Dru Yoga – the power of the Heart by Mansukh Patel

Dru Heart Power

Mansukh Patel describes how the Dru approach to yoga is characterised by powerful, flowing movements that channel and transform the body's subtle energy through the heart.

As a result, Dru Yoga creates healing and unity. According to the HeartMath Institute's statistics the heart generates the largest electromagnetic field in the body and is about 60 times greater in amplitude than the brain waves recorded in an electroencephalogram (EEG). The magnetic component of the heart's field, which is around 5000 times stronger than that produced by the brain, is not impeded by tissues and can be measured several feet away from the body.

Mansukh Patel uses Dru Yoga to access the power of the heart by combining asana (posture), pranayama (the science of breath) and the ancient Eastern tradition of mudras (hand gestures). All of these come together to create flowing sequences that balance the energy centres of the body and help us to express ourselves to the world. Accessing the power of the heart is essential to the process of healing painful emotions.

Within Dru Yoga there are specific, easy to practise sequences that work to transform different negative emotions into their positive counterparts. Dru Yoga sequences simply take the trapped energy caught in such a pattern and releases it, safely, through the heart.

Dru yoga in warzones

Dru Yoga has proven its effectiveness in working with emotional pain in places where there has been severe conflict. Mansukh Patel, along with colleagues Savitri MacCuish, John Jones, Andrew Wells, Anita Goswami, Paulette Agnew and others from Dru have pioneered the use of self-help techniques in conflict zones within Europe, Africa and South Asia.

The keystone of the success of Dru Yoga in this regard, according to Mansukh, is a process that we call Energy Block Release or EBR. Every day we have emotional energy thrown at us. Sometimes we can handle it, and sometimes we can't. Emotional energy enters the body via the joints, enters the muscle structures, and ends up in the internal organs, from where discomfort and in extremes, disease begins.

Very often the question is asked how Dru Yoga is different from Hatha Yoga, or any other branch of yoga. In Dru Yoga, according to Mansukh, Savitri, Andrew and the other pioneers of this approach, it is possible to facilitate the release of energy, and to transform awareness and consciousness because of Dru Yoga’s ability to work simultaneously with all the layers of being – physical, subtle, emotional and discriminative thinking.

Because we can directly reach these levels the effects of Dru Yoga are rapid. This system has formed the basis for detraumatisation work in post-war zones including the North Caucasus, Northern Ireland and in Africa. Dru Yoga is proving effective after many traumatic circumstances because it helps transforms emotional pain without having to re-live the experience of trauma.

Dru Yoga has universal appeal.

Beginners: appreciate the flowing nature of its postures and sequences, which emphasise awareness rather than physical prowess.

Those with more experience: find its detailed understanding of the body's subtle energy system leads them to a profound understanding of traditional asanas (postures), pranayama (breath-work), mudras (gestures) and meditations.

Its soft and meditative movements can be enjoyed by almost everyone, regardless of age or physical limitation. Dru Yoga teachers are specifically trained to offer modifications to movements for those who need them.

Mansukh Patel

explains, Dru Yoga combines yogic wisdom handed down over countless generations from teacher to student in the traditional way with inspiration from contemporary sources. As many people have found it is the ideal yoga for helping you cope with the stresses and tensions of 21st century living.