The question of vitality is the question of having energy, and of having a balanced Muladhara chakra. One can fulfill one’s purpose, live a meaningful life, and have better energy throughout the day. One can perform all daily activities, be enthusiastic, and perform great spiritual practice when the inner resources are unlocked and there is a good amount of vitality.
On the other side, a lack of energy leads us to sit in front of the TV or computer, losing our precious time on activities that drain us even more, instead of meaningful deeds or truly energizing rest. With a lack of vitality, one meets his/her lover in an impatient, grumpy, selfish, emotionally and energetically tired state. Having energy allows us to fulfill a love relationship, and to be a caring, loving, and compassionate partner to our beloved
In this article, we are going to explore the different aspects of vitality and describe some Tantric secrets of innate inner energy reserves.
What is Vitality?
Vitality is the potential of energy and its manifestation expressed in a living being. Vitality = the energy of life, the prana of life. Vitality consists of 3 ingredients or 3Fs: these are Fuel, Fire, and Freedom.
Fuel = the raw energy that then transforms into power.
Fire = burning the raw energy.
Freedom = conscious control over the vital energy. The conscious choice of where to invest the energy instead of being guided by instinctual behavior.
Once we master these 3 elements we will have the vitality for what we truly want and to fulfill our life’s purpose.
The First Ingredient of Vitality – Fuel
Fuel, the power of the earth, and of the root chakra (Muladhara) includes:
- Physical fuel: food and drink, air, creative potential (or sexual fluids), the body itself (whatever is stored in the body, like fat).
- Energetic fuel: energy stored in all the chakras and in the root chakra specifically, sense impressions (hearing and looking at beautiful things), prana (energy of nature), positive human interactions, the resonance process from rest (sleep and relaxation).
Great examples of people from the last century who stopped eating, but still were very vital and were studied by scientists are the Christian mystic, Therese Neumann, and the Indian Yogi, Chunriwala Mataji.
Vitality-related fuel can also be divided into:
- Pure Fuel: eating when you need to and in the right quantities – healthy organic food, fruits and vegetables, superfoods, etc; fresh air, good restful sleep. Such pure sources are easy to burn, improve the vitality level, bring a state of peace and quietness, and don’t bring toxins to the body.
Muladhara chakra is the purest source of energy that makes us feel light. It is the battery of the being, and it is the chakra that energizes all the rest of the energy centers in our body. A greater level of energy can be achieved by daily practice on this chakra, usually in proportion to the quantity of time invested in the practice – 15/20/30 minutes or more.
- Impure fuel: from industrial/processed food, overeating (emotional, rushed, or unconscious eating), and food that the body cannot digest. Oversleeping, unconscious entertainment and human interactions. Even watching an entertaining movie can become exhausting. Impure fuel is hard to burn, and it brings heavy toxins to the body, it is the reason we feel tired, heavier, and more anxious afterward.
The Second Ingredient of Vitality – Fire
The fire aspect of vitality relates to the navel (Manipura) chakra. Fire turns calories into life, and turns fuel into usable energy. When the inner fire is healthy it digests and gives life. When it’s weak we can’t properly use all of the fuel that we have. When the fire is excessive we burn too much, feel restlessness, and have an agitated state. It often happens that the person can either have a weak fire or an excessive fire, and that the moments of harmonious fire are very short.
Fire exists all of the time, and we are capable of making a conscious choice to ride over tiredness. Yoga practices aimed at asanas for the navel chakra help to harmonize this inner fire.
The Third Ingredient of Vitality – Freedom
The degree to which we can use our vitality depends on our conscious control. One pathway is focusing on instinctual desires only and then having a low energy level. Another option is leaning towards ambitious and selfish motives, mobilizing the vitality at will to finish the job even when feeling tired. But the greatest level of pure energy is achieved by having freedom from both instinctual and ambitious motives and using the vitality to fulfill our life’s true purpose, to live from love, and to follow a spiritually meaningful life.
A few examples of strong personalities who tirelessly followed their purpose were Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and Mother Teresa. Because of the freedom they had and the purpose they followed, they all had a great level of vitality and impacted the world.
Freedom ignites the fire that uses the energy existing in the fuel. The fire of the navel chakra can free us from our instincts, and by energizing it we become free. We gain the capability to choose at any moment and to overcome tiredness. To free ourselves from selfishness it is necessary to awaken the heart chakra (Anahata), which will help us to burn for a higher purpose, for meaning and love.
Our level of freedom can be raised through relaxation and awareness, through being conscious about what is going on inside us at every moment.
In a state of tension, we have very little inner freedom. The more tense we are the more instinctual and selfish we become. On the opposite side, the more relaxed we are, the less instinctual and selfish we feel.
As we harmoniously raise our level of vitality through spiritual practice, the level of consciousness rises as well. Our energy becomes vital and free, having a state of inner fire.
The gift of pure fuel together with a balanced fire and a free vitality provides the state of vivid, optimistic enthusiasm to fulfill our life’s purpose.
How to Find a Balance Between Spiritual Practice and Regular Daily Life?
To find a long-term balance it is advised to acknowledge the current state of health, emotions, time limitations, unconscious patterns such as overeating, instincts, and ambitions. It is very important to find a suitable routine that can provide us with the inner strength and capacity to dedicate more time to spiritual practices that are good for our body and heart. Gradually, such a routine will get better and better every week, and a wonderful state of clarity and pure energy to get everything done will appear more often, eventually becoming a regular state of life.
What is the Contribution of Physical and Energetic Fuel to Our Overall Vitality Levels?
As it depends from person to person according to different body/blood/energy typologies, it is recommended to define where the energy that you use every day comes from and where it goes, including all thoughts, emotions, physical energy, etc. To understand how physical and energetic fuel influences overall vitality levels, it is very helpful to experiment and find what is suitable in your particular case.
Such personal experiments may include refraining from sugar, following different healthy diets to figure out which food works better, and which energy that enters the system physically feels heavier or lighter. You could try staying in total darkness without having sense impressions and meeting anyone, or fasting. It’s important to contemplate what gives better results, to experiment, and to find consciously what works, and what feels manageable at that time.
For example, the energy from meditation and yoga feels more airy and refined, giving a state of clarity. At the same time, without enough physical energy, the body may feel weak and ungrounded. The Tantric approach suggests learning to be nourished more and more from our energetic environment, to feed from energetic sources, through our practice of sadhana. To understand, through experimenting, that we do not depend as firmly on physical vitality and physical sources as society tends to believe.
This article was transcribed and edited by Tony from the following video series: