In Yoga city Rishikesh, India, in the midst of the turmoil, the eccentricity, the vibrancy and the dust I found myself feeling maybe the most calm I have felt in my life, without a cause or obvious reason. I came here with sparse knowledge of nadi’s, the energy channels of the body, but upon looking deeper I wonder if it could be them responsible for my peace of mind. I started to think whether there could be something more to this reoccurring feeling when practicing traditions of acupuncture, yoga, acupressure and massage, something intangible and something mystical.
Looking at the history and theory one can conclude thatNadi in Sanskrit means pipe/tube but can be interpreted as channel therefore they are known as energy channels that are be lieved to carry Prana, the life force energy and are said to meet at specific points throughout the body that are known as nadichakras,. There are said to be 350,000 or 72000 with 72000 branching off them depending on where you’re looking, but of these 7 are the most important and of these 3 are the most vital.
Ida, meaning comfort, is the right hemishpere of the brain – it is the introverted, feminine, cooling, lunar energy, that starts at the left testicle and flows to the left nostril. This nadi corresponds with mental processes and has a connection to the river Ganges. On the other side of the body there is the Pingala nadi, which is the left hemisphere, the viral processor, the heating red, extroverted, masculine energy, which flows from the right testicle to the right nostril and is related to the river Yamuna. The third and final nadi is the sushuma nadi that connects at the base chakra and is connected to both nostrils.
Recently there has been scientific research done at the Seoul National University and it has proved through nanoparticles injected into acupuncture pressure points that the results were thin lines coming from points of meridians, carrying liquid aggregates that form stem cells leading these Korean scientists studying Oriental Medicine to believe that nadis do in fact exist.
So, the feeling of looking at the Ganges and feeling it coursing through my body, my mind and touching my soul, making me calm, relaxed and rational is maybe not delusional. Maybe these energy channels are so full of prana from this quaint town it is impossible to feel anything but relaxed but regardless of what is scientific or what is far fetched this feeling will never be un-felt and once you have been to Rishikesh you will never again feel untouched by something deeper than skin and blood, something smaller, something more alive, and funnily enough something more real. You cannot help but feel that something has been awakened that never wants to go back to sleep.
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