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Golden Light
by wah!

In the beginning stages of yoga and spiritual practices, you will probably focus your efforts on correct posture and breathing; as you begin chanting or meditating, you will focus on correct pronunciation, mental technique and technical skill. But if you use your spiritual practice as a healing vehicle you may also want to develop an awareness of light and energy frequencies.

Light in its natural state is white; refracted it separates into the colors of the rainbow. Many healers use colors to affect the body and nervous system. Each chakra is associated with a different color. You can visualize a color internally, or place it somewhere in your environment. Colors evoke emotional and psychic energy.

Yogic scriptures talk about receiving a Golden Body as a sign of yogic mastery. The Golden Body is young, agile, and full of shakti. Shakti is spiritual juice – the voltage necessary to heal, create, or change energetic paradigms. It’s what we hope for from our spiritual practice – we want to generate enough spiritual energy to diffuse and dissolve our sorrows, difficulties and recurring karmas. Karmas are the things we do, behavior patterns we are compelled to repeat, both deliberate and unconscious action in our lives.

Shakti is both electric and magnetic. The electrical energy it encompasses is depicted in white light – lightning, sparks, shock. Spiritual beings are often pictured in white magnetic fields - angels, teachers, and saints carry white halos or white energy bodies. White energy is what transforms and purifies; it cuts through dead, stagnant and unhealthy energetic patterns. Healers use it to cure sicknesses and physical ailments. Saints use it to bless disciples. When Amma tips Her head back and raises Her hands to pull shakti into the room, I see a waterfall of white light descending into Her. Angelic presence is visible when the Abraham teachers channel through Esther Hicks. White energy is pure and Godlike.

But nowhere in yogic scripture does it talk about a White Body, even though pure shakti (White Light) is used of the practices. The result of continued yoga practice is a Golden Body. What is the benefit of Golden light, and how does it heal and energize?

I believe Golden energy is the energy of resilience, absolutely essential for anyone in human form. Golden energy is attractive, beautiful, charming; it’s physically soothing and provides comfort on emotional and spiritual levels. Gold is the color of honey, agave syrup, nectar, flowers, fields of grain, and warm sun. Golden energy is the healing salve; it integrates pure shakti and brings the healing to a personal level.

Pure shakti is too much for most of us in physical form. Much like electricity, shakti can be disseminated in steady and safe doses (for healing), or in large doses it can be powerfully shocking and in some cases overloading to the nervous system. Beings who dissolve karma – saints, healers, teachers – use a lot of white light to transform and purify the areas where people are stuck. A large dose of shakti from a spiritual master can leave you spaced out and unable to drive or operate heavy machinery!

If you are a yoga teacher, you invoke white light when you chant OM at the beginning of your practice. As you progress in your practice, you will increase the amount of shakti, and it may be helpful to surround yourself with golden light. If you are imaginative, you may be able to see golden threads running through and around the body; or you may be able to visualize a million golden threads forming an orb around the body. This golden energy is electro-magnetic, sometimes collectively referred to as the aura. The nectar of the golden light absorbs into the body, just like one might experience laying in a hot bath of milk and honey. Golden nectar can also be integrated into the breath – inhaling and exhaling a nectar-like substance and distributing it throughout your cells. If you are unable to work with light frequencies, you can choose physical items to add to your surroundings. The nectar might take the form of warm foods, hot baths, quiet time, or walks in nature. You might wear gold jewelry or clothing, gaze at gold light or paintings, or ingest honey or golden food. Auditory nectar might be soothing music, the sound of ocean waves, or the sound of your own or someone else’s breathing. It should deeply penetrate the physical cells in the body as well as your psyche.

The Golden Body is a beautiful place to live. It attracts shakti and is able to integrate your spiritual experience in a way that is cozy and personally satisfying. Every true master I have ever met is comfortable, even casual, about his or her achievements. Great discipline is behind it, but the master who emerges is relaxed and real. Their transformation has integrated into who they are; they have found a peaceful way to live in a new, elevated state. Mastery comes after one absorbs the fruits of one’s achievements.

I don’t know about you, but I am an eager spiritual student. I want to transform and change and reach enlightenment! In my passion and search, I sometimes forget I need to absorb and integrate the great energy I have attracted. Golden light is a great tool for integrating and creating wholeness.

WAH! has spent a lifetime immersed in spiritual pursuit, beginning yoga and meditation at age 17, studying in Europe, India and Africa. Wah! has worked with various jazz, pop and world musicians to create trendy meditative music for the yoga community. Her latest CD, LOVE HOLDING LOVE, was released by Nettwerk Records in 2008. www.wahmusic.com