The conventional medical community holds the notion that Lyme disease is infectious in nature and can be solved with antibiotics. As tens of thousands of people can attest, the reality is somewhat different. It makes us wonder, is there something else that is happening with Lyme disease? Could there be a metaphysical connection with this very difficult-to-treat, destructive illness? 

Bramacharya: Loss of vital life force energy 

In Ashtanga’s 8 Limbs of Yoga, the first is called Yama. Yama deals with social ethics, including one’s standards and sense of integrity. It is focused on behavior and how we conduct ourselves in life.  The fourth part of the Yama is Bramacharya. Most believe that this refers to the loss of sexual fluids and energy but that is only one meaning of a much greater explanation of what it actually is.

Bramacharya is meant to help you maintain (and grow) your own energy by keeping it to yourself. When we allow others to take from us, or we give away our energy on any level—physically, mentally or metaphysically—we become drained, or depleted.  This happens so very often yet we don’t think of it in these terms so we don’t connect the dots as to cause and effect.  

A Lyme specialist in the Northeast recently worked with a young woman who has been fighting Lyme disease for nearly 17 years. She had symptoms of fatigue, cognitive issues, burning pain running down her limbs, as well as severe emotional and hormonal issues among her complaints.   

Her response to questions pertaining to her energy, as far as power and the loss of it, revolved around stories of past relationships and how much she had given to these relationships, yet in the end, she received only lies and deceit. Over and over again, the person she was with did not honor her and threw away the most precious gift she was offering: herself. She had a feeling of overall exhaustion with the process of having to constantly learn the lesson to not give too much. 

The lies and deceit were painful the first time, but the pattern continued with further relationships in different faces and situations. This not only occurred with romantic relationships but also with friends of hers.  She came to realize the position she had in life; her affluence, or the perception of it, had people thinking that she owed them something for the easy life she had lived.  She wanted to only give of herself, money and gifts without ever receiving anything in return.  

She finally realized that none of the relationships had given to her what she had given to them. She began shifting this very detrimental behavior by saying no thank you or that she was busy or even stating the way she felt. Immediately her energy began coming back to her (this along with some Reiki work) and every symptom she had associated with Lyme began to dissipate. The feeling of exhaustion left her, her clarity of mind returned and she became more productive and more joyful. The last symptoms of her Lyme disease, her legs and the burning sensation she had felt for over 15 years, finally left.

She still has healing to do, but is more joyful with her new-found sense of honor and the ability to see that she had been throwing herself away on behalf of people that would never reciprocate her feelings and her kindness. 

The return of her vital life force energy in turn made her feel that life was possible again. Is this an answer to this most debilitating disease? Her family and close friends saw the dramatic change within her.  This even made them contemplate their own personal journey through the idea of Bramacharya in relation to the illness or diseases that they had been plagued with themselves.  

The lesson is to honor who you are and “do not throw your jewels to the feet of thieves!” Honor what God has given to you and never give it away no matter how much you want to help or love another. Everyone has their special ball of energy and Chi and should not need yours to feel fulfilled. They need to cultivate it themselves as you do to build yourself back up to a person that is whole, loved and 100 percent healthy.

Berta Prevosti, the owner of The Jiiva Center in Stratford, is a certified Reiki master in Usui and Karuna Systems of Universal Hands on Energy Healing and a 500-hour certified yoga teacher. Connect at JiivaCenter.com. See ad, page 47.