We are witness in recent years to the emergence of exciting interchanges between Eastern and Western cultures and religions. In America, ideas and philosophies from the East that decades ago interested a mere few, appear to be taking root in the spiritual lives of many more people than ever before.

    There is a growing segment of the population that has become motivated to seek out greater meaning for their lives, more peace and simplicity, and insight into their own natures and the world around them. In particular, the influence of yoga has become increasingly noticeable. It is estimated that over 25 million people practice yoga today in America. Part of the attraction may be yoga’s explicit recognition of the power of the human body and its energies, and of the necessity to maintain health and balance in the body as the foundation of any spiritual practice. Many people find themselves craving not only their own personal health and fitness, but also seeking an integration of their personal spiritual practice and the varied and sometimes stressful necessities of life (career, family, social life, etc.) – into a greater whole. A greater whole which includes the health of the ecosystem in which we live and grow.

    The Greenpath approach seeks to push the current understanding and practice of yoga yet further. Drawing from ways of knowing that have been practiced in the ancient subcultures of the world for centuries, it can help provide a map for yoga practicioners in their ongoing quest to develop themselves and enrich their lives. Every human being possesses essentially the same physical and energetic system. Our bodies all process food, air, and sensory input in the same way.

    The human organism, complex as it is, is a system, with predictable functions and responses that can be observed by any person who is interested in doing so. Further, the various energetic centers of the body each regulate energy flow in their own ways, and they can be made to work in harmony with each other. There is the possibility of bringing about a state of balance incorporating mental, emotional, sexual, physical, electrical, and chemical factors. This balance is fundamental if we are seeking harmony, efficiency and longevity in the life of the human organism.

    Both organic life and the planet as a whole move through time in cycles. These cycles are more spiral than circular, as we repeat our activities daily, monthly, and yearly, but are never exactly in the same place as we were at a similar point in the previous cycle. We can see patterns repeating, physically, emotionally, in our relationships, in the tides, in the weather, in the seasons, even historically. All intertwined with the spinning of the Earth on its axis, the spinning of the moon around the Earth, the spinning of both around the sun, and so on.

    As the Earth spins on its axis, it generates an electomagnetic field with south and north poles. Similarly, the spinal cord allows human beings to generate an electromagnetic field with lower and upper polarities. The spinal axis is a highly sophisticated network of nerves woven through and around the spine, and it is, though most are unaware of this, the pathway through which our psychic self moves. This pathway can be a guide for travelling in a much more conscious manner, internally, from south to north – from pole to pole.

    Humans have lost the understanding we once possessed, an understanding that was followed and then ritualized, an understanding that our degree and mode of perception at any given moment is affected by where the focus of the psyche is upon the internal path linking the base of the spine to the back of the head, where the most primitive section of the brain rests. Recovering or reconstituting this understanding could expand our perspective beyond the confines of linear thought and reconnect us with an awareness that can be characterized as “spiral,” embodied by a real and present connection to the planet's experience.

    The loss of a subtle connection to the earth may be attributed to the largely unconsious preoccupation people have with the concentration of energies that well up in the lower part of the body. Not being fully conscious, and at the same time being driven by the sexual urge (stimulated by forces from within and from without) in a manner that is disconnected with the back of the brain, the human system becomes subject to a habitual pattern of perception, and to a particular level of energy functioning. Our patterns of perception, like the playing of music, depend on the tuning of the instrument, that is, on the individual nervous system. Our ability to be sensitive to wider ranges of experience, with greater depth, depends on the energy levels present in the system. If no energy is made available by a person to operate the higher-frequency parts of this organic instrument, one is as if deaf and blind to experiences of a refined nature.

    It is this energy that can be used to fuel the system to operate at higher and higher levels. The difference between revitalization and distraction comes down simply to different channels in the body and mind. This energy can be directed through these channels by means of corresponding intent and attention, or what is called “will.” Will is simply an instrument by which energy can be made to respond.

    The pursuit of gathering the sexual energy for use, rather than simply building it up and releasing it, requires us to take a fresh look at the nature and possibilities of human sexuality. In doing so, we begin the journey to retake control over our own bodily energy production, in essence the journey to own and be responsible for our own selves, and to relate directly to the cosmos in which we are embedded. This can be said to be a truly yogic approach.

    Most people run sexual energy through their bodies in a “forward-flowing” motion, that is, they eat food and take in all kinds of other stimuli and impressions, and sexual tension builds until it is released. Then the body and mind relax until sexual energy builds up again. Instead of losing the energy, we may be able to hold on to it by damming its flow, through the exercise of resistance, especially at times when planetary influences may be strongly affecting our energy levels. Energy may then be stored and refined through the use of certain aural and visual exercises.

    Consciously activating this “backward-flowing” motion is an internal skill that can be developed. It begins with conscious effort and attention, by observing the system as it functions normally, and slowly testing and experimenting. Our breathing, often taken for granted, is intimately connected with the movement and processing of energies throughout the body. Breath can be the foundation for the conscious activation of our bodies’ previously automatic functions. Through our willingness to pay attention to it, and through the practice of certain exercises it can become possible to sense the energy or life force (also known as prana) moving into the higher areas of the body, along the path of the spinal axis.

    As this occurs, over the course of time, the sexual energy becomes refined – that is, finer and subtler. In addition, exposure to certain sounds can help interrupt the cycle of energy depletion. The science of yogic sounds (which is centered around the breath) can be useful in the calibrating of the individual's subjective internal states to objective reality. Sound is truly pervasive and directly affects the nervous system and internal sensory spaces (such as the mind's eye and ear). Yogic sounds can induce physical sensations (among them waking up the spinal axis) and changes in psychological states.

    Creating the right conditions for a harmonious interplay, sound and breath can eventually be used in a way that will help a couple participate together in the breathing process, where male and female vibrations can be exchanged. Such a practice, shared with the sexual mate, can be said to constitute the essence of ecstasy and creativity. In addition, a man or woman can learn to harmonize their own feminine and masculine energies (which exist together inside all human beings), rather than merely reacting to the opposing energy that is embodied in, or projected onto, the other.

    Sex is so rarely thought of as a sacred process. Nor, for that matter, is the human body really thought of as the original place of worship, where any enlightened or divine states that might exist are generated. Our idea of the nature of the sex function in humans can be broadened to acknowledge the way its energy can be used to contact magical emotions of great scope, embodied in the activation of the limbic system of the brain, to achieve a resonance with the higher cosmos, through the activation of the pineal gland, and, to maintain a robust harmony in the home through the activation of the heart and mind. The exploration and development of these kinds of practices can point humanity in the direction of restoring the balance and harmony of masculine and feminine, increasing our understanding of the organic realm of “Mother Earth”, and renewing our relationship with the precious ecosystem.

    Individual efforts in the personal sphere do indeed link to the greater cultural, historical, and ecological realms. For the individual, this process takes time. Building up and maintaining the sex energy beyond the habitual levels is usually a prerequisite for psychological refinement. The very act of doing so strengthens certain inner controls. To learn to actualize such an attitude needs some dedication to the possibility of change, as energy used for one thing cannot also be used for another.

    The self, including the body, must entrain itself through experience, trial-and-error, remembering, and attention. This process is a movement that can not be learned simply by being described, or by following a precise set of rules. There are, however, certain practices and guidelines that can be implemented, which incorporate factors such as diet, exercise, relaxation, meditation, and conscious attention. What we are suggesting is that it is possible to harness the energy of our desire to grow, to seek greater understanding, to not be constantly subject to forces within us and around us, to be proactive and not reactive, and to live in greater harmony within, which leads to greater harmony and peace without.

    We can develop our will to actualize these desires. When awareness finally moves into the body rather than resisting it, consciousness can then be expanded and deepened. What may then be perceived is the energetic and vibratory nature of the body. The practice of this Greenpath “neo-tantra” we are presenting endeavors to see directly into the nature of the human organism in order to place its control in our hands. The hands of whomever we truly are.