Good Vibrations: The healing powers of Dzi

“Melanie is sick with the worst kind of bug. Feels like I’ve been hit by a car and now lying in hospital with the pain killers wearing off.”

My Facebook status generated quite an outpour of sympathy and get well greetings including some therapeutic advice from yogis—friends and teachers alike. One of them, Maritoni Tordesillas, suggested that I get a dzi bracelet from World of Feng Shui as it had quite a curative effect on her when she was struck by a similarly spiteful virus last year.

Dzi (pronounced Zee) is a Tibetan word for a patterned stone, usually agate, of mainly oblong, round, cylindrical or tabular shape pierced lengthwise called Heaven's Bead (tian zhu) in Chinese. I had seen these beads during a working trip to Nepal when colleagues of mine from the ADB had acquired some and I have since been fascinated and intrigued by their talismanic “powers”. Dzi stones are said to do a number of things basically some protect its wearer from negative energies or accidents, some attract wealth or wisdom, while others might bring love and happiness.

The beads originate in Tibetan culture and are rare and pricey. Found mainly in Tibet as well as in Bhutan, Ladakh and Sikkim, dzi are obtained from the earth and so to the Tibetan, the Dzi is not a man-made bead, but a precious jewel of supernatural origin.

Knowledge of the bead is derived from mythological and legendary tales and few beads have stirred more controversy regarding their source and method of manufacture which all helps in increasing dzi's inherent value.

The Potala Palace (above) located in Lhasa Tibet Autonomous Region China, had been the Dalai Lama's domain until 1959 when the 14th Dalai Lama escaped to Dharamsala, India after a failed uprising. The Dalai Lama and many Tibetans fled during the Chinese communists invasion. They took much valuable jewelry with them, such as coral, amber, turquoise and the mysterious dzi beads. At this point, the world first glimpsed this precious jewel from the Land of Snow when refugees sold them in exchange for their material needs.

After reading up some more I learned that a Dzi stone may repel things, but it can also store them. Your stone may block or absorb negativism when it comes your way for instance. They can also release very positive energies to you, while absorbing a bit of your energy in the process. In other words, a bit of them goes into you and a bit of you will go into them. However since you are not the original possessor of the stone, some of the previous owner’s bad kharma may rub off on you. To avoid this it is recommended to "cleanse" your Dzi stone upon purchase to release all of that stored up nastiness, and to allow you to introduce yourself to your Dzi stone, and create a fresh spiritual bond.

Fake dzi stones abound but you can purchase a genuine dzi locally at World of Feng Shui which has branches in SM malls. The sellers will help you select your stone, there are beads with from 1 to 21 eyes, each with a special significance or purpose. Maritoni chose the 9-eye bead for good health because she believes "health is wealth". Indeed!

1. The 1 eyed Dzi bead stands for a beacon of light and hope. This powerful eye is believed to enhance human wisdom, and bring forth happiness for life.

2. The 2 eyed Dzi enables harmony between husband and wife; build a happy family, successful career, and good relationships with others.

3. The 3 eyed Dzi bead represents the three stars of luck, happiness, honor, and longevity. It is the bead of wealth and health to bring continuous fortune.

4. The 4 eyed Dzi helps To Overcome Negative Forces, Clears Obstacles, Increases Merits & Longevity, Subdue Demons.

5. The 5 eyed Dzi is considered a magical item and is highly sought after. It assists one in obtaining whatever one desires, so it is a very desired bead. Endless happiness.

6. The 6 eyed Dzi eliminates sadness and sufferings in life, and increases access to good luck.

7. The 7 eyed Dzi helps one to Achieve Fame, Glory, Perfection, Career, Wealth, Relationship, and Health & Longevity.

8. The 8 eyed Dzi helps to guard against calamities and catastrophes. Assists the owner in finding and staying on their proper path.

9. The 9 eyed Dzi bead assists its owner to Gather Wealth, Achieve Good Health, Success, Gain Power, Compassion, Glory, and Expelling Evil & Acts as a Protector.

10. The 10 eyed Dzi removes obstacles in the road of career development, gains favorable comments on you from others, and omens a happy relationship with your spouse.

11. The 11 eyed Dzi helps to eradicate evil intentions and reduces craving, leading to a peace of the heart and mind.

12. The 12 eyed Dzi empowers one with the ability to surpass expectations and attain fame and recognition.

13. The 13 eyed Dzi allows one to learn to communicate with the ancestors as well as other dimensions and realities.

14. The 14 eyed Dzi helps to protect the mind from clutter and help with kharma issues.

15. The 15 eyed Dzi increases the wearer's wisdom, releases human suffering and brings forth general good fortune in human life.

16. The 16 eyed Dzi Brings back the humor in life. Reminds one that it is through play and joy that all things may be obtained. Helps to repel sadness, depression, melancholy, sorrowfulness, and the blues.

17. The 17 eyed Dzi can assist to improve the self image. It allows others to see you the way you see yourself in your unconscious mind. It protects owner from the images of others.

18. The 18 eyed Dzi can help to protect against obsessions and compulsions. Helps to protect against addictive personality traits. Alcoholism, drug abuse, sexual addiction, gambling and all other addictions.

19. The 19 eyed Dzi enhances the owner's ability to manifest and materialize the necessary things in one's life.

20. The 20 eyed Dzi assists in purification. This Dzi can enhance owner's process of preparation for ending the cycle of rebirth. It is very rare.

21. The 21 eyed Dzi enhances your magic power, realizes what you desire to the maximum extent. I magnifies all the characteristics of the other beads and focuses them into one stone.

There is a specific process for cleansing your stone. For those interested, I can email you privately. Om.

Shitali Pranayama

This video was posted by Berta Feliciano on the Yoga Manila Facebook site. If you want to hear what a roomful of Ashtangis practising sounds like, watch this clip from Greenpeace titled "Breathe in, breathe out". It can also be very useful to remember the images and soundtrack during practice.

I've been practising quite regularly already and have been attending Mysore classes thrice a week. As a result, I've finally memorized the primary series (hooray!). One side effect though is that I've developed a man-size appetite, especially after yoga.

One of my yoga teachers suggests doing Shitali Pranayama to curb my appetite. Shitali means cooling. It is a pranayama which cools the whole body so it is best done in hot weather or at the end of a vigorous yoga session.

1. Sit in a comfortable cross-legged position in a well ventilated room free from any distractions. Keep the waist, back, neck and spine straight.

2. Take two or three deep inhales and exhales through the nose to prepare.

3. Open your mouth slightly, in such a way that the tip of your tongue should be closer to both lines of the teeth. Now roll the tongue, curling the sides in towards the center to form a tube. Stick the end of the tongue out between your pursed lips. If you can't roll your tongue, just purse the lips making a small `o` shape with the mouth.

4. Inhale through the tube of the tongue.

5. Exhale through the nose.

6. Repeat 5-10 times as you feel the cooling effect.

Benefits of Shitali Pranayama

1. It has great energizing, soothing, relaxing and cooling effects on all the nerve channels and on the whole body.

2. It has a pacifying and relieving effect for various troubles such as headache and fever.

3. The Pranayama purifies the blood expelling the toxins.

4. Shitali pranayama is also highly recommended as an immediate remedy for nervousness.

5. Diseases like tumor, jaundice, skin diseases, fever are cured and it also corrects indigestion and constipation.

6. It quenches the thirst. Hence if one feels thirsty and hungry at a place where water and food are not available, this pranayama could be tried.

7. It activates the liver and improves digestion.

Caution

This Pranayam should not be practiced in case of heavy cough or cold, asthma, bronchitis, sinusitis and low blood pressure.

Will explore this pranayama technique more and see how effective it is. Big thanks to Maritoni Tordesillas for sharing this tip and giving new insights into Janu A, B and C.

Chic Yogi: Maritoni Rufino Tordesillas

It was a welcome respite to see this incredible photograph of one of my YM teachers, Maritoni Rufino Tordesillas in today's Inquirer. Dressed in chic and casual clothes she posed in Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana. Maritoni was also photographed in heels and a Michael Kors top doing Hanumanasana--too bad the paper's online version didn't post it. Click here to read the full article by Rina Silayan-Go.

A principal dancer for Philippine Ballet Theatre, Maritoni was hailed by critics as a “versatile, wide range actress,” having “turns securely centered,” and “one of the finest dancers this country has ever produced.” She is memorable for her roles as Cio Cio San in "Madame Butterfly", Juliet in "Romeo and Juliet", Kitri in "Don Quixote", Odette in "Swan Lake" and Giselle.

Maritoni discovered Asthanga Yoga around the same time she retired from ballet and established her Danspace school in 2000. By 2006 she graduated from the Centered Yoga Institute in Koh Samui, Thailand under Paul Dallghan and became a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) with the Yoga Alliance. A mother of two, Maritoni is also one of the founders of Yoga Manila.

Clayton Horton Mysore workshops at Yoga Manila

It was intimidating to say the least. Towering over 6 feet, Clayton Horton himself let me into the Yoga Manila Makati shala. The director of the San Francisco-based Greenpath Yoga glanced at the clock, silently chiding me for my tardiness and seemed to worry about where to put me in the crowded studio of 17 practitioners.
Maritoni Tordesillas graciously made space for me at the far end of the room. There were four other YM instructors attending Clayton’s Mysore workshop: Hoze Arando, Peachie Kilayco, Cherry Du and Kitty Arambulo. I arrived only 30 minutes late so it made me panic to see a number of people already dropping back. In my trepidation, I somehow erased the primary series from memory. I must have skipped 10 poses and stopped at Navasana. Maritoni had to remind me every so often what asana came next which made me feel like a major pain for interrupting her practise.

Upside: getting that warm, fuzzy feeling from practising beside my teachers; finding inspiration from watching them doing 2nd series poses like Dwi Pada Sirsasana and Pincha Mayurasana; seeing my friend Allen Enrique grasp her shins for 5 breaths in Urdhva Dhanurasana (woo-hoo!); and best of all--Clayton Horton’s gentle and painless adjustments especially for my enemy poses Marichyasana D and Supta Kurmasana.

Downside: workshops are usually packed and run for a limited period, so try to learn as much as you can as not everyone may get adjustments. Most importantly, DON'T BE LATE.

Exhilarating climb, earth-shaking yoga

I invited a former yoga classmate from UP to practice at Yoga Manila, the second from that group to join me already. I have been proud to have Sasheen over at the Makati shala, this time around I had the amazing Allen Enrique: hardcore mountain climber and yoga overachiever. This small-framed but powerful 26 year-old can complete the primary series and is well on her way to learning the full second series. She can already do some intermediate poses and is now on the trail for a mentor. Lyn and I suggested that she learns the series under yoga trailblazer Hoze Arando and the next thing I knew she had signed up for 10 classes at Yoga Manila. She really doesn’t waste much time. Yey Allen, I’ll be seeing you around YM more often!

Allen says yoga is ideal cross-training for indoor/outdoor climbing. Yoga promotes flexibility, bandha control, awareness of the breath and stillness of the mind which are also required in climbing--especially in extreme outdoor situations. Pulse Yoga visiting instructor Amy Cheung has scaled the walls at Silver City where Allen is a climbing instructor and coach. Last weekend it was our turn for an intro climb. Allen was our belayer providing slack and tension as we made our ascent of... the beginner’s wall. Lyn made it through the second wall, which was gradually inclined, while I was really enjoying traversing all the walls without any ropes but of course at a very safe height. At this point, Allen demonstrated yoga applications in wall or mountain climbing.

Observe Allen in a modified warrior pose:

And here’s Lyn just getting a high at one of the steeper walls.

I must say that yoga does seem to prep the body for climbing. All the Chaturangas in the primary series really gave us the strength to pull our weight up the walls. The flexibility we’ve developed in yoga also helped us stretch and reach our limbs out for those tiny faraway rocks.

I expected the climb to drain me of all energy but doing a Led class with Allen the following morning turned out to be truly exhilarating! With Allen beside me, I paid greater attention to my breathing, form and alignment beginning with the Sun Salutations all the way to the seated poses and finishing sequence. But our practice was interrupted by a couple of mild earthquakes which struck first while we were balancing in Bhujapidasana and once again, of all times, during the headstands which sent me crashing down the floor after only 8 breaths. We didn’t let the tremors completely shake our practice though. YM instructor Maritoni Tordesillas even let out a wide smile as we watched Allen drop back to Urdhva Dhanurasana or the Wheel and stand up from it (a milestone for practitioners who are ready to progress to the intermediate series). Now that for me, was one earth-shaking practice!