College is stressful. That is commonly agreed upon after experiencing the allnighters, endless finals and papers, hours of commuting and disassociation from all social circles.
With the immense pressure one feels in college, especially entering and exiting the institution, a simple deep breath isn’t going to do the trick. The effects are too adamant for a quick five minute break, so for the stresses of college, drastic relaxation methods may need to be performed.
That notion is something The Sahaja Meditation Group was aware of, and so they decided that students needed access to opportunities of supreme relaxation and inner alignment. The organization’s advisor Ruchi Bhatnagar, who manages the organization on the Alpharetta campus, informed The Signal of the inner workings of the Sahaja’s meditation process, effects and historic background.
From Stressed to Serine
“Meditation is a proven technique to release stress and students have a lot of stress. There’s just so much going on in their lives that they need an avenue for stress relief,” Bhatnagar said. “That is the biggest advantage of doing the meditation, and with this meditation the goal is to awaken that energy that lives within us, the Kundalini energy. So when you awaken it, you can benefit from it all the time. So whether you are in the class or outside of the class, you can still feel it, you can feel it everywhere. And it is the best way to stay balanced in spite of all the pressure that you have in your life.”
Kundalini energy is defined as “A type of energy that sits dormant in the first chakra, at the base of the spine,” according to ramalila.org. However, when the energy is concentrated through meditation, it can be extremely beneficial to the body’s amity and stress levels.
“Before you fix a problem you have to know where the problem lies. That’s where the chakras come in,” Bhatnagar said. “There are seven chakras in our body, and the Kundalini tells us what the status of our chakras is, like which ones are strong and which ones are weak. And that’s when you realize what aspects of your physical body need working, and then you work on each chakra. You will remove the obstacles within the chakra, and then you become balanced again. So once they are aligned again, you feel perfect harmony within you and in a good state of health.”
The practice of Sahaja has been around for countless years and originated in India. It started in the 1970s and was founded by Shri Mataji, and since then has been practiced in over 110 countries, according to Bhatnager. Its purpose was to attain self-realization through yoga techniques and meditation, and Mataji aimed for individual inner growth when introducing this concept.
“It is everyone’s right to achieve this state of ones evolution and everything necessary is already inbuilt. But as I respect your freedom, you have to have the desire to achieve this state, it cannot be forced upon you,” Mataji said on Sahajayoga.org.
The idea of one achieving self alignment and eventually gaining access to their personal Kundalini energy is only achievable with self-determination. It is a practice that can not be fully performed when the body is under the sensation of force and disinterest. When one truly wants to grasp a balanced and stress-free existence is when the Kundalini energy becomes accessible.
“That energy is in us but we are not aware of its presence, and it has not awakened. So when you do awaken that energy, its purpose is to get rid of the excessive stress that we have within us. We become our masters in a way,” Bhatnagar said.
The meditation can only be successful in the elimination of stress, when we examine the body’s seven chakras: Root Chakra, Sacral Chakra, Solar Plexus Chakra, Heart Chakra, Throat Chakra, Third Eye Chakra and Crown Chakra. The meditation allows you to sense the disruptions within the elements in your body and that need re-evaluating, and then one becomes proactive in improving those aspects in life.
“You guide your own road. You also become aware of yourself, and what are the circumstances that make you imbalanced or not, and then you improve those,” Bhatnagar said. “There are meditation techniques that they teach that help us relieve stress from the various chakras. We use the five natural elements, so the water element, the fire element, the air element, the sky [ether]element and the earth element. These can be incorporated into our meditation, for us to come back into balance.”
The Seven Chakras: A Closer Look
7) Crown Chakra: This is located at the top of the head and it focuses on information, understanding, acceptance and bliss. The blocking of this chakra can be caused or can cause psychological problems.
6) The Third Eye Chakra: It is located at the center of the forehead and is used to question the spiritual nature of our life. It is the chakra of question, perception, knowing, inner vision, intuition and wisdom. When connecting with this chakra, it is possible to receive dreams of this life and memories of past lifetimes.
5) Throat Chakra: It is located within the throat and centers around communication, creativity, self-expression and judgement. When blocked it can be signs of creative blocks, dishonesty, and problems with communication.
4) Heart Chakra: Located with the heart and is the center of love, compassion, harmony and peace.
3) Solar Plexus Chakra: This is located a few inches above the navel and is is concerned with the emotional life of a body. It connects with power, laughter, joy, anger, sensitivity and ambition.
2) Sacral Chakra: Located between the spine and the navel, this chakra represents desire, pleasure, sexuality, procreation and creativity.
1) Root Chakra: This one is located at the base of your spine and is the chakra that is closest to the earth. It is connected with earthly grounding and physical survival, and controls the urge to fight or flight within the body.
CONTACT
- Public Organization email: kpusuluri1@student.gsu.edu
- Adviser email: rbhatnagar@gsu.edu
- Organization Website: gsu.orgsync.com/org/meditation
**Correction**
The following section of the story was removed due to the statement disagreeing with the group’s philosophy:“The energy can be released in life-threatening situations (like gaining immense strength to lift a car when a loved one is trapped) or during sexual experiences, like orgasms.”
