how to take your sadhana to the next level

part 3: honey

Honey is a substance whose chemical composition is very close to that of human blood. Especially for people who are doing yogic practices, it is good to consume honey. Depending on whether you consume it raw, with cold water, or in warm water, honey has a different impact on the system. We want to consume it in warm water because we want the system to open up. You should never put honey in boiling water or cook it, because some part of honey will turn poisonous if it crosses a certain temperature. Therefore, the water in which you put it should be warm, not boiling hot. Honey should not be given to children under the age of one.

Honey is good against anemia. Iron deficiency in the blood is one of the causes of anemia. You will feel exhausted because when there is not enough iron in the blood, the ability to carry oxygen through the body will be reduced. If you do not have enough oxygen, your heart, your brain, everything in your whole body will function on a lower level.

Building up oxygen in the blood is extremely important. How healthy the body is, how easily it rejuvenates itself, depends on a high level of oxygen in the blood. Particularly women have to be careful about this because of their menstrual cycles. Since they lose a certain amount of blood every month, they tend to become anemic much more easily than men. When the hemoglobin content goes down, the ability to carry oxygen in the blood will be reduced, which will make you feel exhausted and dumb. If there is not enough oxygen in the brain, both body and brain do not function the way they need to function.

If you consume a little bit of honey in warm water on a daily basis, you will see, slowly the red blood cell count will go up. Once there is more oxygen in the blood, you will feel a burst of energy. Suddenly, everything will be more active — rejuvenation and cell renewal will go up, and the level of inertia in your body and mind will go down.

One of the reasons why women tend to get more easily depressed than men is, they have a lower level of oxygen in the bloodstream. If the oxygen level is too low, depression easily sets in. 

Nature intends men to do more work, so they have more muscle. More muscle means more oxygen is required. The red blood cell count of women is lower than that of men because women have less muscle mass than men, and consequently need less oxygen. Therefore, women can survive without oxygen a little longer than men, even though the oxygen content in their blood is lower. Yoga is about becoming conscious of all these wonderful nuance of the body. The more nuances you become aware of, the finer your life will become. Otherwise, it is a gross existence — simply eat, sleep, die.

If you have low blood pressure, and you get up quickly from sitting down, you will feel dizzy. Low blood pressure means not enough blood, but most importantly, not enough oxygen reaches the brain. If you feel dizzy when you put your head down, it is because you have high blood pressure. Either because of high blood pressure or due to lack of oxygen you feel dizzy.

Consuming honey evens out these imbalances. Pressure builds up depending upon the requirement of the body. People think hypertension is a disease, which it is not — it is an adjustment that the body makes. If for some reason, the body needs more oxygen and other nutrients than it normally does, or the blood is not of the quality that it should be, the pumping system is trying to pump more. As quicker circulation or more frequent servicing of the organs is required, it is pumping harder and pressure is building up.

Causes for low blood pressure could be that the system adjusted itself to pump low, or it could be congenital, that the system is not strong enough to pump as it is needed, or there is some other issue with the circulatory process or the chemistry of the blood. Often, a combination of factors contributes to this condition. Similarly with hypertension – it creates a secondary layer of consequences, but the first layer of consequence is hypertension itself – its a consequence, not a cause.

For a yoga practitioner, who is pushing the body in certain ways, keeping the circulatory system and the blood chemistry in balance is essential. Regular consumption of honey brings that balance and makes you more vibrant.