In yoga there is a network of energy conduits called the karmendriyas, or control organs. They are the compliments to the jnanendriyas, the sensory organs.
While the karmendriyas are unknown in Western medicine they are the vehicles used in Shiatsu and the Martial Arts. Western medicine starts from exploration of the physical supposing this to be the origin of life, not the outcome.
However the Nadis are a more subtle expression of the system which expresses as the karmendriyas, and are the basis of it. They permeate the body and unfold Consciousness, like the silken sheaths which surround the body of a sheikh, sometimes shown as the flames which surround a buddha.
Among reports of the Nadis some claim there are 144000 of these channels which they divide into two. One group among them is called the Pranonadis, while the second is called the Jnanonadis. The PranoNadis reach out into the universe seeking contact with the outside and are called the vehicles of breath. This is why we catch our breath when we encounter something unfamiliar. The Jnanonadis are the return vehicles which carry that knowledge back to the Consciousness of the individual.
The karmendriyas are focused into five specific organs, though the channels run throughout the body. These are generally referred to as the throat or voice, the hands, the feet, the penis and the anus. It is via these five organs that we impose our will upon the world.
Consider the role of a demanding parent. The child ignores the first instruction, as a response the parent raises their voice. When this fails the parent may wag their finger at the child while repeating their demand. On further refusal the parent stamps the foot. These actions demonstrate the karmendriyas in action, at the same time there can be a tightening of the anus.
The Karmendriyas are the system behind the western psychological study ‘person watching’ which describes various postures adopted by people and what these postures reveal about the way the individual is feeling. Originally called ‘Manwatching’ this was the title of the book Desmond Morris published in 1978 that began that particular study in the West. The psychological states are described but not the cause of the postures adopted. It is likely Morris was unaware of their existence. Since the book was published before the era of ‘political correctness’ in speech the title was inoffensive, but later would prove so which caused the study to be renamed the neutered ‘person watching’.
However I mention tendons as I am having particular problems with them at the moment. This is another system which is ignored by Western medicine. The tendons, biology teaches us, are the means whereby muscles are attached to bones. This is again to take a very limited view of their role. They constitute a unique system of their own.
Currently I am moving through the final stages of releasing an injury caused in 2007 which displaced my hips. I was suffering from sciatica which left my left foot hanging. As I tried to open a particularly stiff door to the hotel room I was staying in in Bath I pushed hard down on my left foot which folded under me and caused a sprained ankle. It put my hips out of whack and has caused many years of suffering, not only in the left ankle but also the right knee, the hips and the spine.
These are becoming gradually re-aligned and in the process teaching me a great deal about the body. Many people suffer from misplaced hips and the modern medical response is to replace the hips. Completely ignoring the karmendriyas which play through the body, or indeed the tendons, modern medicine applauds itself for releasing the patients from the pain they were suffering while at the same time telling us ‘pain is the way the body has of telling us something is wrong’.
My advice to anyone reading this is do not try to relieve the pain but work, through the breath, to release the blockage which is causing it in the first place. This might involve re-awakening painful memories from past lives, animal as well as human. But the soul, which you are, carries all of this knowledge within itself. Take courage and face the trials that you have suffered from living in this world. Breathe your way through the trials and release those blocks which are hindering your wholeness and wellbeing.
