Copyright 2011
Gopita Katharine Manning, M.A.

In the Tantric model of Kundalini arising, it is said that energy is activated in the root chakra (the muladhara) and rises through the Sushumna Nadi, or the Conception Vessel meridian. On either side of this meridian lie two channels, one to the right, and one to the left. The channel to the right is a cooling channel, the Pinagala Nadi. It is yin in nature. To the left of the Conception Vessel lies the Ida Nadi, the heating channel. It is yang in nature. These two nadis intertwine the Sushumna, forming the traditional Caduceus of modern medicine.

According to this theory, when energy is activated in this way, it is the ultimate marriage of Shiva (yang) and Shakti (yin). Once all the 72,000 peripheral nadis are pierced by the union of the mighty Hindu god Shiva and his bride, fusion and merging occur in the crown chakra, the Sahasrara, and enlightenment is inevitable.

In another branch of Sanskrit philosophy, called Samkhya, three fundamental energies of prakriti (universal nature) are discussed. These energies are called the gunas. "Guna" is a Sanskrit word meaning "string", but in a more abstract or metaphysical sense, it means an "operational principle or tendency." The three gunas usually considered as principles of all creation, evolution and destruction are: rajas, sattva, and tamas. Rajas, translated loosely, means "fire." Sattva, "purity" and tamas, "inertia." In Ayurveda, as well as certain Vedic schools of thought, it is sometimes said that, before a soul decides to take birth, this soul decides the guna in which to incarnate. For example, should a soul wish to come into life with a mission, that soul would choose, even pre-conception, a rajasic guna. Should a person be confused as to the particular lifetime in which they are incarnating, they may enter with a tamasic guna. And a few souls, usually those who are destined to become teachers and masters, come into realization with a sattvic guna.

Vivaxis is a term coined by Frances Nixon, a Canadian woman who discovered a unique energy flow that connects an individual's energy field, or etheric body, with that of the earth's magnetic field at the time of their birth. She claimed that this field held one of the prime keys to understanding one's individual life. The link functioned, Nixon claimed, as a two-way connection between the individual and their place of birth. Nixon claimed that the direct magnetic connection to earth's energies began when the individual's mother's labor began based on the actual way she was facing when her contractions began. Furthermore, the connection remained even as the individual grew and moved and traveled as an adult. Claiming that each individual had a unique frequency developed along earth's axis, Nixon worked for over thirty years in helping restore the vivaxis connection, which she found might be distorted by chemicals, electromagnetic fields or even climactic changes like solar flares or lightning. In theory, by reconnecting with these energies, one might once again find the harmony, health and grounding which were, quite literally, one's birthright.

Donna Eden has coined a phrase and an energy protocol called "Vivaxin Syndrome." She has found that one may develop sensitivity - and indeed a problem - with certain directions, based on an incomplete magnetic "paving over," so to speak, of the magnetic field in this direction of the vivaxis, or the birth field. In other words, rather than the vivaxis remaining a direction of power for the person, Donna has found it to be for some people like a magnetic tape which needs de-magnetization - it is too gunked up by the many electromagnetic "bombs" thrown at it by the vicissitudes of modern life. She has developed a protocol for cleaning this symbolic tape and strengthening the auric field so that the original vivaxis remains strong. Through the use of kinesiology and energy testing to ascertain the direction of dis-empowerment, Donna has been able to ascertain the weakened direction of the vivaxis, and using magnets twirled at the ends of the meridian while the individual then faces this direction, she has strengthened the integrity of the electromagnetic field/vivaxis. The results for most have been remarkable.

In my own practice I have found that strengthening the vivaxis has been of particular benefit to those clients who claim they have 'incarnated with the guna of "tamas." These are people who maintain a certain ambivalence to life; an inertia, or energetic uncertainty, and are the ones most likely to have this Vivaxin Syndrome. In other words, those who have a sensitivity to a certain direction (East, West, South, North) so strong that it affects their health, are perhaps the very souls who have struggled to get here, and who may or may not have truly decided to stay. Those with a tamasic guna coupled with a strong Vivaxin Syndrome, may have the most troubles in life with depression, autoimmune illness, and other problems of a weakened energy field. I have found the similarities in these two theories of marked importance.

It is said that some indigenous tribes do not name their children for three months after birth. According to some theories, this is because some children 'return' before they have reached earth- age of three months. In Bali, it is said that a child's feet do not touch the ground for the first three months of life. It has been of some note – and certainly not coincidental – that the clients I have asked to "just spontaneously, now, off the top of your head, tell me what energy you came in with – tamasic, rajasic, or sattvic" – (this is after correcting a weakened vivaxis and after relaxing the client and doing a considerable balancing and of course, explaining the theory of the gunas) – these clients almost always tell me, "well, tamasic, of course!" They have spent a lifetime of inertia, uncertainty, ambivalence. They seem to have little or no certainty about goals, relationships, and their health. It is with these clients that I spend a good deal of time strengthening the yang energies. But it is in the explanation of the theory of the gunas which has seemed to help my clients achieve the most congruency in their lives.

And it is then that the theories of the nadis come into play. Clients who express the energy of tamas, of inertia, achieve great benefit when working with the Ida nadi, the yang channel. The nadis, in general, prove to be of great benefit to these clients. Indeed, for those with this particular construct, there is great hope in working with Kundalini and spiritual practice. I know of no better practice than meditation and chanting. Since chanting is an essay in itself, I will speak briefly of meditations' capacity to affect the nadi system and the sushumna nadi, in particular.

Meditation is a wonderful adjunct to a practice of Energy Medicine. "Spiritual" practices help prepare the body and brain for higher states of consciousness, and they equally prepare the body and brain for the reception of depth charges during sessions of regression, chakra, and grid work.

To begin a meditation practice, that is, a sitting practice, alternate nostril breathing is particularly beneficial. This activates not only the Ida and Pingala alongside the sushumna nadi, but it also helps crossover patterns along the corpus collosam, the great lobe of the brain. Furthermore, anyone who has trouble with the 6th Chakra will often see this trouble begin to melt with a daily practice of alternate nostril breathing. There are a myriad of benefits to this particular pranayama (breathing exercise). It would take yet another essay to begin to name them!

Sitting with the back erect, the chin level, the hands folded comfortably in the lap – or in chin mudra – the thumbs and forefingers touching – and after doing a series of alternate nostril breaths, meditation often seems 'to happen by itself.' Sometimes after a period of some restlessness, as the nervous system fights the newfound peace it is experiencing (a triple warmer phenomenon, surely!) one may begin focusing on the space between the eyebrows. As this area is focused on for awhile, one may experience a feeling of something being 'pierced.' This is not uncommon. The 6th chakra literally opens, and a flood of endorphins swells the being. Meditation is well underway.

But do not quit before the miracle! If this practice is performed daily, for 15-20 minutes, hopefully for the rest of one's life, what had previously become a most unsatisfying humdrum existence, one in which one seemed doomed to inertia, restlessness, unhappy autoimmune illnesses of minor symptoms but of annoying frequency, may seem to remit rather suddenly, never to return. The trick to meditation, or any spiritual practice for that matter, is not to quit. We must avoid falling into a stupor. It is essential to continue to practice, to raise our tolerance so that we do not become bliss ninnies each time we plummet deeper into depth charges availed us by a spiritual practice coupled with a daily energy routine.

As an Energy Medicine Practitioner, I feel strongly that one of my greatest responsibilities to my clients is to maintain the rigors of my daily meditation practice. For me it has become imperative to recognize, sustain and deepen the charges in my body, mind and spirit in order to facilitate the same available states in my clients. But "faith without works" is hollow indeed, so an explanation of the various theories of the nadis, the gunas and Kundalini have worked wonders with my clients, all of whom have brought me an understanding of my own self and my own spiritual , nature larger than I could ever have imagined. Furthermore, this self-awareness, the theory of vivaxis, the theory of the gunas, with the help of an understanding of the nadis, has also helped some of my clients re-frame early experiences of childhood victimization to ones of empowerment, as they see they may ultimately choose the energy system in which to be born. Furthermore, it can be quite empowering to see that everything one does in one's life may indeed be part of a purifying practice of Kundalini arising and the piercing of the 72,000 nadis.

These are amazing theories of energy arising, easy for most to understand, helpful for most to frame contextually within the boundaries of a session in Energy Medicine. I have found that almost everyone I work with is yearning for things to be framed in a spiritual context. Working with the theories discussed above has proven a rich ground for me in helping my clients move from what Carl Jung has called uneigentilich leiden (inauthentic suffering) into a perspective of compassion and mercy for the common bond we all share.

I am proud to be an Energy Medicine Practitioner, and even happier and prouder to be a daily meditator. They are, at least in my mind, often one and the same.