MOVING TOWARDS HARMONY

We all know the basic five senses: hearing, smell, touch, taste, and seeing. We filter the information that gives shape to our thinking through these five senses. Our actions and opinions are the result of the information we get through these five senses. Then there is the sixth sense, called "intuition,” or intuitive mind (right-sided brain), then comes “logical mind,” or analytical mind, and I will call it the seventh sense. Intuition cannot be replaced by analysis, and each sense has its own role to perform. In another sense, analysis is complementary to intuition, just as yin and yang are interrelated.

In Hindi, ‘intuition’ is known as ‘Antargyan’ or'sehajgyan', and analysis is called ‘vishleshan’. The sixth sense, or intuition, is sometimes uncontainable and vivacious; for example, a practitioner might get a correct feeling or perception of the patient's emotional state or life pattern during the consultation or diagnosis. In the same way, when treating the patient, the practitioner or healer may get a strong sense that he must use a certain treatment protocol, which then proves to be curing and effective. This is called 'sixth sense’ or intuition. On the other hand, analysis can be strengthened through intuition, which comes in subtle or silent ways and is collected through physical sensations, quiet premonitions, dreams, and abstract ideas. This intuitive knowledge, when combined with information and learning the theories or hypotheses, can make a useful combo. It is absolutely necessary that we understand the importance of understanding the theories so that we can differentiate them and grasp them better. However, we should keep a balance between intuition and analysis; otherwise, we will wander in either intuition or analysis. Wandering too much in intuition can lead to overthinking, and while doing analysis, we might go into extremes of detail, leading to mental exhaustion and stress.

We can develop and sharpen our sixth sense with a deep understanding of how our mind and body function as a balanced system. This understanding leads to the path of the eight senses, or state of harmony and balance, that is, our aptitude for health and fitness, from chaos to order. Our physical bodies are driven by this aptitude or natural ability, which starts the moment we enter this world and remains active throughout our whole life on this earth.

This sense, or our natural ability to move towards harmony, has been discovered through research (Jordon, 2002) that when the body is released from past conditioning and judgement, it has an innate wisdom about how to move towards harmony and health. Just like the way we listen to our inner feelings and sensations by tapping into the sixth sense, we have to explore the link to reach the harmonious state, or ‘eight sense’. This harmonious state is the direction in which our bodies are moving.

HOW TO AWAKE THE SENSE OF HARMONY AND HEALTH INSIDE YOU.

The first step towards awakening is getting a sense of self-authority back to yourself. Don’t let others take your decisions, and to awaken the giant within, one must ignore all of the outside sources of incoming information and look deep down within themselves. In other words, the centre of control should be internal rather than external. Some call this inner source God, the higher self, or whatever you want to name it. In Chinese medicine, this source of energy is called Yuan Qi, or Source Qi. The five senses: Hearing is related to the kidneys, eyes to the liver, tongue to the heart, nose to the lungs, and mouth to the spleen. The intuitive mind, or right-sided brain, is linked with the liver-gallbladder, while the analytical mind, or left-sided brain, is linked with the spleen. Willpower is connected to the kidney organ, intellect to the spleen, planning to the liver organ, and spirit resides in the heart. Taking back authority to oneself is not an easy task, as we are continuously getting social media feedback 24*7. This non-stop feedback cut ourselves from our inner guiding system, making our thinking distorted and confused about what to do and what not to do.

The second step after taking ownership of yourself is to have somatic experience in the form of biofeedback or a body scan. Body scan analysis is a type of mindfulness meditation that involves paying attention to bodily sensations in a specific order. It can help people become more aware of their physical sensations, emotions, and feelings.

Here's how to do a body scan:

1. Sit on a chair or lie down.

2. Breathe from your abdomen.

3. Bring attention to your body.

4. Start at the top of your head and slowly scan down the body.

5. Notice any kind of sensation or feeling arising from any part of the body.

6. Continue scanning through your entire body. 

A body scan can help you:

• Become aware of different parts of your body where you may be holding tension or emotional stress.

• Identify and then release these emotions and tension.

• Feel more connected to your inner self.

• Bring down stress.

• Improve your health and harmony in the body.

• Reduces your aches and pains

• Promote relaxation

• Guide yourself towards harmony, or the eighth sense.

As we scan, we will get connected to the truth of our present situation. The body scan will lead us accurately in the direction of our physical needs and let us choose what to do about them.

Once we get accustomed to our inner selves and regular body scanning, the third step is to nourish our balanced and fit instinct towards success and progress. The progress impulses are triggered by the deep vibrations arising from a balanced body, as explained by Qi in Chinese medicine or Prana in Ayurveda. Once we are holistically fit, we travel beyond the realm of mind, body, and spirit and connect with the greater self or universe.

All of us are interconnected and form an integral part of the whole universe. We all have a natural ability for positive thinking, but due to various reasons, we lose our capacity to think positively. To know our strengths and positive traits, I recommend you take a character strength test online at www.viacharacter.org. Just like the periodic table shows the differentiation of elements on a microscopic level, the VIA character strength test is a classification of positive traits in people. Strengths such as kindness, hope, fairness, and gratitude are a few examples of this test. There are a total of 24 character strengths; just go and find out yours.

                                      By, Dr ABID KHAN ACUPUNCTURIST

                                      EMAIL – abidk54@gmail.com