In ancient India, nature’s rhythms were highly respected and it was common to practice mind, body, spirit healing to align the body’s energies with the universal energies to experience inner peace.
The human body is composed of both male and female energies. The male energies are primarily governed by the sun which is constant and reflected in the masculine traits of logic, rigidity, and control. The female energies are primarily governed by the moon which waxes and wanes and reflected in the feminine traits of flow, receptivity and nurturing.
When our masculine and feminine energies become imbalanced, our chakras are affected which impacts our endocrine glands and leads to mental health ailments.
The following ancient healing practices regulate and reunite our masculine and feminine energies to embrace our wholeness and experience mental and emotional well-being.
6 Indian Healing Practices
1. Chlorophyll-Rich Foods
What we eat directly affects our masculine and feminine energies. Foods containing high levels of chlorophyll nourish and restore our body’s energies through the therapeutic vibration of nature. Chlorophyll-rich foods eaten in their raw form, detoxify our endocrine glands and regulate their hormonal secretions to balance our mood and emotions to alleviate depression.
Chlorophyll-rich foods include:
- Microgreens are nutrient-dense, miniature edible green plants, which are simple and inexpensive to grow indoors from seed. Experiment with buckwheat, chia, mustard, radish, and sunflower. Add to salads or smoothies.
- Cereal grasses are nutrient-rich blades of edible grass, which are simple and inexpensive to grow indoors from grain. Experiment with wheat, barley, rye, oats, and spelt. Extract the juice or blend with water and strain.
- Sprouts are enzyme-rich germinated seeds of grains, nuts, or legumes, which are grown under dark conditions and placed in the sunlight for twelve hours before consumption to absorb the sun’s energy. Experiment with alfalfa, almond, fenugreek, wheat, and mung. Add to salads or sprinkle over meals.
- Leafy green vegetables, herbs, and powdered algae. Follow a plant-based wholefood diet to empower the energies of the body and mind, to promote mental and emotional well-being.
2. Anti-Depression Acupressure Points
The following acupressure points regulate the healthy flow of vital energy throughout the body:
- Firmly massage your ring fingers, which are associated with your root chakra, to regenerate feelings of security, confidence, and vitality.
- Gently massage the webs between your big toe and second toe, to release physical tension and emotional anxiety.
- Massage the webs between your thumb and index finger to improve assimilation of physical, mental, and emotional experiences.
- Firmly press the area on either side of your spine, directly opposite the naval to rebalance the energy flows throughout your body.
- Practice for a few minutes, three times a day.
3. Sun-Healing Exercise
The Sun-healing exercise harnesses the healing power of the sun to replenish depleted masculine energy, increase vitality, release suppressed emotions, and promote joyfulness.
To practice:
- Stand barefoot on the bare earth, grass, or sand with your legs apart, facing the sun.
- Close your eyes, rub your hands together, and place them over your solar plexus chakra.
- Bring your awareness to any tension, anxiety, grief, or fear within your upper abdomen.
- Inhale deeply as you stretch your arms out to your sides, with your palms facing the sun.
- Retain your breath for a few seconds and visualize your solar plexus chakra gently drawing in the healing sun rays.
- Exhale, releasing any painful emotions and bring your hands back to your upper abdomen.
- Repeat several times to restore your solar plexus chakra.
- Practice in the morning.
The exercise can also be practiced in the evening, facing the moon to replenish depleted feminine energy, by placing your hands over your sacral chakra, which calms an overactive body and mind.
4. Sun/Moon Healing Breath
The sun/moon healing breath replenishes the body’s right and left side energies. It is believed that the right side of our body is governed by the bright, fiery, awakening masculine sun energy and the left side of our body is governed by the reflective, calm, cooling feminine moon energy.
To practice:
- Gently close your left nostril with your ring finger.
- Inhale through your right nostril for a mental count of four.
- Exhale through your right nostril for a mental count of eight
- Repeat eleven times in the morning to cleanse and stimulate your masculine energies and promote vitality.
- Gently close your right nostril with your ring finger.
- Inhale through your left nostril for a mental count of four.
- Exhale through your left nostril for a mental count of eight.
- Repeat eleven times in the evening to cleanse and stimulate your feminine energies and promote relaxation.
5. Anti-Depression Mudra
The Tse mudra balances the emotional energies.
To practice:
- Place your palms on your thighs with palms facing upwards.
- Place the tip of each thumb on the base of each little finger.
- Inhale deeply and bend your four fingers inwards to cover your thumbs.
- Retain your breath for a few seconds and bring your awareness to your emotions.
- Exhale, stretch your hands open and release your worries and anxieties.
- Repeat eleven times.
- Practice at sunrise and sunset.
6. Indian Head Massage
The benefits of a head massage using essential oils include:
- Relaxing the nervous system as the roots of your hair are connected to your nerves.
- Stimulating the endocrine gland acupressure points, on your crown and forehead.
- Quietening the mind to relieve mental and emotional distress.
- Dispelling the accumulated negative energy in the head.
- Calming and clearing negative thought processes.
- Increasing mental clarity and concentration.
- Releasing endorphins to elevate the mood.
- Promoting feelings of balance and calm.
- Apply the massage using small gentle circular motions starting at the hairline and working over the crown of the head and ending at the base of the neck, for up to twenty minutes, two times a week.
Traditional uplifting essential oils used for depression include jasmine, basil, ginger, peppermint, and lemon. Natural healing practices to alleviate depression assist in cleansing the negative energy from our physical, mental, and emotional body, to awaken our positive energies of hope, joy, and enthusiasm.