Our breath is our lifeforce, contained in a single action is the essential building block to our consciousness. It is easy to lose track of our breathing, one minute aware, the next moving thoughtlessly through life again.

Our body responds powerfully to the differentiation in our breath patterns, relaxing when feeling full of air, and tightening when out of breath.

In moments of stress and panic, breathing shortens and speeds up exponentially, restricting our body and carrying less oxygen to the brain. Our body responds with continuous panic, until we slow down our breathing and gain control of our mind.

Square breath is one way to slow down breathing. To do this, inhale to a count of four, hold to a count of four, exhale to a count of four, and hold again to a count of four. To maintain the cycle, it is necessary to place attention solely on the breath, and to maintain awareness of the body’s interaction with the mind.

Another yogic breathing technique is alternate nostril breathing where you plug the right nostril while breathing in through the left, hold, then release through the right, then reverse the process by breathing in through the right nostril while holding the left, then letting go and plugging the right. This also helps to balance the right and left hemispheres of the brain, enabling more creativity and analytical thinking as well as activities.

If these techniques are too complicated, you can place awareness on your breath and think ‘inhale’ with each inhale, and ‘exhale’ with each exhale. This helps the mind place attention on the breath, steadying a chaotic mind and body.

You can also try a visualization technique. For this, you picture yourself inhaling golden air, and exhaling dark energies from your body. As you keep inhaling golden air and exhaling dark air, you begin to feel the chaotic feelings clear, welcoming in healing energies and relaxation.

For each of these techniques, practice them for several minutes until the mind is calm. Remember, our breath is our lifeforce, the anchor to our consciousness and the peace to our panic.

Ancient humans believed the northern and southern lights were massive spirits in the sky, possibly originating the theory of dragons. The rainbows in the sky have generated much mythology throughout the ages, from the ancient Chinese who saw dragons in the sky to the Irish who invented leprechauns. In the book of Genesis, Noah sees a rainbow sent from Gd and sees a sign god’s promise to never flood the Earth again.

In the Himalayas, Tantric Buddhism emerged in the 7-12th centuries, called the Pala-period, and was fueled by cultural infusions from Hindu Tantra and Shakta, the Goddess-worshiping traditions. They believed in the rainbow body as a state of nirvana through the energetic system of the chakras, in which a rainbow is lit up along the spinal cord. The practices have similar concepts of serpent worship and energy movement as the Ancient Egyptians in the 2nd Century CE, who believed a snake lived at the pituitary gland, or third eye, or the seat of magic.

The chakra system works to move energy from the base, red chakra, to the top of the head and out through the purple chakra. Through the breath and visualization, the yogi sees prana, or lifeforce energy, moving through the channel of the spine like an uncoiling serpent, unlocking spiraling balls of energy at points along the body, in the pattern of a rainbow.

How to practice Chakra meditation: Begin to deepen your breath: inhales, exhales. Envision white light entering your mouth and blood stream as you inhale, and the dark waste from your system leaving as you exhale. Let your spine naturally straighten with each breath, or not, just be comfortable.

A note on color visioning- breathe deeply and think of a color. Let the blackness of your mind’s eye find the color, in your memory, or sunlight, or grass, or the ocean. Or Vegetables and fruits, or your mother’s dress. Anything that lets you feel the color.

Beginning at the root chakra, or the tip and base of your spinal cord where your tail might be connected to the matter beneath you. The root is a dark blood red. Breathe in through your nostrils and let the red air travel down to the root of your spine.

There may be a glowing orb here, it may circle one way or another like atoms charged, there may be nothing but your spine, see it, and send the red energy here.

Next move your attention to your waist, the top of your pelvis, where there is an orange chakra glowing, radiating, creativity through your body. Breathe in oranges and send it down to the belly.

Straighten, breathe deeply, stretch, allow newness into your body, and let staleness out.

Then move up to around your belly button and let in yellow here. The point is vibrating bright sunshine from your mind’s eye to the yellow chakra point at your belly.

Slowly, deeply, inject pure yellow into this point that controls all the excretory systems in your body. Feel the energy lifting from your red root, orange pelvis, and yellow stomach.

Next is the heart chakra, radiating in the middle of your breast plate, bright green. Fill the heart with nature, trees, grass, the smells, the feelings. This chakra allows you to love naturally. Allow green to enter your mind’s eye whenever you are seeking love.

Moving up the spinal cord, the 5th chakra is the vocal cords, in the middle of your throat, and control your communications. Breath blue- oceans, skies, blueberries, here to control and bring truth and power to your most powerful expression.

Moving up to your third eye, the place between the middle and the eyebrows, the crown chakra is purple. Here lies your intuition, higher thoughts, the junction of your mind and spirit. Breathe royal amethyst crown energy here.

Breathe deeply. Align. This is your moment to connect with yourself, your chi, the air, the planet, the universe.

When you are ready, and the chakras are glowing, breathe clear energy in, down through the front of your body, then into your root chakra, and up, seeing each color in a line, up through your charged spinal cord to the top of your head, where it streams out glowing white light to the everything.

Breathe in and through the white light until you are ready to return to nothing. To come out gently wiggle each finger and toe, then shake gently, and stretch. Reward yourself with a drink- water, tea, juice. Be gentle with yourself, your body is your temple.

Our psychic prowess is centered in our brain, in a small gland called the pineal gland.

Glands are important control centers of the body, primarily regulating hormonal releases, which are essential to human functioning. Excreting chemicals through sweat, most gland systems are the garbagemen of the body, cleaning the blood stream and pushing toxins to the surface.

The pineal gland is so special: it is situated in between the two hemispheres of the brain, tucked into where the hypothalamus joins the frontal lobes. The hypothalamus has been called the Gd center and is believed to be the seat at which we hold feelings and our empathic responses. It also communicates directly with all of our organs and helps to regulate their functions. It is attached and communicates with the pineal gland, which resembles a tiny pinecone, and contains cells like the cornea, lens, and retina in the eye, so that the pineal gland is photosensitive.

There is little known about the pineal gland in modern science. We have found the pineal gland is floating in highly charged cerebrospinal fluid, and receives more blood flow than any other organ, endowing the small gland with the highest concentration of energy in the body. It produces a chemical called pinoline, and a serotonin-derivative, melatonin, which is a hormone that effects wake/sleep patterns, and our response to the changing seasons. Melatonin also has been found to affect our mood, and in connection with our hearts, our perception and ability to love. It has also been found to have a profound effect on aging, as melatonin suppresses the growth hormone cortisol. The production of melatonin is stimulated by darkness and inhibited by light, entraining us to the 24-hour circadian rhythm of the earth around the sun.

Although scientists strive to explain the function of the pineal gland, throughout history scholars have understood the small grouping of cells as the seat of the soul, and the place from which humans can build transcendence and psychic abilities. It is believed melatonin quiets the body and mind, allowing states of higher consciousness. Pinoline and another natural secretion of the gland, DMT, are psychoactive, allowing changes in our perception and behavior, as well as effecting dream states and waking visions.

DMT is produced in the pineal gland during deep meditation, and other extraordinary experiences like sexual ecstasy, and during the REM phase of sleep. DMT is linked to the visionary states of the spirit of higher consciousness.

Renes Descartes, of the ‘I think therefor I am’ wisdom, and other similar French philosophers, espoused theories claiming the pineal gland was the connection between intellect and body, because of its central and solitary location in the brain. Enlightenment-age philosophers likely garnered such ideas from far more ancient scholars, as the history of the study of the third eye can be traced back to Egyptian and Zoroastrian times, in which ancient priests taught that energetic snakes live at the base of the spine, uncoiling as transcendental states are achieved, and connecting at the top of the head through the third eye.

It has been found that heavy metals like fluoride, which can be found in most municipal water  supplies, as well as pesticides and antibiotics can accumulate within the pineal gland as  phosphate crystals, forming a hard shell around the gland. This calcification has been shown to 

lower the production of melatonin, impair the sleep/wake cycle, and further disrupt our  regulation of circadian rhythms. 

It is possible to decalcify the pineal gland through herbs and mushrooms like chaga, algae, and  apple cider vinegar, as well as other detoxifying agents. It is also shown that intentional  psychedelic use and regularly practicing meditation revive and build the strength of the pineal  gland. Since the pineal gland is photoreceptive, ancient yogis have practiced alternating sun gazing and light-deprivation to stimulate the production of melatonin. 

Four ways to stimulate and decalcify your pineal gland: 

1. Meditation: all forms of meditation, from breath centered to guided sessions, have a  profound effect on the central nervous system and the brain. By shifting brain states from  normal functioning to the theta state, the pineal gland responds by calming and healing  the body. 
2. Psychedelics: entheogens such as cannabis and psylocibin expedite the entrainment  process, allowing the body to slip into a charged states of relaxation that in conjunction  with the right mind set and setting, can heighten psychic abilities. 
3. Eating right: Avoiding antibiotics in commercial meat, and pesticides on produce, is an  easy way to detoxify the brain and body. By adding supplements like adaptogens and  other detoxifying agents like ACV or citrus, the pineal gland can clean itself for optimal  functioning. 
4. Dreaming: By actively using visualization methods, it is possible to stimulate pineal  function and actively release neurochemicals that are usually only released during REM  sleep, shifting the brain state into higher consciousness.

Many public spaces like our office buildings and subways use fluorescent lighting. This bulb is very bright, which discharges Mercury gas in short waves. This gas is harmful if broken and ingested, making the lightbulbs very unsafe, and they are too bright to the visual spectrum. There are many energy-efficient alternatives that are not fluorescent and are better for the human eye.

At a minimum, we can control our home lighting to create more soothing environments. Home lighting is important because it should create a Zen atmosphere, so non-fluorescent bulbs are crucial. Funky colors are also an option to employ color therapy. Subtly placing blues, purples, or off-whites, can set the mind to more relaxed wave lengths, correlating with the longer color wavelengths at the end of the rainbow spectrum.

SAD light boxes have been shown to ease feelings of depression and seasonal mood swings as they use bright white light simulating the power of the sun. Promoting the output of positive brain chemicals like serotonin, the light box can regulate circadian rhythms, easing insomnia and linked side effects.

How to: Research alternative safe lightbulb options for the home and consider making known our displeasure with the use of energy-inefficient fluorescents in the office-space and public spaces.