Ear Care to Soothe the Mind and Uplift the Spirit
Karna Purana for the Mind and Body
Self-care is becoming more and more important due to our fast-paced and all too often high-stress lifestyles. Through the ancient holistic healing system of Ayurveda, humans have gained insight into wellness as a whole: helping us to achieve a balance between our mind, body, spirit and social well-being.
Many illnesses and ailments can be traced to an imbalance of the ears. Thankfully, there is an Ayurvedic oil therapy for the ears, known as Karna Purana, which has numerous benefits to our overall health. This treatment can be used for self-care in our own homes to improve ear health as a way to balance the sounds, air, and frequencies that come into the physiology.
Why should we perform Karna Purana?
Karna Purana helps to balance our prana vata. In general, oils help to balance vata. Vata is a dosha or energy within the body. Prana vata is the energy of the head and flows from outside to inside. By focusing our attention on tuning this aspect daily, we can obtain many health benefits. The warm oil of Karna Purana moisturizes our ear tissues to help with a number of ear-related issues. One benefit is to encourage the ears to produce a healthy amount of earwax.
Another reason to practice this treatment regularly is to promote brain health and cognitive function. Our ears flow sounds through our body and when our ears are tuned properly, we have a higher chance of feeling calm, peaceful, and mentally sharp. Karna Purana may also help with depression, forgetfulness, insomnia and stress or anxiety.
When to use Karna Purana?
Ear oiling can be performed daily as a preventative medicine to sustain optimal health of the ears and jaw. It can also be used as a curative treatment to help with imbalances caused by the buildup of vata.
The benefits of Karna Purana are especially felt in the fall or winter months when the cold, dry air affects the bones of our inner ear. Additional benefits of ear oiling include:
Ear infections, headaches and migraines
Vertigo and body balance disorders
Sinus infections, swimmer’s ear and pressure build-ups after diving
Tinnitus or ringing in the ears
Congestion from wax or yeast overgrowth
Tension in the neck and jaw
Hearing loss and earache
Stress and anxiety
Support the healthy balance of all three doshas
Depression and neurological disorders
How to use Karna Purana?
Try 1-2 drops of organic sesame oil or Karna oil in each ear daily for wellness care. If your ears are hurting or feeling sensitive, warm the oil and place one dropperful while laying on your side with the oil in the ear that is facing up. Massage around the ear, gently pulling on the ear lobe and applying gentle pressure to the area around the ear.
Sound healing as self-care
Once you have balanced your prana vata, you may want to enjoy the many benefits of ether or sound healing. In Ayurveda, ether is the ever-pervading element that allows all of the others to exist. It is the first expression of Consciousness and a basic need for every cell to live. Sound is the elemental manifestation of this element. Sound Healing, through various techniques and technologies, is the educated and conscious use of sound to promote wellness in the whole human system, including the expansion of consciousness.
The premise of Sound Healing is that all matter vibrates at specific frequencies. With the use of specific sound, one can shift the vibration to that of a pure, healthy state. Any discordant energy of worry, stress, anxiety, disease and trauma will be affected and possibly alleviated instantly and/or with repeated exposure to sound. Science has proven that sound, or vibration, has a strong impact on substance. Perhaps this is because sound reminds us of the most basic of the elements: truth, spiritual presence and purity.
Self-care through sound can come in many forms:
You could sit next to a rushing river and listen to the sounds whooshing over the rocks and riverbank.
Enjoy the stillness and luxurious nature of complete silence.
Find a Sanskrit mantra (such as SO HUM) that resonates and repeat this 108 times to activate the healing within.
Enjoy a Sound Therapy session with a practitioner who plays singing bowls, tuning forks and other instruments.
May you be happy, healthy and peaceful!
Warmly,
Radha