In Yoga we often talk of the subtle body (sukshma sharira). This subtle body has its own “physiology” and anatomy. Since this body is thought to exist in a finer dimension, its pathways and structures cannot be detected with the eye or the microscope. Instead, Yogis have intuited the structure of the subtle body in meditation and self-observation. We therefore have an understanding of the channels (nadi-s) and areas (charkas) that are based on their observations, but we have no direct physiological access that link these channels and points directly to our observable body.
This is where the marma points become useful. Marmas are vital points or sensitive zones that are at the junction of the nadis, the channels of the subtle body, and reach into the surface areas of physical body. They thus link the physical and energetic dimensions but also reach past the vital into the emotional and mental layers of a human being.
The knowledge and identification of marmas goes most likely back to Kerala in South India where martial-arts practitioners had discovered these sensitive zones long ago and had used them for both combat and defense. In later centuries marmas became important to physicians who wanted to prevent and treat illnesses. It then became evident that the treatment of these points had not only an affect on a person’s state of health and energy but also influenced his or her mental, psychological and emotional states.
Perhaps the best way to understand the many dimensions of the marmas is to visualize a person as a multi-layered organism. In Yoga every person is thought to have a body (annamaya), an energy field (pranamaya), a mind (manomaya), deeper knowledge (vijnanamaya) and a very fine layer of consciousness (anandamaya). Marmas in this context are sensitive areas that reach into each of these dimensions. They connect the different layers and, through manipulation, can release congestion in the physical, energetic, psychological and mental “channels”. When these “channels” begin to open up prana flow freely and the person moves into the state of yoga (e.g. the linking of the self with the absolute).
Yoga has a set of tools that are extremely suited for the work with marmas and for the clearing of the channels. In the Yoga Sutras Patanjali has outlined the eight limbs of Yoga.
- The third limb, asanas (postures), offers tools with which to open the physical body. The combination of asanas with marmas can be quite powerful. If one focuses on marmas in the chest area during backbends, for example, one can open specific areas of physical tightness and congestion in the upper chest.
- Another of the eight limbs of yoga, pranayama, addresses the purification of the energy field. Here focused breathing on the marmas combined with practices like the krama breath can begin to open congested channels of the energy body (pranamaya kosha).
- Pratyahara (control of the senses) disciplines the mind. Focus on Shringataka (marma in the back of the soft palate) greatly increases the drawing in and disciplining of the senses.
- Concentration (dharana) on certain marmas can open the flow in the channels of all layers but especially helps with freeing the flow in the mind dimension (manomaya kosha).
- Mantras of the right vibrational frequency can be placed into marmas on the level of deeper knowledge (vijnanamaya kosha). (The last two, dharana and mantras, will often stabilize the emotional and psychological states of a person).
- Dhyana (meditation) and Samadhi finally affect and purify the subtle consciousness dimension (anandamaya kosha). Here marmas tend to be no longer separate points but merge into the finest layers of consciousness.
We can thus see that marmas are a useful addition to yoga because they generate a clear focus and offer access to the subtle layers of a human being. They connect the physical with the deeper layers, they indicate where congestion in the channels has accumulated, and they are entrance points into the physical, energetic, psychological and mental levels of a person. As such they link the gross and subtle body and greatly increase the depth of our work in Yoga.
Oda Lindner (E-RYT 500) teaches and lives in Canmore, Canada
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