Logic and the principles of health XIX –
The activation of cellular breathing and permeating cells with light

Originally posted in German on 13th March 2025

by Heinz Grill

In the previous articles the significance of actively developing the thinking, feeling and will in relation to the activation of self-healing forces was outlined. It is not an external exercise, method or mere change in diet that can heal a person profoundly, rather it is the way in which people actively set themselves aims in life and activate their whole mental being to new levels, so that the life forces are productively developed and truly new perspectives emerge. It is not a certain exercise that heals people, but the way in which they engage with the exercise and their resoluteness to realise new possibilities that lead them beyond the limits of illness and grant them better health.

In the case of cancer, a disease so widespread, it is extremely helpful if patients practice various yoga exercises, the so-called asanas, and particularly in a rhythmic interplay of conscious tension, dynamic activity and then specifically held calm and observation. Just as the breathing process glides through the lungs with an in and out breath, an increasing interplay between dynamic tension and aimed, conscious observation can arise with a yoga exercise. Both phases – the calm awareness and the elastic strengthening with the will – mutually support each other and lead to a deeper permeation of the whole organism with the breath.

How does this permeation of the whole body with breath and form take place? This relationship between stillness and movement can be clearly and practically demonstrated with an asana, for example, the half moon, āñjaneyāsana, one of the classic yoga exercises that is easily accessible at all stages of life. Those practicing start in a kneeling position with one leg forwards and then sink deeply with the hips towards the floor. The upper body remains light, the shoulders and neck free of tension. With a graceful movement, practitioners swing their arms upwards over their head and form the shape of a half-moon. A slight tension accompanies the hips, as the legs pull into themselves, enabling the body to remain relatively close to the ground. The backward bend, which should now unfold further in this asana, requires the different phases of calm observation and of building up the stretch in the spine with a clear aim and focus.

For this, partitioners make themselves very light in the upper body, observe the free-flowing breath and form a mental picture of where and how they can manage to permeate the spine with a stronger tension. They do not yet begin to actively apply the will but observe and remain in the asana with calm perseverance. Only after they have formed an overview and an exact mental picture of the next step do they start to implement it with the will and finally activate the backward bend in a next, furthered stage. Once they have reached this stage they remain again in calm, alert contemplation. During this contemplation the consciousness is highly active, but the body however remains motionless. These phases of calm and activation can be repeated several times. Both the dynamic as well as the calm mutually add to the intensity of the other. The more the calm phase is achieved with alert awareness and the mental picture of the next step is formed, the easier it is to stretch out further and overcome previous limits. In a rhythmic interplay those practicing therefore maintain awareness in a motionless position for about 10-15 seconds and then transition from this over to an active dynamic for about 5 seconds so that they generate an activity that overcomes previous limits. In total, the exercise can take about one to two minutes.

These forms of movement can be practiced with many different yoga exercises. Surya namaskara, the sun salutation, is typical of an interplay between tension and calm, briefly held inward awareness. Relaxed, light movements alternate with more difficult, centred, dynamic steps. This provides a rhythmic, form-building, highly active, and both physical as well as mental strengthening.

To maintain health, the entire cell system requires both a good permeation with breath, via the mitochondria,¹⁾In the mitochondria ideally the oxygen that is taken in with the air we breathe is used to generate energy. However, this process no longer takes place in cancer cells. They do not obtain their energy from oxygen but via anaerobic breakdown processes. and also a kind of permeation with light.²⁾The permeation of the cell system with light can be thought of as the action of structuring and shaping forces that work on the cells. Cells need these structuring forces just as plants need sunlight. Without the sunlight streaming in, plants will tend to straggly growth in well-conditioned earth, losing their shape, structure and proportions. Without the form-giving light, cells too would lose their shape and structure in the tissue.

Through this rhythmic practice, which requires a high degree of self-activity and awareness, individuals facilitate a deeper permeation into the body’s entire intercostal tissue and, pictorially seen, transport the external light right into the cells. In metaphysical terms, a kind of light metabolism takes place in the organism through the rhythmical practice. This rhythmical practice can be extraordinarily helpful both as a prophylaxis and as a therapeutic support for various diseases of the cell system. However, practitioners should not only practice this alternating interplay of relaxation and tension as a method, rather, they should choose the beauty and elegance that the asana practice offers as an aim for their life. Out of the calmness, movement develops – gentle, centred, full of light and strength, and this leads back to a greater relaxation and aliveness in the organism. Both the vascular system as well as the entire muscular system experience a kind of lively permeating movedness, that enables them to return to a rejuvenating and regenerating condition.