by Dr. Connie Hernandez, ND
Parkinson’s disease is now second only to Alzheimer’s in the ranks of “cruel neurodegenerative diseases.”
In advance of Parkinson’s Awareness Month in April, someone created a t-shirt: “Shaking But Not Shaken – Trusting God Through Parkinson’s”
Parkinson’s patients literally shake with physical trembling over which they have no control. Some of the shaking is visible; some is hidden within the body. Fingers twitch spontaneously, often as small but rapid contractions under the skin, called “fasciculation.”
Hands drop teacups, and are eventually confined to writing in tiny script to maintain control (micrographia). Legs are subject to uncontrolled jerking and kicking.
The symptoms can understandably give rise to emotional upset – anger, fear, desperation, exasperation, anxiety, even depression.
Yet some patients seem able to remain at least inwardly unshaken, observing the symptoms with curiosity, but without emotional attachment.
Long experience of God’s protection can inspire sufferers with the ability to rest in the faith that there is a higher purpose to the events in their lives, even when that purpose may be hidden.
Faith has been defined as a sure knowing that is based on actual experience of the divine presence and its help in times of need.
Regular prayer and meditation can bring us that sure inner knowing that God is in control, and that His purpose for us is always guided by His perfect compassion. Thus faith enables us to experience a measure of calmness in the eye of life’s storms.
There’s plenty of cause to feel shaken amidst all the seemingly growing chaos and instability in the world today – a world fraught with a sense of uncertainty and insecurity that threatens the stability of our existence. Even the weather seems to be misbehaving in extremes, with raging winds, fires, floods, and volcanic eruptions.
Famine and pestilence are spreading. Politics are marked by divisiveness, emotional “eye for an eye” reactiveness, and a generalized defensiveness that manifests as unkindness.
The world’s economies are marked by a growing gap between haves and have-nots, even as unforeseeable changes threaten to wash the wealth away.
People are literally shaking in their boots, filled with fear and rage over the uncertainty in their lives.
Yet, as with a diagnosis of devastating illness, there remains the promise of a calmness at the eye of the storm, if we know where to find it.
There’s a pithy observation, “Crisis is a dangerous opportunity” that has been attributed to John Kennedy but is actually from a partial mistranslation of ancient Chinese characters. Still, it has value, because it urges us to view even the direst circumstances from a broad perspective and turn our attention to what Paramhansa Yogananda called the “solution consciousness” that is a part of our God-given inner spiritual armory.
Of course, thus far I haven’t addressed the gaping, obvious question: how can we find the calm at the storm’s center, if we’ve never visited that place before?
It is surely unreasonable to insist that we “just have faith in God,” if we haven’t had an actual experience of a divine consciousness that – as all the world’s scriptures tell us – dwells eternally within us, and is eager to guide and protect us with its perfect power of compassion and love – if we would but learn to invite and receive its help.
What if you wish that you had faith in God – but you simply don’t?
In his wonderful book Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramhansa Yogananda tells us that he was sent by God, in part, to show us how we can base our faith on actual experience, instead of on unscientific blind belief. He writes that God sent him with a special dispensation of grace, in response to a widespread silent call of many souls for a “practical religion.”
Yogananda brought many methods by which we can experience God’s living presence within us.
He said, “At the inner end of the human nervous system, the mind, interiorized, communes with God.” And he taught simple methods by which we can, with regular practice, increasingly find that blissful communion.
One of the techniques he taught was listening to the cosmic creative vibration of Aum. He promised that even the beginner in meditation will soon hear the strains of the Aum vibration by which God sustains all creation. He said that when we hear that blissful sound, even if only as its first expression as an unbroken, steady, quiet sound like wind blowing through trees, that we can be certain that we are in actual communion with God.
In Yogananda’s writings, and in stories told by many of his disciples, we find evidence for the amazing protection of Aum.
Yogananda told his first disciple in America, Dr. M.W. Lewis, “Remember, Doctor, if you always remain in Aum, nothing will be able to touch you.”
Soon after he said this to his beloved disciple, Dr. Lewis was on a small sailboat when a sudden storm threatened to capsize the boat. Yogananda, who was miles away, suddenly turned to a companion and exclaimed, “Doctor is in serious trouble – serious trouble, I tell you!”
Meanwhile, Dr. Lewis recalled the Master’s promise and turned all of his attention to the inner sound of Aum, and was able to come through the experience unharmed.
Attunement can come through chanting, by singing sacred music, or through prayer or affirmation. Divinely inspired sound can transform the vibration of our being.
Here are some suggestions for your inward journey:
The chant in this YouTube video, “What Is This Life?” reminds us of the source from which we have come.
This Youtube video explains how we can raise our consciousness and attune our hearts and minds to receive God through music.
This short Youtube video offers a rendition of the song “Life is a Dream” that Dr. Marcel can sometimes be heard singing as he goes about his serviceful labors in our office.
Affirmations such as the following, found in a powerful book by Paramhansa Yogananda, Scientific Healing Affirmations, can help you find your own calm inner center, raise your perspective, and strengthen your faith. It also teaches the science of using affirmations effectively.
“I relax and cast aside all mental burdens, allowing God to express through me His perfect love, peace, and wisdom.”
Yogananda called meditation the “airplane route to God.” The meditation techniques he gave us help us gradually learn to focus our awareness inward rather than outward.
Similarly, placing our attention calmly, with relaxation, at the “spiritual eye” center, roughly a half-inch inside the skull at the point between the eyebrows, helps us bring energy and attention to the frontal lobes of the brain, where calmness, solution-consciousness, and impulse-control are localized.
The effect of regular, happy meditation practice include reduced emotional reactivity, a broadened, more joyful perspective, and increased resilience.
At the same time, it draws energy away from the brain center where raw emotion such as fear, anger, and other negative and reactive emotions are localized.
Research has shown that just six weeks of concentrated practice produce measurably changes in brainwaves and even physical brain structures, transforming how we experience our lives and bringing us a welcome new sense of inner peace, stability, and an improved ability to attune ourselves to superconscious states. Thus, by attuning to superconscious, we can build our faith in God’s inner guiding presence and love.
The breathing practices of meditation shift our physiology from the sympathetic mode of functioning to the parasympathetic mode, balancing the autonomic nervous system and bringing calmness and fresh perspectives.
Long-time meditators can practice advanced meditation techniques, some of which are available only by initiation, such as Kriya Yoga. These practices give us powerful tools for centering our awareness in the astral spine, helping to remove subconscious obstacles and channel divine love and light.
All of these practices can help us find the calm at the center of our life’s trials and storms.
An excellent source of information and instruction is https://www.ananda.org.
Drs. Connie and Marcel Hernandez
DrConnie@DrsHernandez.com
DrMarcel@DrsHernandez.com