Articles by Sir Martin Brofman, Ph.D.
The
Body Mirror System of Healing
A Healer's View of AIDS
HEALING AND TRANSFORMATION
By Sir Martin Brofman, Ph.D. copyright 1988
Everything begins with your consciousness. Everything that
happens in your life, and everything that happens in your body, begins with something
happening in your consciousness. Your consciousness is who you are, your experience of
Being.
You decide what ideas to accept and which to
reject. You decide what to think, and you decide what to feel. When these decisions leave
you with residual stress, you experience the stress as if in your physical body.
We know that stress creates symptoms. The
interesting question is, "Which stress creates which symptoms?" When we are able
to quantify this process, we are then able to see the body as a map of the person's
consciousness, and relate particular symptoms to particular stresses and particular ways
of being, in the same way that Type "A" Behavior has been able to be associated
with heart disease.
To understand this map, we must first orient
ourselves to the idea that the causes of symptoms are within. While it's true that germs
cause disease and accidents cause injuries, it is also true that this happens in accord
with what is happening in the consciousness of the person involved.
Germs are everywhere. Why are some people
affected and not others? Something different is happening in their consciousness. Why do
some patients in hospitals respond better to treatment than others? They have different
attitudes. Something different is happening in their consciousness When someone is injured
in an "accident," why is it that a very specific part of the body is affected,
and that it is the same part that has had habitual problems? Is that an
"accident," or is there a pattern and an order to the way things happen in our
bodies?
Your consciousness, your experience of Being,
who you really are, is energy. We can call it "Life Energy" for now. This energy
does not just live in your brain; it fills your entire body. Your consciousness is
connected to every cell in your body. Through your consciousness, you can communicate with
every organ and every tissue, and a number of therapies are based on this communication
with the organs which have been affected by some kind of symptom or disorder.
This energy which is your consciousness, and
which reflects your state of consciousness, can be measured through the process known as
Kirlian photography. When you take a Kirlian photograph of your hand, it shows a certain
pattern of energy. If you take a second photograph while imagining that you are sending
love and energy to someone you know, there will be a different pattern of energy shown on
the Kirlian photograph. Thus, we can see that a change in your consciousness creates a
change in the energy field that is being photographed, which we call the aura.
This energy field shown in the Kirlian
photographs has been quantified, so that when there are "holes" in particular
parts of the energy field, these are said to correspond to particular weaknesses in
specific parts of the physical body. The interesting thing about this is that the weakness
shows up in the energy field before there is ever any evidence of it on the physical
level. Thus, we have an interesting direction of manifestation shown through what we have
described.
- A change of consciousness creates a change in the energy field.
- A change in the energy field happens before a change in the physical.
The direction of manifestation is from the
consciousness, through the energy field, to the physical body.
Consciousness---------1--------->Energy Field--------2--------->Physical
When we look at things in this way, we see
that it is not the physical body creating the energy field, the aura, but rather the aura
or energy field that is creating the physical body. What we see as the physical body is
the end result of a process that begins with the consciousness.
When someone makes a decision that leaves them
with stress, creating a blockage in the energy field with a sufficient degree of
intensity, this creates a symptom on the physical level. The symptom speaks a certain
language, which reflects the idea that we each create our own reality. When the symptom is
described from that point of view, the metaphoric significance of the symptom becomes
clear. Thus, instead of saying, "I can't see," the person would have to say,
"I have been keeping myself from seeing something." If they cannot walk, they
would have to say, "I have been keeping myself from walking away from
something." And so on.
We must understand that there are no accidents
and no coincidences. Things do happen according to a pattern and order. We can say that we
have an inner guidance system, a connection to our Higher Self, or our Inner Being, or
whatever name we choose to give this Higher Intelligence. This inner guidance system
functions through what we call our intuition, or our instinct. It speaks a very simple
language. Either it feels good, or it doesn't. All the rest is just politics.
We are told we should move with what feels
good, and do not do what doesn't feel good to us. We are told to trust this inner voice.
When we don't follow this inner voice we feel tension. We feel not-good. Then, the voice
must get louder. The next level of communication is through the emotions. As we move more
and more in the direction that feels not-good, we experience more and more emotions that
feel not-good, and at some point we can say, "I should have listened to myself when I
thought to move in the other direction." That meant that we heard the inner voice.
Otherwise, we could not have said, "I should have listened." If we make the
decision we know is the right one for us, and therefore change direction, there is a
release of tension, we feel better, and we know we are again on the right track.
If we continue to move in the direction that
feels not-good, the communication reaches the physical level. We create a symptom, and the
symptom speaks a language which reflects the idea that we each create our own reality.
When we describe the symptom from that point of view, we can understand the message. If we
change our way of being, we have received the message, and the symptom has no further
reason for being. It is able to be released, according to whatever we allow ourselves to
believe is possible.
If we created the symptom with a decision, we
are also able to release it with a decision. As an hypothesis, we can imagine that someone
makes a decision that it is not a good idea to express what they want. From that moment,
whenever there is something they want, they keep themselves from expressing it, and
therefore from having what they want. That feels not-good. The tension grows. They feel
more and more not-good as they keep themselves from expressing what they want and not
having it. Eventually, something happens to create a symptom on the physical level, and
their right arm is affected. It could have happened through falling from a ladder, or in
an automobile accident, or by pinching a nerve in the neck, or by "sleeping in a
draft."
Something had to happen on the physical level
to create the symptom, in order to give the person the message on the physical level about
what they had been doing to themselves. We do to ourselves literally what we have been
doing to ourselves figuratively.
The effect is that the person cannot move their
arm. They are keeping themselves from reaching for something, and since it is the right
arm, on the "will" side of the body, they are keeping themselves from reaching
for or going for what they want. They have been giving themselves reasons to not believe
that they could have what they want. When they begin to do something different in their
consciousness, they notice that something different begins to happen with their arm, and
the symptom is able to be released.
To understand the map of the consciousness that
the body represents, we can turn to some ancient Hindu traditions which have been studying
consciousness for thousands of years, and which use the language of the chakras. Chakra is
a Sanskrit word, and it means "wheel," or "vortex," because that's
what it looks like when we look at it. Each chakra is like a solid ball of energy
interpenetrating the physical body, in the same way that a magnetic field can
interpenetrate the physical body.
The chakras are not physical. They are aspects
of consciousness in the same way that the auras are aspects of consciousness The chakras
are more dense than the auras, but not as dense as the physical body, but they interact
with the physical body through two major vehicles, the endocrine system and the nervous
system. Each of the seven chakras is associated with one of the seven endocrine glands,
and also with a particular group of nerves called a plexus. Thus, each chakra can be
associated with particular parts of the body and particular functions within the body
controlled by that plexus or that endocrine gland associated with that chakra.
Your consciousness, your experience of being,
represents everything it is possible for you to experience. All of your senses, all of
your perceptions, all of your possible states of awareness, can be divided into seven
categories, and each of these categories can be associated with a particular chakra. Thus,
the chakras represent not only particular parts of your physical body, but also particular
parts of your consciousness. When you feel tension in your consciousness, you feel it in
the chakra associated with the part of your consciousness experiencing the stress, and in
the parts of the physical body associated with that chakra. Where you feel the stress
depends therefore on why you feel the stress.
When someone is hurt in a relationship, they
feel it in their heart. When someone is nervous, their legs tremble and their bladder
becomes weak. When there is tension in a particular part of your consciousness, and
therefore in the chakra associated with that part of your consciousness, the tension is
detected by the nerves of the plexus associated with that chakra, and communicated to the
parts of the body controlled by that plexus. When the tension continues over a period of
time, or reaches a particular degree of intensity, the person creates a symptom on the
physical level. Again, the symptom served to communicate to the person through their
body what they had been doing to themselves in their consciousness. When the person
changes something about their way of being, they are able to release the stress that had
been creating the symptom, and they are then able to return to their natural state of
balance and health.
When we are reading the body as a map of the
consciousness within, we work with the idea that the tensions in the body represent
tensions in the person's consciousness concerning what was happening in the person's life
at the time that the symptom developed. The person was feeling stress about something that
was happening in their life at that time.
We are going to examine the map of
consciousness that the chakras provide, in order to understand the language of the
symptoms that are associated with each chakra. In order to complete this map, however, we
also need to look at ourselves as each a polarity of yin and yang, feminine and masculine
characteristics.
For most people, their right side is their yang
side, their will side, their acting or active side, and the left side is their yin side,
their female side, their feeling or adaptive side. For people who were born left-handed,
this polarity is reversed. Thus, for a right-handed person, their right leg can be
described as their will leg, or their male leg, or the foundation of their will, but for a
left-handed person, their left leg would be their male leg or will leg, and so on. Thus,
we can talk about the will arm, or the will eye, or the will nostril, etc., and which side
it is on will depend upon whether the person is right-handed or left-handed at birth.
Each of the chakras is energy vibrating at a
certain frequency, in a logical and orderly sequence of seven vibrations. As we move up
the scale, the elements become more and more subtle, moving through the five physical
elements of earth, water, fire, air, and ether, to the spiritual elements of inner sound
and inner light. The heaviest element is on the bottom, the lightest on the top. It is a
logical and orderly sequence.
The colors of the spectrum also represent a
series of seven vibrations in a logical and orderly sequence, as do the notes of the
musical scale. Thus, we can put the heaviest vibrations or the longest wavelength on the
bottom and the lightest on the top, and a particular color can be used to represent a
chakra in its clear state, as can a particular musical note. Music played in a certain key
vibrates a particular chakra, and we feel a particular way when we hear that music. Our
relationship with a certain color says something about our relationship with the part of
our consciousness that the color represents.
The Root Chakra is associated with the parts of
our consciousness concerned with security, survival, or trust. For most people, this
concerns the parts of their consciousness concerned with money, home, and job. When this
chakra is in its clear state, the person is able to feel secure, be present in the here
and now, and be grounded. When there is tension in this chakra, it is experienced as
insecurity or fear. When there is more tension, it is experienced as a threat to survival.
Parts of the body controlled by the sacral
plexus and this chakra include the skeleton system, the legs, and the elimination system.
Symptoms in these parts of the body represent, therefore, tensions at the level of the
Root Chakra, and we therefore know that the person is seeing the world through a
perceptual filter of insecurity or fear. The adrenal glands are also associated with this
chakra.
If one leg is affected, we can see whether it
is the male leg or the female leg, and thus whether it has something to do with trust in a
male or trust in a female. We can also see it as having something to do with trust in the
will, or the aspects of trust in the foundations the emotional being, related to what was
happening in the person's life at the time the symptom developed.
The physical sense of smell, and therefore the
organ of the sense of smell, the nose, is associated with the Root Chakra. Symptoms at the
level of the nose or affecting the sense of smell reflect tensions at the level of the
Root Chakra.
Each chakra is associated with an element. The
Root Chakra is associated with the element of earth, and reflects something about the
person's association with the earth, or how they feel about being on the earth, which we
call Mother Earth. This chakra is also associated with our relationship with our mother.
When someone experiences a sense of separation from their mother, or not feeling loved by
their mother, they cut off their roots and experience symptoms of tensions at the level of
the Root Chakra until they can again open to accept their mother's love.
When a child comes into the world in the
traditional family structure, the mother provides the nourishment and the father provides
the direction. Thus, in the child's relationship with its mother, it makes certain
decisions about the way things are. The relationship with the mother thus becomes a model
for the person's relationship with everything that represents security - money, home, and
job.
The Root Chakra is associated with the color
red. The Abdominal Chakra is associated with the parts of our consciousness concerned with
food and sex - the communication from the body to the person within it, about what the
body wants or needs, and what it finds pleasurable. It also is related to what is
happening in their consciousness about having children. When this chakra is in its clear
state, the person is in touch with this communication, and listening to and responding
appropriately to what the body wants and needs.
Parts of the body controlled by the lumbar
plexus include the reproductive system and the abdomen, and the lumbar region of the back.
The sense of taste is associated with this chakra, as is the element of water. When
someone does not have a clear relationship with water (swimming, for example, or being on
a boat), this reflects their attitudes about the parts of their consciousness that this
chakra represents.
Tensions on the will side or the emotional side
of this chakra indicate tensions in the person's consciousness as conflicts between either
the will or the emotions with what the person's body is asking for. This chakra is
associated with the sense of taste, and with appetite. It is also involved with the
person's willingness to feel their emotions.
The second chakra is associated with the color
orange. The Solar Plexus Chakra is associated with the parts of our consciousness having
to do with perceptions of power, control, or freedom. In its clear state, it represents
ease of being, and comfort with what is real for one's self - being comfortable with who
you are.
Parts of the body associated with this chakra
include the organs closest to the solar plexus - stomach, gall bladder, spleen, liver,
etc. - as well as the skin as a system, the muscular system as a system, and the face in
general.
The physical sense associated with this chakra
is the sense of sight. Anyone with impaired eyesight experiences tension at the level of
their solar plexus chakra about the issues of power, control, or freedom. Nearsighted
people also experience tensions at the level of the Root Chakra, and experience the world
through a perceptual filter of fear or insecurity. Those who are farsighted experience
tension also at the level of the throat chakra, and see the world through a perceptual
filter of anger or guilt. Astigmatics see through the emotional perceptual filter of
confusion. The endocrine gland associated with the Solar Plexus Chakra is the pancreas. We
can say that diabetics are keeping sweetness from themselves. When someone gets too close
with sweetness, they feel threatened in their power to be who they are, and an emotion
comes up to create a safe distance again.
The emotion is anger. Diabetes is associated
with suppressed anger. The element associated with this chakra is fire, and the person's
relationship with the sun says something about their relationship with the parts of their
consciousness associated with the Solar Plexus Chakra.
The color of the Solar Plexus Chakra is yellow.
The Heart Chakra is associated with the parts of the consciousness concerned with
relationships and our perceptions of love. The relationships we speak of here are with
those people closest to our heart - partners, parents, siblings, children. The parts of
the body associated with this chakra include the heart and lungs, and the blood
circulatory system as a system. This chakra is also associated with the thymus gland,
which controls the immune system. When this is affected, as with AIDS, the person's
lifestyle separates them from someone they love.
The physical sense associated with this chakra
is the sense of touch, in it's aspect of relating to the person inside the body. For
example, a massage given to someone with no sensitivity to what the person is feeling
inside would be an example of the sensation we associate with the Abdominal Chakra, but
when the masseur seems to have a sense of what the person inside the body is experiencing,
then it includes the aspect of relating we associate with the Heart Chakra. When someone
experiences extreme sensitivity about being touched, we would ask what was happening at
the level of the Heart Chakra.
This chakra is associated with the element of
air. When someone has difficulty with air, with breathing (asthma, emphysema,
tuberculosis, etc.), we say that their relationship with air reflects their relationship
with love - difficulty letting it in, or letting it out, for example. The color associated
with the Heart Chakra is emerald green.
The Throat Chakra is associated with the parts
of the consciousness concerned with expressing and receiving. Expressing can be in the
form of communicating what one wants and what one feels, or it can be artistic expression,
as an artist painting, a dancer dancing, a musician playing music, using a form for
expressing and bringing to the outside what was within. Expression is related to
receiving, as, "Ask, and ye shall receive."
The throat chakra is associated with abundance,
and with the state of consciousness called, "grace," where it seems that what
you want for you is also what God wants for you. Accepting what the abundant universe
offers you requires a sense of unconditionally receiving. This chakra is also associated
with listening to one's intuition, and flowing in a particular way where it seems that the
Universe supports you in all that you do. It is the first level of consciousness from
which one perceives another level of intelligence functioning, and one's interaction with
this other level of intelligence.
Parts of the body associated with this chakra
include the throat, shoulders, and arms and hands. and the thyroid gland. The sense of
hearing is associated with this chakra, and the element of ether, the most subtle physical
element, corresponding to what we find in deep space. The ether is the crossover between
the physical and the spiritual dimensions. Someone looking at the world through this
chakra watches the manifestation of their goals. The Will Arm represents manifesting what
you want, and the Feeling Arm represents manifesting what makes you happy. Hopefully, the
two point to the same thing. Blue is the color associated with this chakra.
The Brow Chakra is associated with the parts of
the consciousness concerned with the spiritual view, and the home of the Spirit, the Being
within. This level of consciousness is associated with what western traditions call the
unconscious or subconscious, the part of our consciousness that directs our actions and
our life. From this level we are aware of the motivations behind our actions. We can watch
our outer theater from an inner point of view.
This chakra is associated with the carotid
plexus, and the nerves on each side of the face, and the pituitary gland. Headaches in the
temples or center of the forehead are associated with tensions at this level. This chakra
controls the entire endocrine system as a system, and the process of growth.
The Brow chakra, also known as the Third Eye,
is associated with extra sensory perception (ESP), the set of all inner senses that
correspond to the outer senses, which together comprise spirit-to-spirit communication.
The element associated with this chakra is a vibration known as the Inner Sound, the sound
that one hears in their ears that does not depend upon something in the physical world.
Some consider it a pathological condition. In some of the eastern traditions the ability
to hear this is considered a necessary prerequisite to further spiritual growth. The color
associated with this chakra is indigo, midnight blue, the color of lapis lazuli, or the
color of the night sky during a full moon.
The Crown Chakra is associated with the parts
of the consciousness concerned with unity or separation, and just as the Root Chakra
showed our connection with Mother Earth, this chakra shows our connection with Our Father,
Which Art in Heaven. At first, it is associated with our connection with our biological
father. This becomes the model for our relationship with authority, and this becomes the
model for our relationship with God. When there is a sense of separation from our
biological father, the person closes this chakra, and the effect on the consciousness is a
sense of isolation and aloneness, being in a shell, and difficult to make contact with
those outside the shell. The person feels as if they are hiding from God, or hiding from
themselves, not seeing what is true for them in the deepest part of their consciousness,
the part we call the soul.
This chakra is also associated with a sense of
direction. The parts of the body controlled by this chakra are the pineal gland, the
brain, and the entire nervous system as a system. The color associated with the Crown
Chakra is violet, the color of amethyst.
Using The Map when there is tension in a
particular part of the body, this represents a tension in a particular part of the
consciousness, about a particular part of the person's life. Being aware of these
associations helps one to see the importance of resolving the tense issues in their life.
If it were only a question of doing what is
necessary for the person to be happy, that would be reason enough to motivate the person
to want to change something that doesn't work for them, but here, we see that it is also a
matter of health. The issues that are unresolved in a person's life are, in fact,
hazardous to their health.
When we see the correspondences between the
consciousness and the body, we see the degree to which we each create our reality. In
fact, those words begin to take on a new meaning. We see how everything begins in our
consciousness and we are able to look around us at other aspects of our lives in the same
way. When we see how the body carries our the messages and deepest wishes of the Being
within the body, we can realize that the process can go in more than one direction. If our
consciousness is directing how we develop symptoms, it can also direct how we release
these same symptoms. If our consciousness can make our body ill, our consciousness can
make our body well.
The logical conclusion of this process is that
anything can be healed.
