps upon you in a forest and if you go on breathing naturally you will not be bothered; you will say, “Okay, let him do whatsoever he wants.” You will not be able to protect yourself. “So nature has given an emergency device; the chest is an emergency device. When a tiger attacks you, you have to drop natural breathing and you have to breathe from the chest. Then you will have more capacity to run, to fight, to burn energy fast. And in an emergency situation there are only two alternatives: flight or fight. Both need a very shallow but intense energy…shallow, but a very disturbed, tense state. “If you continuously breathe from the chest, you will have tensions in your mind. If you continuously breathe from the chest, you will always be afraid because the chest breathing is meant to be only in fearful situations. And if you have made it a habit then you will be continuously afraid, tense, always in flight. The enemy is not there, but you will imagine the enemy is there. That’s how paranoia is created. “Watch a child and that is the natural breathing, and breathe that way. Let your belly come up when you inhale, let your belly go down when you exhale. And let it be in such a rhythm it becomes almost a song in your energy, a dance — with rhythm, with harmony — and you will feel so relaxed, so alive, so vital that you cannot imagine that such vitality is possible.”

Osho, Yoga: The Path to Liberation, Talk #1

Giving birth at home or at the birth centre

By NHS choices

Labour choices: If in doubt, move about!

By NHS choices

Perineal Massage

Perineal massage is a massage in the perineum region.

But what and where is the Perineum?

Perineum is a triangular shape region between the vagina and the anus that contains the pelvic floor muscles. It is a very important structure as it gives support and maintains the pelvic viscera. During childbirth, the perineal muscles are stretched or might even tear to allow the baby to pass through the vaginal canal. Slight tear of the tissues is common, but sometimes if the tissue is not stretching enough, doctors or midwives have to perform episiotomy (cut in the tissue) to provide space for the baby to pass through.

Why shall I do Perineal Massage?

Perineal massage is a way to prepare the tissues of the perineum for stretching during childbirth. Therefore, Perineal Massage might prevent tearing and episiotomies.

How do I do it?

Perineal Massage should start to be done from 34 weeks of pregnancy, for at least 5 minutes everyday. If it is new for you, the first time might be difficult or embarrassing. However, think about the benefits and what you are trying to achieve. Some women like to ask their partners to do it for them, as it is a way of sharing intimacy and connecting them with childbirth preparation. It is important to do the Perineal Massage in a warm and intimate place, where you can feel comfortable and secure. It is recommended that you use a vegetable oil (sweet almond, coconut, wheatgerm, grapeseed, jojoba, olive oil), preferably organic and do not use petroleum-based products, as they can be toxic for the baby.

• Lubricate fingers and thumbs with oil;
• Sit with your legs comfortably open;
• Rub enough oil around the outside of the perineum (area between anus and vagina) to make it supple, allowing the fingers to move nicely;

• Insert your thumb or index finger (half thumb or up to second knuckle) and gently massage the area in a U shape, going from 3 to 9 o’clock, gently stretching the tissues and conditioning them for the stretch during birth;
• Then gently pull the perineal tissues downwards until you feel a slight sting sensation, and hold there for about a minute. This is the kind of sensation you might feel when the baby’s head is passing through the canal. In the beginning, you might not be able to stretch much, but with practice, the tissues get softer and conditioned to stretch more and more.

Try do combine Perineal Massage with your pelvic floor exercises (Kegel exercises), as this are the most important routines to prepare your perineum for labour. If you have good control of your pelvic floor muscles, try to relax them fully while you are doing the Perineal Massage.

by Elizabet C Doherty - 07701052446 - info@beingnatural.co.uk

Being Natural by Timothy Schoorel

Our natural state

Can you imagine a flower that’s afraid to die? How do you think that will influence the way it grows? Somehow the whole flower will be inhibited. The flower will not be a natural and free expression of life. But flowers are not afraid to die, the beauty of nature is that it expresses itself freely, it is not inhibited by a constant fear. Fear has a function in nature, but it is not a way of life. This need not be different for human beings, we can mature into our natural state. Enlightenment is not an extraordinary state, it is our natural state.

We associate ‘nature’ and ‘natural’ with plants and animals, not with ourselves, not with human beings. If we do think of natural human beings, we think of bushmen or of new born babies or young children. We don’t really have a concept of a natural, adult human being, who is not a primitive. We have lost contact not only with nature at large, but also with nature within the human being. We don’t feel we are nature. We think we are separate from nature.

Being natural as an animal is different from being natural as a plant. In the same way being natural as a human being, is different from being natural as an animal. We don’t want to regress to being natural animals, but to mature into natural human beings. Not natural in a primitive sense, but in a modern sense, in a human way. Enlightenment is the introduction of natural life, of a natural humanity. Enlightenment will not make you a super-man, not an ‘übermensch’, but a natural man. An ordinary, but fear-free human being. Enlightened ones are not holy men, they are simply natural men and women. What do you think enlightenment is, in reality? Enlightenment means that your human nature is free. Your life is like the sunrise, it all happens naturally.

Paradigm Shifting:
From Control to Spontaneity

Because no one wants to do the wrong thing, we distrust spontaneity. We believe that spontaneity is something for very young children, but not for responsible adults. We are control-minded, we are not a spontaneous species. We try to control people, we try to control our future. Sometimes the natural thing is to take control, but control is almost an obsession for us. We need a couple of beers too many to get out from under our own control.

But why? Is that the way to go? Do we fundamentally want to control everything? The whole idea of controlling people seems to be inhuman and disrespectful. Yet we attempt to control ourselves and other people. The paradigm of control divides us into two: the one that lives, and the one attempting to control the one that lives. A schism is created in your heart and mind. You are a natural being, undivided, but without trust in your own nature, with fear deep in your heart, it becomes impossible to live spontaneously.

Why this desire to control everything? Maybe we are afraid that there will be chaos and anarchy. When nature has its way, do we call that chaos and anarchy? Or is it natural balance and natural harmony? We do not trust our intelligence to flow freely. We do not trust our nature. Our nature is imprisoned by a controlling mind. Why not base your life in spontaneity, in freedom of expression, in the excitement of not knowing how you might respond next… Trusting it, not being afraid of it. It would be smarter to trust nature instead of fearing it and being suspicious of it.

How do we evolve into natural human beings? We cannot impose naturalness onto ourselves. We cannot impose spontaneity onto ourselves. We are like flowers that need to open naturally. We cannot force ourselves open. Then how to become natural? In realizing absolute truth you transcend the human being and become stress-free at the core of your human existence. After Transcendence, your whole life is naturally sorted out, like water finds its way downhill. After Realization, you begin to trust your human nature, and your life becomes a natural phenomenon. It may not sound very glamorous, but a human being’s greatest freedom is being natural.

by Timothy Schoorel

http://www.7freedom.com/beingnatural.htm