I fall in love everyday
When we begin to see people simply as human beings without an agenda – with hopes, dreams, and struggles – it becomes increasingly easy to see the beauty in them. Beauty that makes you smile. Beauty that makes you cry. Beauty that humbles you and reminds you that you are not alone.
The beauty in how someone acts. The beauty in seeing someone perform their gifts (think about a dancer). The beauty in someone overcoming struggle. The beauty in understanding someone is doing their best.
Despite what our magazine culture has emphasized, physical beauty does come in unlimited forms and simply isn’t the only beauty.
Once we recognize beauty, something happens…
Something happens in our heart…
It’s called love.
…and it’s the key to balancing everything out of balance in your world.
Through Bhakti, we are able to see the beauty of someone’s soul and love them for that alone.
Bhakti
Bhakti is most often translated as “devotion,” though I really like the translation “fondness for.” You could say I’m more fond of the second translation. Yep, I’m a dad.
When we look at practical Bhakti, the main idea is simple. We see ourselves as a manifestation of divinity (or a divine creation if that feels better to you). In turn, we recognize that all other people are equally divine. To practice Bhakti, we simply have a “devotion” or “fondness for” others.
Devotion is a weird word to use here. It’s no wonder we often see Bhakti connected to chanting – a traditional Hindu form of worship. The spirit is right, but it’s really not encompassing of the whole of Bhakti. The word devotion seems to imply devotion to a God, where Bhakti is devotion to all things made of/by/with God.
Yeah, that’s why I like the translation “fondness for” a little better. It’s easier to allow.
Imagine the way you would feel about your child. You love them unconditionally. They bring home a bad grade, you still love them. You look past their flaws. You believe in them. You see their potential, not their learning steps. In Bhakti, when someone doesn’t use a turn signal, we love them anyway… and through all those other things that “irritate” us.
Bhakti is a love bigger than explanation.
Bhakti is love that exists without a reason.
In Science
It’s been widely theorized that one of the main benefits to Natural Healers or Holistic Doctors is the human interaction between practitioner and patient. Allopathic practitioners tend to focus analytically which translates into treating symptoms of a disease. Holistic practitioners tend to focus compassionately which translates into listening, understanding, and practicing from there.
In other words: patients feel more like a person that is being heard than a problem being fixed.
This is a pretty broad stroke, really, since there are plenty of compassionate medicine doctors and many talk therapists that heavily focus on the client’s whole experience. So, how do you measure this? That’s what science does; measures stuff.
The Result of Bhakti During Treatment
Interestingly, while studying the placebo effect (healing successfully occurs when the subject isn’t given actual medicine), a Harvard study showed exactly that. Using the basic tenants of Bhakti made a measurable positive impact on the patient.
The study shows that fake acupuncture combined with a “supportive patient-practitioner relationship” did better to treat a patient than the fake acupuncture alone or the control group. In the first group, the practitioner took the time to connect with the patient being compassionate and supportive. This change alone showed a measurable difference in outcome.
The Effect of Bhakti on the Body
Lissa Rankin, MD explains how love and compassion physically alter the body’s mechanisms: “When we feel loved and tended by those who care for us, our nervous systems respond by shutting off the outflow of poisonous stress hormones and bathing every cell in the body with healing hormones like oxytocin, dopamine, endorphins, and nitric oxide. And when this happens, the body’s natural self-repair mechanisms are strengthened.”
Her book Mind Over Medicine delves further into the body’s natural healing tools and the doctor/patient dynamic.
Bhakti Resolving Depression
In Johann Hari’s book Lost Connections, he argues that depression is not a spontaneous chemical shortage in the brain (so pills won’t ultimately fix it). What truly makes us feel good is fulfillment. Particularly in four areas:
· Feel we belong
· Feel we are valued
· Know we are good at something
· Have a sense of security
Coincidentally, all four of those feelings are directly related to the amount of love in our life. When we are loved, we feel we belong, we feel we are valued, we feel more secure since there are others around and supporting us. When we put love into something, we increase our own perceived value we have for that something.
Natural Healing
When we are cared for in a supported way, our body allows itself to heal. When we care for others and outcomes, our mind stops generating negative thoughts and focuses on the positives.
Bhakti – whether it’s yoga or CST or any other method / modality – we focus on the energy of the heart, in positive energetic direction, in simply loving another person the way you would love your child.
Each modality is different, but the overall idea is the same:
- Have a deep compassion and desire for another person’s healing.
- Love that person unconditionally.
- See them on their path and help them in any way you can.
In one modality, we’ll call on a spirit of love / compassion. In another, we’ll evoke the mother essence. We may direct the green light of the heart chakra to surround you. We may softly whisper the sanskrit vibrations or love light. In any form, we are encouraging safety, support, and love.
When you feel safe, supported, and loved, true healing happens.
Interested in boosting the amount of LOVE in your life?
Try Bhakti Craniosacral Therapy for 50% off. Use super-secret code: GiveLove in the booking comments.
Photo by Rakicevic Nenad