Spiritual Guidance, Energy & Meditation

Reiki is a Japanese practice in which a practitioner rests their hands lightly on, or just above, a fully clothed person who lies still and quiet. Many people describe the hour as deeply relaxing, comforting and personally meaningful. There is no scientific evidence that Reiki treats, cures, prevents or diagnoses any illness; it is not a medical treatment and must never replace or delay a doctor's care.

Tradition: Reiki was developed in Japan in the 1920s by Mikao Usui, and carried abroad through his student Chujiro Hayashi and then Hawayo Takata, from whom most lineages taught today descend. It is a modern Japanese practice, not an ancient Indian one, although it is often presented in India alongside older ideas about prana.

What it involves: You remain fully clothed and lie on a couch, or sit if lying down is uncomfortable. The practitioner moves their hands through a set sequence of positions, holding each for a few minutes, usually in silence or with quiet music, for about forty-five to ninety minutes. People commonly report warmth, heaviness, drowsiness or simply rest; feeling nothing in particular is equally common and means nothing is wrong.

Distance Reiki is the same practice offered without the two people being in the same room — the practitioner sits at an agreed time and holds the other person in mind, sometimes using traditional symbols. Those who value it usually describe a settled, cared-for feeling and a fixed quiet hour in the week. There is no scientific evidence that it affects anyone's body or illness at a distance, and it is not a medical treatment.

Tradition: It comes from the same twentieth-century Japanese lineage as hands-on Reiki, and is taught at what most lineages call the second level, where a symbol for absent working is given. Nothing older or Indian is being drawn on here, whatever the marketing around it sometimes suggests.

What it involves: You agree a time, share your name and sometimes a photograph, and simply rest quietly wherever you are while the practitioner sits in their own space for twenty to forty minutes. Afterwards they usually write or call to describe what the session was like for them. Many people find the appointment itself — a protected, unhurried half-hour — is the part that helps.

The chakras are a traditional Indian model of subtle anatomy: seven points described along the axis of the body, used as places to rest attention in meditation. They are a map for inner practice and a language of symbols — they are not physical organs and not a description of human physiology.

Tradition: The system belongs to Indian tantric and hatha-yoga sources; the seven-chakra arrangement most people know today follows the sixteenth-century Sat-chakra-nirupana of Purnananda, which reached English readers through John Woodroffe's translation. Different lineages describe different numbers of chakras, so no single list is the one correct one.

What it involves: In practice a person sits still, places attention at one described point, and stays with the breath, an image, or a seed syllable for a set time. Teachers usually advise working with one chakra at a time under guidance rather than sweeping through all seven. What is being trained is steadiness of attention, not the body.

Muladhara, the first of the seven, is placed at the base of the spine and pictured as a four-petalled lotus associated with the earth element and the seed sound lam. In meditation it is traditionally read as the theme of ground, stability and being settled where you are. It is a symbolic location for attention, not an organ.

Tradition: Indian tantric and hatha-yoga sources, described in the Sat-chakra-nirupana and repeated across later yoga literature. The imagery — petals, element, seed syllable, presiding deities — is meditative symbolism carried in that tradition.

What it involves: A practitioner sits upright, brings attention to the base of the spine, and stays with slow breathing or the syllable lam for a few minutes, often with a sense of weight resting downward. Beginners are usually given this point first because it is the easiest to feel physically.

Svadhisthana is described a little below the navel as a six-petalled lotus, linked with the water element and the seed sound vam. Its traditional themes are flow, feeling and creative movement — the sense of things being fluid rather than fixed. It is a point for attention in meditation, not part of the body's anatomy.

Tradition: Indian tantric and hatha-yoga sources within the same seven-chakra scheme. The water imagery and the moon-like symbolism belong to that meditative vocabulary and are not physiological statements.

What it involves: Attention is brought to the lower abdomen and held with soft, even breathing, sometimes with the syllable vam or an image of still water. Sessions are usually short and are often taught after the practitioner is steady at the root point.

Manipura is placed at the navel and described as a ten-petalled lotus of the fire element, with the seed sound ram. Traditionally it carries the themes of warmth, effort, clarity of purpose and the will to act. It is a symbolic centre used in meditation and has no counterpart in physical anatomy.

Tradition: Indian tantric and hatha-yoga literature, where fire at the navel is also a long-standing image for the transforming power of practice itself. The vocabulary is contemplative, not medical.

What it involves: The practitioner sits, rests attention just above the navel, and follows the natural rise and fall of the abdomen, sometimes with the syllable ram. Teachers often pair it with a settled posture and a fixed short duration so the effort stays gentle.

Anahata sits at the centre of the chest, pictured as a twelve-petalled lotus of the air element with the seed sound yam; its name means the sound that is unstruck. Its traditional themes are affection, compassion and openness towards others. It is a meditative centre, not the physical heart.

Tradition: Indian tantric and hatha-yoga sources; the same chest centre also appears in devotional literature as the seat of feeling, which is why it is the point most often given to beginners in bhakti-flavoured practice.

What it involves: Attention rests at the middle of the chest, often with an unhurried breath, the syllable yam, or a phrase of goodwill silently repeated for a few minutes. Many people find this the most comfortable of the seven points to work with.

Vishuddha is placed at the throat and described as a sixteen-petalled lotus associated with space or ether and the seed sound ham. Its traditional themes are speech, listening, honesty and the refining of what one expresses. It is a point in a symbolic model, not the thyroid or the vocal cords.

Tradition: Indian tantric and hatha-yoga sources, where the throat centre is closely tied to mantra practice because it is where sound is shaped. The connection is to speech as an inner discipline, not to the anatomy of the neck.

What it involves: The practitioner rests attention at the hollow of the throat, sometimes chanting softly or repeating ham, sometimes simply noticing the breath passing there. It is often taught together with a period of deliberate silence during the day.

Ajna is described between the eyebrows as a two-petalled lotus, beyond the five elements, and is associated with the syllable Om. Its traditional themes are discernment, inward attention and the gathering of a scattered mind into one place. It is a meditative reference point and not a gland or any physical structure.

Tradition: Indian tantric and hatha-yoga sources, where this is the point at which the two principal subtle channels are said to meet. Modern writing that equates it with the pineal gland is a twentieth-century addition, not part of the classical description.

What it involves: The eyes are closed and attention is placed at the brow, held with slow breathing or with Om repeated silently, usually for only a few minutes at a time. Experienced teachers keep this practice short and supervised because sustained concentration here can be intense.

Sahasrara is described at the crown of the head as a thousand-petalled lotus and is treated as standing outside the elements and beyond any seed syllable. In the tradition it is less a place to concentrate on than a way of speaking about the completion of practice. It is symbolic language, not a physical location in the skull.

Tradition: Indian tantric and hatha-yoga sources, where it completes the seven-fold scheme and is spoken of in the language of union rather than of technique. Classical texts say strikingly little about it compared with the lower centres.

What it involves: Practice here is usually not a concentration exercise at all but simply sitting quietly with a wide, unfocused attention at the end of a longer session. Most teachers advise leaving this point alone until the earlier ones are steady and a teacher is present.

Aura reading is the practice of describing a field of colour or light said to surround a person, and interpreting it as a picture of their mood or character. No such field has ever been demonstrated under controlled observation, and this entry is marked for review for that reason. Any claim to detect illness in a person's aura is not something this site supports.

Tradition: The modern idea draws on nineteenth- and twentieth-century Western esoteric and Theosophical writing, which borrowed vocabulary from Indian ideas of prana and from religious halo imagery found in many cultures. It is a recent composite rather than a single old tradition, and the older sources it borrows from do not describe aura reading as it is practised today.

What it involves: A reader looks at or sits with a person, sometimes against a plain background, and describes colours and impressions, which are then discussed as themes such as tiredness, guardedness or optimism. So-called aura photographs are produced by cameras that record skin electrical resistance and temperature and then colour the image accordingly — they do not photograph any field around the body.

Meditation guidance means being helped to choose a simple practice, to sit with it regularly, and to understand what is normal along the way. There is genuinely good evidence that regular practice supports calm and steadier attention, and many people also value it for its own sake. It is not a substitute for medical or psychological care.

Tradition: Meditation in India runs through Vedic, yogic, Buddhist and Jain streams as well as devotional practice, and each has its own methods and aims. Guidance today usually borrows a technique from one of these lineages and teaches it in a plain, practical form.

What it involves: A teacher asks what you are looking for, suggests one method — following the breath, repeating a mantra, or watching sensation — and sets a short daily time, often ten to twenty minutes. You then meet or write occasionally to report how it is going, and the instruction is adjusted. Most of the work happens on your own, in short sessions done regularly rather than long ones done rarely.

Mindfulness is the practice of paying deliberate, unhurried attention to what is happening right now — breath, body, sound, or the task in hand — without arguing with it. It has been studied more than most contemplative practices and is reasonably well supported for calm, attention and general wellbeing. It is a skill you build, not a cure for anything.

Tradition: In its modern secular form it derives from Buddhist practice, chiefly the satipatthana teaching on establishing attention, which was adapted into non-religious courses in the late twentieth century. The older tradition is religious and has aims of its own; the secular course keeps the technique and sets those aims aside.

What it involves: A typical practice is ten to thirty minutes of sitting with the breath or a slow scan of bodily sensation, plus one everyday activity — eating, walking, washing up — done with full attention. Courses run over several weeks with daily home practice, because the effect comes from repetition rather than from any single session.

Pranayama is the yogic discipline of regulating the breath — its length, its evenness, and the pauses within it. Slow, gentle breathing is one of the better-supported practices for settling the body and steadying attention, and many people find it useful before sleep or study. It does not treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Tradition: It is Indian, set out as the fourth limb of Patanjali's eightfold yoga and described in detail in hatha-yoga texts such as the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. Those texts themselves insist on graded practice under a teacher rather than forcing the breath.

What it involves: You sit upright and practise a named technique for a set number of rounds — commonly slow even breathing, alternate-nostril breathing, or a lengthened exhale — usually five to fifteen minutes. A teacher watches for strain, keeps the ratio comfortable, and increases it slowly over weeks. Vigorous techniques with rapid breathing or long retention are taught only after that base is established.

Mantra practice is the repetition of a chosen syllable, name or verse, aloud or silently, often counted on a mala; related sound practice includes listening to a sustained tone or singing together. People describe it as steadying, absorbing and, where the words carry devotional meaning, personally moving. Sound and mantra are not medical treatments and no frequency treats any illness.

Tradition: Mantra is Indian and very old, running from Vedic recitation through tantric and devotional practice, with parallel traditions of sacred sound in Buddhism, Sikhism and Islam. Modern 'sound bath' sessions with singing bowls are a recent Western development and should not be presented as an ancient Indian rite.

What it involves: A practitioner sits at a regular time and repeats the mantra for a fixed count or duration — 108 repetitions on a mala is the common unit — keeping the pace even and the voice unforced. In group settings people chant together, or lie and listen while bowls or a gong are played for half an hour or so.

Spiritual counselling is an unhurried conversation about meaning, faith, values and the questions that come with loss or a turning point in life. It is not psychotherapy, not a medical service, and not a substitute for a qualified mental-health professional. Anyone in real distress should be with a doctor or a therapist, and a good spiritual counsellor will say so first.

Tradition: Guidance of this kind is old and widespread — the guru and the family purohit in Indian life, and chaplaincy in hospitals and armed forces elsewhere. Note that in India there is no statutory register or licence for spiritual counsellors, so the title itself certifies nothing.

What it involves: You talk, usually for an hour, about what is weighing on you; the counsellor mostly listens, reflects back what they hear, and may suggest a reading, a practice or a ritual that fits your own tradition. Nothing is diagnosed and no medicine is discussed. Sessions may be one-off or occasional, and you should be free to stop at any point.

Manifestation practice means writing down what you want, picturing it clearly and returning to it daily, usually alongside the steps that would actually bring it about. Getting clear about a goal and reviewing it often can genuinely help you notice opportunities and stay consistent. There is no evidence that thought alone produces money, health, a job or any other outcome, and this entry is marked for review because that central claim is contested and unsupported.

Tradition: The modern form comes from nineteenth-century American New Thought writing and its later popular successors, and is often dressed in Indian vocabulary it did not originate from. Indian tradition does have sankalpa — a stated intention taken before practice or ritual — but that is a commitment one makes, not a technique for obtaining objects.

What it involves: People typically write a goal in specific terms, read or picture it for a few minutes each morning, and keep a note of what they did about it that week. Used this way it works as a planning and attention habit: the writing clarifies the aim, and the daily reminder keeps effort going when motivation dips.