Psycho-Physical Exercises

Spiritual Practices / Psycho-Physical Exercises

Psycho-Physical Exercises

Now let us learn four psycho-physical exercises. They got this name because their psychic component is combined with simultaneously performing physical movements, with the latter contributing to the mastering of the former. The basic idea of these exercises was invented by Peter Donov, a mystic of the beginning of the 20^th century; later it was developed by Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov, and then by us.

The first exercise of this series is called “Awakening”. A person awakens from a long sleep of self-isolation from harmony, beauty, and love of the outside world. (While standing, raise the hands up and stretch yourself as if after a sleep). Let all the purity, light, and the vitality from outside into you. Feel the waterfall of astonishingly pure, transparent, light, and subtle feelings and morning freshness flowing from above. Fill yourself with this morning freshness. Fill yourself with these fresh waves, overfill yourself with them! (Hands move down to the shoulders, as if assisting this process; then move up again, then repeat these movements several times). Try to reach as high and subtle an emotional state as possible.

The second exercise is called “Giving Away”. Hold your hands against the chest and then make a wide gesture moving them forward and apart: what we received we must give away to other people — the level of spiritual advancement of an individual is measured by his or her ability to give. Also, so that a vessel may get filled with fresh water it needs to be emptied first. He who does not empty himself by giving away what he has, does not get renewed, does not grow. We repeat this exercise again and again, pouring out, giving away all the good that we accumulated — generously, free, without desire to receive any reward. Send subtlest and intense waves of streaming fresh and pure love far forward. Feel how the chest gets inflated by energy of love that comes swelling from behind. A flower that exhales a tender fragrance starts to blossom out in the middle of chest. Send these bright vibrations forward. This is the fragrance of love itself!

The third exercise is “Reconciliation”. Raise the right hand above the head and concentrate in the palm and the space that immediately surrounds it. Then slowly bring the hand down and draw with it a sinusoid with a half-cycle of about thirty centimeters. The edge of the palm should be facing the direction of the hand’s movement. While doing this try to feel the space, in which the hand moves, as some energy field, to which we assign a new characteristic: peace, harmony, and calm. You may “extend” the hand mentally. (You may imagine various ways of performing dancing movements: jerky and quick versus gentle, smooth and elegant. Each of the ways disposes both the performer and the audience to corresponding emotional states). And this simple but powerful gesture, which symbolizes harmony, will be helping everyone as they master this exercise (one should feel it deeply through) in every situation, even if performed without being accompanied with movements of the body.

The fourth exercise of this group is called “Climbing Up”. Raise the hands up with the palms facing sideward and then bring them down laterally, making sweeps. Repeat this movement several times, with each sweep we are hatching out of another coarse envelope, as it were, and becoming lighter, purer, we raise to the source of the light above — the sun… It becomes very close to us; few more swings and we reach it… Flow into a space, which is filled with purest and subtlest light, and enjoy being in it… Then slowly get down to the earth feeling the sun in your chest. Touch the ground… and shine out at people and all other living beings with sunlight coming from your chest.