Removing your Obstacles to Healing

I traveled to Racine, Wisconsin recently to complete my professional level training in Maya Abdominal Therapy. Wisconsin was more exciting than it might sound – the training was held at Racine College campus, which is a 150 year old college built on the shore of Lake Michigan.  The sun rises early and bright!

I had not been sure who I would meet there – this training is not open only to massage therapists, but any ‘professional’ – midwives, nurses, obstetricians, psychiatrists, young women, older women, hippies?  And it was a beautiful blend of them all, and I felt that I was exactly in the right place at the right time, just like when I landed in school to study Ayurveda.

We spent the first night clearing our classroom and our sleeping spaces with burning copal, an incense from Belize, and a tree sap much like Frankincense.  We also set the fire alarm off, exciting the caretaker to our witch-y ways.

The Remover of Obstacles

I brought a little quartz crystal with me, and my mini Ganesh figurine.  I purchased the Ganesh my first day of school at the Kripalu School of Ayurveda, as I was waiting in the gift shop to find out if my grant was going to go through to study.  I knew Ganesh was considered the ‘remover of obstacles,’ and decided I needed a little help, however miniscule it might be. A few minutes later, I found out it was all going to be good, my partial grant was going to go through and I did not have to turn around a head home.

I’ve since then taken special care of this little Ganesh, and learned a bit more about him throughout the years as he is revered a lot by Ayurvedic practitioners.

I always thought that was an odd way of saying something – to be a ‘remover of obstacles.’  Like, what does that really mean?  How else might one describe it – to push things out of one’s way?  To answer a prayer?  But it isn’t exactly that – it’s not about magically making something happen for someone, but rather opening a path in front of them so they can take action.

Balance and Flow

Maya Abdominal Therapy improves homeostasis and hemodynamics.  On the first day of my classes last week, this idea of ‘removing the obstacles to healing’ came up again and again.  Just as when studying Ayurveda, my teachers knew it was important to emphasize that the therapist is not doing the healing, they are simply helping to removal blockages, whatever those may be, that are disconnecting a person from connecting to their own innate healing capacity. Because that’s the only kind of healing there is, and ever will be.

“It is not just a body in front of you, but an intelligence,” remind the words of Dr. Sunil Joshi.   This intelligence is the inherent wisdom in nature, or the Vix Medicatrix Naturae, an idea from ancient Greece which literally means the healing power of nature. (We could go on and on about this one…)

Whatever the gateway or catalyst, healing is a natural function of our being. The right signals just need to be going off, and those signals need to be able to reach their destination.

Here’s where we can come back to those two words (three?); homeostasis, hemodynamics, and I’ll add chi or prana. Basically balance, blood flow, and energy.  From studying Ayurveda, I have come to understand that intelligent energy is prana, while scattered energy can turn into a Vata-genic type of unregulated flow.  Prana is a healing energy, while Vata energy may be destructive.  When prana is blocked, whether do to constricted subtle or gross channels in the body, hemodynamics, or blood/lymph flow, is also compromised.  This may be a chicken or egg debate, and both sides have an equally valid argument as far as I can see.  Blood carries nutrients, oxygen, hormones and immune cells, or even wastes where they need to go.

Homeostasis is a body in balance.  Homeostasis implies, at least for the physical body, that we can very quickly and adequately adapt to changes in our environment inside and out. We can maintain a consistent body temperature for example, maintain a balanced blood pH, and regular removal of waste from the lungs and kidneys, or regulate sleep and sex hormones in the natural cycles.

 The elephant in the room

Ganesh is often found in yoga studios, and in Ayurvedic centers.  He is said to give good luck with new endeavors, especially in business.  I also read recently that not only is he the remover of obstacles, but that it is his dharma, his work, to place as well as remove obstacles based on one’s karma.

I know nothing about karma, so I don’t dare to delve into that topic for now.  Thought I think most of us have some sort of understanding of this word, and can see that it really implies the interconnectedness of all things.  There is no action without a reaction.  There may be a reason for everything, whether we can ever intellectualize it or not.  So perhaps when we take an interested in something (yoga or ayurveda, or Buddhism or Jesus or Quantum physics) it is because we need those teachings an understandings to help us get through this lifetime.  I believe that I was given to gifts of yoga and Ayurveda because I have a big ego that could otherwise get me into big trouble (karmically?) and Maya Abdominal Therapy because maybe I needed it in order to be fertile for some other being to come back and work out his or her karma…!  Like some people believe they may have gotten a terminal illness in order to be grateful for all they have, or experience a serious loss in exchange for some bigger perspective. (I’ll leave it to the rishis like Dr. Lad to go deeper on this awesome subject – I hear he’s publishing a book on it soon!) Do you know what I’m getting at?

Maybe those obstacles are put in our way in order for us to work out the way to remove them.  And in that there is some life lesson.

Maya Abdominal Therapy works directly on the core of our body – our abdomen and lower back – and invites openness and better blood flow by massaging and even moving our bones, ligaments and organs gently. It is proven to improve digestion and assimilation of nutrients, circulation and lymphatic drainage issues, fertility problems and all types of menstrual difficulties.  You can find a partial list of things it can help, here, or read my own healing story, here.

We need good blood flow and energy flow to achieve homeostasis.  If there are blockages or obstacles to flow, there is less than optimal functioning, and we have a weakened connection to our healing capabilities.

We need assistance on our path to balance and flow.  Obstacles are regularly there on the path, for whatever reason one might believe.  Learning more about the natural rhythms in our environment and within ourselves are a first step towards removing them.  Self awareness and self care go hand in hand, and Ayurveda and Maya Abdominal Therapy both provide real practical tools for everyone to learn and know and practice daily to increase connection and awareness of nature! Freakin’ awesome…right?!

I know that I need to work in a positive community or group (or partnership) to help me see around those blockages. Some may be habits keeping me from making the healthiest choices.  Along with having a community, I benefit from working with a teacher who is already walking that path and who can help keep me in integrity.

What are your obstacles? Tell me in the comments below, or fill out this form to get a free 20-minute consultation on the phone to discuss your personal health questions.

Love, Adena

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