And to get there, we need to balance all our layers.

The outer layer is the physical body. Beyond that, in more subtler forms exists the energy body, the mind body, the wisdom or intellect body and the bliss body. And beyond the bliss body are you, the center of creation, the operator of all systems, the force that allows all layers of body to function and to perceive life. 

Now, if we only consider and take care of our physical body but ignore the other layers of this fantastic instrument, not only are we unable to perceive the full magic of life beyond our 5 senses and never discover all the abilities of this high-tech human body, but our system gets defective and life becomes a physical and mental struggle.

It is like you are having a super developed computer and you keep it clean and make sure it doesn't get scratched or damaged, but you have no idea about its software. It is like never doing an update or never cleaning out the storage. The computer might look nice from the outside, but does not really work well because the subtler elements of it, like the program, the apps, the system it runs on, the computer chip, the wires and the electricity it runs on are never taken care of.

It is like having a highly developed computer, but you are using it only to write simple documents. You are not aware of its possibilities and abilities. If you knew about that, you could do magical things with it. If you knew exactly how to work it instead of randomly using it, allowing everything to happen by chance, you would remember that you are the true operator of it and that you can use it to get almost any result you desire.

The outer layer, the first layer, is our physical body. This body is made of millions of cells that form our skin, flesh, muscles, bones, organs, nerves, and blood. Every cell of our body carries a memory, our DNA, like every other form of creation. Or why does a seed know if it is supposed to grow into an apple tree or a flower?

Just like our mind, our physical body also has a memory, but it’s actually much vaster. That is because the physical body is an expression of the whole history of humankind. Our physical body, our DNA, remembers information from thousands of years back. Our minds might not consciously remember anything about our ancestors, but when we look at old pictures, we might notice things that connect us to our ancestors.

Whilst the human body is made up of 70% water and water carries memory, conclusions could be drawn from new discoveries that human tears can hold a unique memory of an individual being, through the body’s store of water hosting a complete store of information that is linked to individual experience. Everyone is globally connected by the water in the human body which travels through ongoing journeys, whereby information along the way is always stored.

And obviously, emotional baggage is also stored in our physical body. Experiences are not only stored in our mind's memory. Often, the emotional memory we carry because we are not able to let go or to forgive

reflects in a person's body posture or their physical health. This is why in my book Yoga Coaching I show you how you can release emotional baggage through certain physical postures and techniques, tap into that memory and work through this layer of your being and on your energy and mind.

Whatever we consume, accumulates and becomes this body. Let's say you eat an orange, the organs digest the orange, dismantle it into subtle parts and those parts, according to the cells cell's memory, become this body. Let's look at a little child. The body is still small and through the food it consumes it grows into an adult body. According to the memory in its cells, it develops in a certain way. The child's nose will take on the same shape as it's mother's nose. This body is an accumulation of food and a piece of planet earth. It needs food and when it dies it becomes food.

See how this human existence is like any other. We come into this world, then take from the earth, accumulate more matter and at a certain point leave this world again, like any other being. And in the meantime, we ignore this fact. We live as if we were to stay here forever. We waste a lot of time on our short visit to this planet with struggles.

In the energy body, there are 72,000 nadis / energy channels or pathways according to Yoga science. The 72,000 nadis spring from three basic nadis, Ida and Pingala which represent certain qualities of nature, and Shushumna.

Where energy channels meet to distribute the energy in every direction, we call it a Chakra, an energy center, and each energy center is a storehouse and operator for certain aspects, emotions and functions of the human being. In a medical sense, people talk about a Plexus, a point in which many nerves come together to distribute information into the cells to keep them functioning and to communicate with each other.

Ida runs along the left side of the spine and through your left nostril. It represents the feminine aspect of life, Shakti, intuitive and regenerative qualities, the moon energy, coolness. It rules over the left side of the body and our right hemisphere of the brain.

Pingala runs along the right side of the spine and through your right nostril. It represents the masculine aspect of nature, Shiva, logical and active qualities, the sun energy, heat. It activates the right side of our body and the left hemisphere of the brain.

Sushumna runs through the center of the spine. One lives a fulfilling, purposeful, balanced and joyful life when Ida and Pingala are in balance and life energies enter into and run through Sushumna. Makes sense, no?

It is like empty space. If there is empty space, you can create anything you want. Once energies enter into Sushumna your inner balance does not depend on external circumstances anymore.

Wherever you are, whatever happens, you become part of that, but you do not judge, you simply ARE in balance, you experience freedom, you are not disturbed, you know that you are not the mind and its ideas.

Your inner wellbeing does not depend on anything or anyone anymore. Life simply flows through you, you experience life as being a part of it and you are open to explore all the possibilities of life joyfully and the peaks of consciousness!

A balanced Nadi system brings intuition and knowledge together and unfolds the full active and regenerative potential – it allows us to experience balance in life, no matter what happens. It allows us to conduct ourselves also in complex situations with ease, without freaking out and falling mentally and physically off balance.

You might have heard the term Hatha Yoga. Hatha Yoga is one of the supportive systems within the whole of Yoga. "Ha" means "sun" and "tha" means "moon," which represent the two energy flows on either side of the body. The goal of Hatha Yoga is the balancing or centering of these energies. Hatha deals primarily with the physical body and the breath to bring these subtle energies into balance. When that balance has been attained, the body is relaxed, the breath is smooth, slow, and steady, and the mind is calm.

From this stance of equanimity of body, breath and mind, one can then move on to the subtler goals of Yoga through meditation and contemplation. All physical yoga practices are preparing the bodies so that mediation can eventually happen.

You also might want to become aware of the fact that usually, during the day your energy shifts between the left and right channel. Some say every 40 minutes, others say every 90 minutes, but you can try this for yourself. Simply check during the day, which nostril is more active and that will give you an understanding of your thinking patterns and feelings during the day. When you feel a little off balance physically or mentally, you might notice that one nostril is overactive while the other isn’t. You notice that by observing the air passing through your nostrils, checking by closing off one nostril at a time. You slowly become aware how your energy flow is connected to your other bodies and especially to your mental activity.

So, when your left nostril is working better, your right side of the brain is active and when your right nostril works better, your left side of the brain is more active.

If you cut the body open and look in, you will not find those energy channels. But as you become more aware, you will notice the energy is not moving at random, it is moving in established patterns and pathways. There are 72,000 different ways in which the energy moves and we are able to guide our energies back onto a path when we feel off balance through physical yoga practice, breathing practice or meditation, energy work, nutrition, sound/music.

The Ida and Pingala energy channels that run along the left and right side of the spine represent the basic duality in the existence on which life is created. Without these two dualities, life wouldn’t exist as it does right now. In the beginning, everything is primordial, there is no duality. But once creation happens, there is duality, birth and death, good and bad, day and night.

Bringing a balance between the Ida and Pingala and directing the flow of life energy into the central channel Shushumna will make you effective in the world, it will make you handle life well. 

Try this breathing practice:

Close your right nostril with your right thumb.

Inhale through left nostril.

Close left nostril with right index finger.

Exhale through right nostril.

Keep left nostril closed. Inhale through right nostril.

Close right nostril.

Exhale left.

Inhale left.

Close left nostril.

Exhale right……..

And here is an energy work tool you can try out.  This lesson is part of my one-year course,

The Inner Revolution - learning how to operate your human instruments from within. In one chapter of this course, we are dealing with trauma, using a variety of tools to release traumatic experiences that hold us back from enjoying our life today.