The art of healing through thinking and gongs����

By Nickky Faustine P. De Guzman,
Reporter��

THE BRAIN works like a muscle — it can be controlled and trained. And what do we get from training our minds? Wellness.

“While the brain controls your body functions, you can train the mind,” says Rosan Cruz, a spiritual healer and teacher. She says that our greatest enemy is our mind because it generates, welcomes, and fosters both positive and negative thoughts, and, more often than not, the bad vibrations win and cloud our mind. We end up fearful and defeated, which ruins our mood, our day, and consequently, our health.��

On average, a person has 35 to 48 thoughts per minute in his or her head, or 50,000 to 70,000 ideas per day, said Dr. Bruce Davies, author and teacher.

“Where should I eat?”��

“Should I take the train or book Uber?”��

“Does my partner love me?”��

“What does the future hold?”

“Should I check my Facebook or sleep?”

These — and more — may be some of the thoughts that have crossed your mind just now, and according to Ms. Cruz, the art of wellness begins and ends in talking and training the mind to think positive vibes only and “shield ourselves against negativity and be impervious of it.”��

But the road to training the mind is paved with challenges.

“It may not be easy because all our lives we’ve been trained to think a certain thought,” she said. She calls this certain thought the “limiting belief” which is imposed and passed on by society and the people we interact with. These limiting beliefs may be cultural traditions that people have accepted as truths, including, for example, the idea that women cannot provide for the family, only men can, and that going to school alone instantly promises a better future.

Two years ago, Ms. Cruz dropped out of the rat race — she had been an account executive with McCann Erickson and Avia Communications, worked in New York, was senior marketing services manager during Bayantel’s early years, and worked at Lopez Holding Corp. as a senior assistant vice-president for nearly 20 years — to practice and teach yoga full time.

Today she is a Theta and sound healer, and teaches hot, vinyasa, yin, and Kundalini yoga.

MIND THERAPY��
Ms. Cruz relies on the power of the mind as a therapeutic technique to offset our limiting beliefs.

“My vision is to be able to support people to heal, live, and bloom to their fullest potential. I can help you discover your limiting beliefs or programs that have been keeping you from moving forward, reverse the negative effect the beliefs have had on you, and create the life you deserve,” she told ����ý in an interview on Aug. 24.

She added that the beliefs “may be something you have been taught, learned, and accepted as early as childhood to the present or carried over from your ancestors through your parents or your collective consciousness. These beliefs or programs limit you, control you. It can be a range of emotions, which include fear, doubts, resentments, feeling of rejection, regrets, and anger. As your mind is controlled, you are controlled, that’s the way you react. These are the patterns that we want to break, so we release them.”

The technique of combating and breaking free from our limits happen in what is called Theta healing. During a one-hour one-on-one session, Ms. Cruz will ask you to put together your index and thumb fingers in an “OK” hand sign. As she asks questions like “What is your greatest fear?” “Where do you think the fear comes from?” and “Who told you to be fearful?” she will break apart your index finger and thumb to release the tension.��

She said the healing process uses the brain wave “theta,” or a state where one is in deep relaxation. “It is a state where you can access your subconscious, all the memories are stored there. When you access that state, I can found out where you access your limiting beliefs.”

She did a trial session with me and asked about my story, my wants, and my fears. Before I knew it, I was crying in the middle of the restaurant where we did the interview. But to cry and to pinpoint my limiting beliefs were relaxing, even if the sample session was only for 15 minutes.

A theta healing session with her costs P1,900 at the Theta Healing at Third Eye Wellness Center in McKinley Business Park, BGC.

But does one session instantly heal one’s deepest and greatest wounds and fears? It depends on the person and how strong he or she is willing to train the mind to ward off negativity and embrace a more positive outlook, said Ms. Cruz.��

She said it all boils down to the art of loving yourself.

“If you learn to love and prioritize yourself, you know what you want and what you deserve, and once you’ve acknowledged them, letting go of the things you cannot control would be easier,” she said.

One must make time — at least 11 minutes — to be with one’s self, to sit and meditate, she said. Meditating for 40 days straight days guarantees the formation of this habit, she said, and 90 days of doing it ensures the confirmation of the new habit.��

Training the mind does not only happen in Theta healing but also in Kundalini yoga and gong therapy, which Ms. Cruz also teaches.

“Kundalini is what you call the untapped energy, which lies dormant at the base of your spine. When you do Kundalini yoga, it strengthens your intuition and willpower. It facilitates in the recovery from many physical, mental, and emotional issues. The added benefit is that it tones the body, builds strength, and improves stamina,” she said.

She calls Kundalini yoga as the “yoga of awareness,” which taps different body organs to address problems. The body is home to negative energy which needs to be dissolved — our insecurities are often stored in the stomach, our griefs are found in our lungs, our fears reside in our kidneys, and the urge to control things stay in our colon, she said. A Kundalini yoga session, which is priced at P550, addresses different body parts to release tensions.��

She does the Kundalini yoga at Yoga+Express, Dela Rosa St., Legazpi Village, Makati City.

Healing through hearing also apparently does wonders for the mind and body. Called a “gong bath,” a group of people lie to their backs while Ms. Cruz plays the gong in rhythmically to stimulate the senses while de-stressing the listeners.

“Participants report that they feel relaxed, less stressed, sleep better, and are more productive at work for a week,” she said.

A certified healer and teacher, Ms. Rosan started practicing the art of meditation in 2012.

“Things just happened so fast. In 2015, I got out of corporate life. At the time, I really wanted something different. I felt there’s something more to life than what I was doing. And here I am now — breaking away from my limiting beliefs,” she said.