Never, since 1918, has there been such a need for boosting immunity — for becoming super immune. We all need maximum resistance to disease and we need it now. What do Yoga and Ayurveda, the healing branch of yogic science, have to say about boosting immunity and developing optimum resistance to disease?
You may be surprised.
The yoga asanas (poses) are a great place to start. They strengthen the body and the mind, and stimulate the immune and endocrine systems. However, beyond the mat, there’s much more you can do.
Here are three natural and holistic tips from the Yoga world to help you optimize your immune system today — ABC’s you can do (for free) in the privacy of your own home. These yogic practices, combined with Ayurvedic foods, herbs and teas, can help keep you in tip-top shape during the crisis.
In Ayurveda, food = medicine. Nutritious foods are the front line of immune defense. What you eat today becomes the building blocks of your immune system tomorrow, the next batch of lymphocytes (white blood cells) and antibodies. Junk food builds a house of cardboard, a weak immune system, while exacerbating obesity and diabetes, two known Covid-19 risk factors.
For more on Ayurvedic foods, see my earlier blog, “Secrets of Ayurveda,” click here.
The ABC’s: Boost Your Immunity Now
A = Affirm
One of the fastest and easiest ways to boost immunity is by using the power of affirmation. Affirmations are thoughts, positive thoughts, and thoughts are things, powerful things. Never underestimate the power of intention.
If your affirmation is “I am well” then the body will get that message and will do what it can to heal itself. If the message is constantly “I am sick and helpless,” the body-mind will get that message, too, and trend toward that reality. Your body will listen to your mind.
State your positive intention today. Throughout the day, say it out loud with sincerity, faith and intuition. Be free of doubt and uncertainty. Then you may discover your God/Goddess given powers to heal yourself and others.
Here’s my top recommended affirmation for this pandemic:
I am physically strong, mentally calm and One with Spirit.
I am boosting my immune system now.
Repeat this affirmation throughout the day, with patience, love, and full attention. If you have a rosary or mala beads, count out 108 repetitions per day.
The sage Paramahansa Yogananda had this to say about affirmations:
When illness becomes a serious matter, and death becomes a real possibility, no matter what your health, no matter how dire your situation may be, it is better to die, if death has to come, with the conviction of perfect health than with the thought that a mental or physical ailment is incurable.
Though death may be the necessary end of the body, still its “destined hour’ may be changed by the power of the soul.
Paramahansa Yogananda
B = Breathe
Conscious breathing, or pranayama, is yogic super immune booster # 2. Some pranayamas are calming, while others are strengthening and energizing.
One of the most powerful immune-boosting pranayamas is called Bhastrika, or Bellows Breath — named after the bellows that a blacksmith uses to stoke up a fire. Here The yogi uses Bhastrika to stoke up the inner fire of the body, and the mind (willpower). According to Ayurvedic physicians, Bhas-tri-ka gives you energy, strengthens the immune system, and helps remove toxins from the body.
Medical Caution: Bhastrika is contraindicated in women who are pregnant. In addition, avoid these pranayamas right after eating, or if nasal congestion is present.
In contrast, one of the most soothing and stress-busting of all pranayamas is Alternate Nostril Breathing (ANB). It calms the mind by balancing ida and pingala, the main left and right energy channels (nadis) of the body. In Western terms, ANB balances the two hemispheres of the brain. This pranayama can improve immunity by lowering your cortisol, that stress hormone and immunity wrecker.
.Experience calmness now with ANB:.
C = Chant
Step three toward optimum immunity uses the power of Sanskrit chant — the healing power of sound vibration. Sanskrit mantras are energized prayers, sound formulas that have a profound and specific effect on the body-mind. They come in three types:
• Vedic mantras for power and protection
• Tantric Mantras for creating and moving energy
• Bhakti mantras — to open the heart to love
Veda means “knowledge.” Ayur-Veda means “knowledge of life and longevity.” There’s one Vedic mantra that’s held above all others for power and protection: the Great Victory Over Death Mantra, or Maha-mrit-yun-jaya.
The victory is this: realizing that death may be the end of the body but not the Soul…and that the Soul is identical with the highest consciousness, the highest awareness — the awareness with many names — Buddha Consciousness, Christ Consciousness, Shiva Consciousness and more.
OM
Tri-am-bakam Ya-ja-ma-he
Su-gan-dhim Pusti-var-dan-aam
Ur-va Ruk-ha-miva Ban-da-naan
Mrit-yor Mok-shi-ya Maam-ri-taat
OM
Translation:
OM to the One Essence, with three eyes, that permeates everything like a fragrance. Protect us during life, and when death comes, may it be as easy as the ripe fruit falls from the vine.
The vibrations of this powerful mantra can help promote wellness during this lifetime, and when death comes, make dying as easy as a ripe blueberry falls into the palm of your hand. If you are new to mantra, simply listen and feel the Sanskrit sound vibration:
Here a longer version of the mantra for your playlist, by Hein Braat:
In this blog I’ve introduced just some of the ways Yoga practices and Ayurvedic medicine help us go from immune to super immune. For more about Ayurveda, click here for my free blogs.
For more on mantra:
“Healing Mantras for Anxiety” Course now available on the DailyOM.com.
and in book form on Amazon.
Mantra Q & A with Madisyn Taylor of the DailyOM.com: Click here.
Note: The information in this blog is not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease. It is intended as complementary medicine from the East, to be used in addition to Western medicine, to help calm the mind and promote optimal health and well being.
“To comfort always, to cure sometimes.”
Free Alt Med Blogs: HarrisonGravesMD.com
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