Five Ways to Survive the End of the Kali Yuga
By Keith Sherwood
Breathe Like a Yogi
When you breathe like a yogi, you can use universal feminine energy (prana) to renew yourself and to adapt to the changes that will take place now that the Kali Yuga has ended. It’s the breath that carries prana in its most concentrated form through your “subtle energy system” on the level of soul, and it is through proper breathing that you can increase your level of prana and use it like you would electricity for any useful purpose.
If your breath isn’t complete, if it’s shallow, if you breathe through your mouth, or unconsciously hold your breath between inhalation and exhalation, you will disrupt the flow of prana through your subtle energy system. This in turn can interfere with your relationship to Gaia as well as your ability to share pleasure, love, intimacy, and joy with the people closest to you. It can disrupt the functions of your chakras, which can interfere with your creativity, sense of belonging, contentment, ability to assert your personal rights, and to express yourself freely. By performing the Yogic Breath, you can avoid these problems and breathe like a child in the healthiest way possible.
To perform the exercise, sit in a comfortable position with your back straight. Then place the palm of your positive hand – right hand if you’re right-handed, left hand if you’re left-handed – on your abdomen.
Then close your eyes and inhale through your nose, filling your lower lungs with air. With your hand on your abdomen, you’ll feel the muscles of your diaphragm stretch as your stomach becomes slightly extended. Continue to inhale, feeling air and prana fill the middle and upper part of your lungs. Your shoulders will lift, and the muscles of the rib cage will stretch as your lungs expand. During the mid-breath, some people feel pain in the upper back between the shoulder blades. The pain is caused by muscles that, over the years, have contracted and have become stiff. This is largely due to improper breathing. Don't let a little discomfort discourage you; press on! In a few days, the discomfort will disappear, and your muscles will return to their normal state of elasticity.
After air has filled your lungs, let it continue to rise, filling your nasal passages and head, giving you a light pleasant sensation. When you exhale, reverse the process, letting the nasal passages empty first and then the upper, mid, and lower lungs. Your shoulders will naturally drop, and your diaphragm will return to its normal position. Without separation between inhalation and exhalation, continue this exercise for about five minutes. At first, reserve special times during the day for practice, but once you’ve mastered the rhythm, you should make this form of breathing the norm.
Now, A NOTE OF WARNING: be sure that you’re gentle with yourself! Don't fall victim to watching your breathing all the time. Don't become obsessive about it – or, instead of liberating yourself, you will restrict yourself even more.
Be Here Now
To be here Now, your awareness must be centered within your body-space, and you must lower your brain wave frequency from the beta level to the alpha-theta level.
Brainwave frequencies represent different states of brain activity. Alpha waves are associated with relaxation, daydreaming, and the lighter stages of sleep. Theta waves are associated with creativity, deep relaxation, meditation, and the deeper stages of sleep. Beta waves, on the other hand, are associated with active thinking, focused attention, and alertness.
To be here Now, find a comfortable position with your back straight. Take several deep breaths; then close your eyes and relax.
Closing your eyes will immediately stimulates alpha-theta wave production. Continue breathing deeply while you slowly count backwards from 5 to 1. As you count back- wards, mentally repeat and visualize each number three times to yourself. When you reach number 1, repeat this affirmation to yourself: “I’m now deeply relaxed, feeling better than I did before.”
Continue by counting backward from ten to one, letting yourself sink deeper on each descending number. When you reach the number one, assert: “Every time I come to this level of mind, I’m able to use more of my mind in more creative ways.” Then assert: “It’s my intent to center myself in my personal body space and to be here Now.” Take twenty minutes to experience the ever-present Now. Then count from one to five. When you reach the number five, open your eyes. You’ll feel wide awake, perfectly relaxed, and better than you did before.
Suck Up More Negative Ions
Negative ions are created in nature as oxygen molecules break apart due to sunlight, wind, and water. They’re odorless, tasteless, and invisible, and we inhale them in abundance in certain environments. Think mountains, waterfalls, and beaches. Once they reach the bloodstream, negative ions increase the level of the mood enhancing chemical serotonin. Research indicates that enhanced serotonin levels help alleviate depression, relieve stress, and boost energy – all of which will enhance your well-being and help you adapt to the changes taking place in your subtle field, now that the Kali Yuga has ended.
Moving water is one of the most accessible sources of negative ions. It exists within a quantum field, which means it’s a multidimensional substance that contains life-affirming subtle energy. The quantity of subtle energy it contains is determined by whether it has been nourished by its environment or not. Water that has traversed pristine habitats and has interacted with fields of energy with universal qualities will contain the most life-affirming energy, and – under the right conditions – it will produce the most negative ions.
Fortunately, every home has a built-in source of negative ions – the shower. I suggest that you give yourself a negative ion bath by spraying your body with cold water from the shower head at least once a day.
Enhance & Balance the Activity of Your Chakras
Chakras are vortexes that transmit life-affirming energy through your subtle energy system on the level of soul. Each chakra regulates energy in a specific band of frequencies.
To benefit from the changes taking place now that the Kali Yuga has ended, you need to enhance and balance the flow of energy through your traditional seven chakras. The first five traditional chakras are located along your spine; the sixth and seventh are in your head. If you practice the following technique known as “Chakra Balancing” regularly, it will enhance the function of your chakras and bring them into balance.
To perform Chakra Balancing, find a comfortable position with your back straight. Then close your eyes and breathe deeply through your nose for two to three minutes. Once you’re relaxed, count backward from five to one and from ten to one. When you reach the number one, repeat this affirmation to yourself in words, not thoughts: “I’m deeply relaxed, feeling better than I did before.” Continue by asserting: “It’s my intent to bring my mental attention to my first chakra at the base of my spine.” Almost immediately, the chakra will begin to vibrate, making it easy for you to locate it. Once the chakra has begun to vibrate, breathe into it so that the prana entering your subtle field on each inhalation activates the chakra even more. Next, place the palm of your positive hand above the front of the chakra gate (right hand if you’re right-handed, left hand if you’re left-handed). Each palm contains an energy center that radiates life-affirming energy. For the first chakra, place your palm between your legs about six inches (15 cm) below your perineum. Continue by chanting ohm three times, in the tone that resonates with the chakra; the tone for the first chakra will be G.
Raise the tone for each chakra, going through the seven tones of the major musical scale. Chakra balancing takes only three to four minutes, but the results can be profound. Not only can the exercise strengthen and revitalize your subtle energy system on the level of soul; it can protect you from the negative fields during the transition from the Kali Yuga to the Dvapara Yuga.
Ideally, Chakra Balancing should be practiced twice a day, in the morning and late afternoon.
The Golden Light Technique
The following exercise will enhance the flow of chi through your subtle field on the level of spirit; it’s called the “Golden Light Technique.” It’s based on the work of Taoist adepts and contemporary researchers who recognize that many blockages and Self-limiting patterns in your subtle field on the level of spirit were created during the Kali Yuga.
According to Taoist adepts, chi is at the center of all human interactions. When it flows freely, people can share pleasure, love, intimacy, and joy with one another without restrictions. When it has been blocked, relationships will be disrupted because people will lose the capacity to empathize with one another and to express themselves freely on the level of spirit.
In ancient times, the center of Taoist teaching was China. It was there in the 6th century BCE where the basic principles were laid out by Lao Tzu, who explained that the physical-material world was the outer manifestation of a non-physical world of energy (and consciousness). According to Lao Tzu and the Taoist adepts that followed him, super-charging your subtle energy field required the three dantians (large reservoirs of chi) to function as designed. This meant that they must be filled with life-affirming energy and that chi – and its manifestation as jing – had to flow freely through the appropriate energy gates and meridians.
Contemporary Taoists adepts continue to teach that there are three dantians. In their system, the first dantian is situated in the center of the abdomen; the second dantian is located in the center of the chest, and the third dantian is located in the center of the head. However, after forty years of research, I’ve learned that Taoist anatomy is more complex and that there are seven dantians. In my revised system, the first dantian is located between the feet and is connected to two smaller cavities and two energy gates located by the soles of the feet. The second dantian is located between the knees and is connected to two smaller cavities and two energy gates located by the knees. The third dantian is located at the base of the spine and is connected to two smaller cavities and the energy gate located by the perineum. The fourth, fifth, and sixth dantians correspond to the abdominal, chest, and head dantians accepted by classical Taoism. The seventh dantian is located six centimeters above the head and is connected to two cavities and an additional energy gate (the fifteenth) above the head that support it.
In the Golden Light Technique, you will increase the amount of life-affirming energy you have available for your daily activities by enhancing the amount of chi you have stored in your seven dantians. Having more chi available will do more than just energize you – it will enable you to experience higher levels of consciousness and will enable you to share more life-affirming energy and consciousness with the people you love.
To perform the Golden Light Technique, find a comfortable position with your back straight. Then close your eyes and breathe deeply through your nose for two to three minutes. Deep nasal breathing will help you to relax. Once you’re relaxed, assert in words, not thoughts: “It’s my intent to bring my mental attention to my first dantian located between my feet.” Once your mental attention has been centered in your first dantian for a few moments, bring your hands up to your chest and – with the palms facing each other – rub the tips of your corresponding fingers together until you feel a golden flame (chi) ignite in the center of the dantian. Experience the flame getting stronger until your first dantian has been filled with its light. Take a few moments to enjoy the effects. Then remove your attention from your first dantian and assert: “It’s my intent to bring my mental attention to my second dantian, between my knees.” Rub the tips of your corresponding fingers together again until you feel a golden flame ignite in the center of your second dantian. Take a few moments to enjoy the effects, which will intensify as more chi becomes available. After you’ve removed your attention from your second dantian, assert: “It’s my intent to bring my mental attention to my third dantian, at the base of my spine.” Rub the tips of your corresponding fingers together again until you feel a golden flame ignite in the center of the dantian. Take a few moments to enjoy the effects. Then continue in the same way, activating your fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh dantians. Take a few moments to enjoy the effects. Then complete the energetic circuit by bringing the tip of your tongue to the back of your upper teeth and putting the soles of your feet together. By completing the circuit, you will enhance the distribution of chi through the organs of your subtle field and physical-material body.
Once your tongue and feet are in position, imagine that all the molecules of your body are being filled by golden light. Then feel the light expand until it surrounds you on all sides. Let yourself float in this pool of chi for an additional ten minutes. Then return your tongue, feet, and hands to their normal position and count from one to five. When you reach the number five, open your eyes and bring yourself out of the exercise.
I recommend that you practice the Golden Light Technique every other day, in the morning before you eat. By making it part of your regular regimen of energy work, you will continue to increase the amount of life-affirming energy and consciousness that you can share with your friends and family on the level of spirit, and you will be able to enjoy the benefits available to you now that the Kali Yuga has ended.