Logic and principles of health VI – Strengthening the consciousness through attention

The articulation into a relaxed upper part of the body with its sensitive sensory impressions, a dynamic middle out of the thoracic spine and a calm, strong lower base of the back and pelvic area, imparts a very harmonious relationship between the body’s general ways of being. Those who endeavour to achieve this articulation in the body and beyond this in their consciousness can counteract many degenerative diseases. Not only do the lumbar, thoracic and cervical regions of the spine gain a more favourable distribution of tone and dynamic tension but all the tissue and the organs of the abdominal area also benefit from this condition.

As already outlined in the other articles, the right activity enables the most important healing effects, because it is not by chance that, for example, a practitioner is dynamic in the middle and relaxed above, it is rather the result of conscious mental forming and an ordered activity with the body and its movements. Passive letting-oneself-go or hasty, desire-driven, rapid completion of work inevitably leads to an entanglement of the upper, middle and lower areas of the consciousness. In states of inertia or hyperactivity, a clear, overseeing thinking, consciously guided by awareness is always lost. The will rises to the head and drives the intellect to restlessness with a hasty desire for success; or it is the emotions that, plagued by disinclination, create depression and bind the mind to the body. At many times, people feel as if paralysed, because they do not bring about this right activity, orientation towards an aim and a perspective for accomplishing appropriate tasks. The head, the middle and the stomach are ultimately like an untransparent, lightless, enveloped conglomerate. If, through a consciously created activity, people succeed in freeing the thinking from the haste of the will and from the emotions, ordering the feelings according to healthy perceptions and thoughts, and leading the forces of the will into a rational activity orientated towards an aim, this condition quickly has the effect of a purifying, thorough forming of the body. It is like a new light that can penetrate the physical apparatus better. Both in the connective tissue, for example, in the arteries and the tendon sheaths, muscle insertions and the cell groups that hold structure in the organs, as well as in the muscles and the parenchymatous tissue, fewer deposits and hardenings form and with this a good dynamic function can be maintained. The symptoms of congestion that are so often evident with exhaustion and depletion are counteracted by the light of articulation that actually arises from the conscious activity and encounter of the senses, thoughts and subtle feelings. In fact, those who can create this activity of articulation feel themselves to be – and not only metaphysically speaking – in a better form of relationship and with this in a lighter subtle feeling.

In addition to exercises with the physical body or with the breath, simple soul exercises, which are guided by conscious observation, offer a very beneficial opportunity to support this foundation. For example, people can choose a very technical object, such as a car, and closely observe its external form. How do the curves, corners and edges form part of the whole? An exercise of this kind can be carried out for about five minutes. How are the lights, windows, rear and outer motor front composed? Liking or disliking, pleasure or displeasure, as well as hasty judgements should not be a disturbance during the observation exercise or, better said: they should not be involved at all. The knowledge and perception that someone acquires about a very technical object, such as a car, develop through the attention and conscious mental picturing. The form of the object being observed is experienced in the thoughts.A technical object was deliberately chosen for this exercise, so that it becomes obvious that it is merely a matter of observation. Many people might say, “I don’t want to look at a car because it is environmentally unfriendly, I would much prefer to look at a flower in nature. This appears to be closer and more attractive to my mind.” Of course, those practising can choose the objects of the contemplation according to their affinities. However, when observing an object with a clear mental picture and objective awareness, practitioners should not fall into an effusive or indulgent way of being. A technician, who lives in a world of engineering-related numbers, should therefore perhaps occasionally take an object of nature and enthusiastic nature lovers can direct their attention to objects for which they have less associative feelings. The objective observation then becomes freer from emotions and quick judgements. Those who engage in these exercises for just five minutes a day, will notice that their will, their mood and their thoughts reach a better level of order. An articulation is accomplished through carrying out this activity.

The effects of these exercises should not be underestimated. Diets, fasting or water cures can be carried out to cleanse the tissues of the body. However, the activity of consciousness leads not indirectly but directly to a first light of articulation in the body and therefore the purifying effect is very significant. The production of waste in the various types of tissue in the body is reduced, especially when the consciousness is cultivated in this way regularly.

For the next portrayal three basic principles from Indian philosophy will be described in terms of their value for healing therapy. They are helpful and expanding for the occidental mental understanding.