Ayurvedic Approach to Spiritual Emergencies Appearing as Psychosis: Strengthening the Sushumna Nadi By Abbey Leigh Theis

“Our greatest blessings come to us by way of madness, provided that madness is given us by divine gift”1

In 1845, the term psychosis was conceived encompassing all mental disturbances.2 However, within the last 20 years the word ‘pyschosis’ has been creating confusion of what it actually means and what type of psyche umbrella it really covers.3 Some of the confusion began with the term ‘spiritual emergency’ when it was coined in 1989 by Stanislav Grof M.D. and Christina Grof, founders of the field of transpersonal psychology.4 The revelation of redefining symptoms of psychosis as being a spiritual experience shed new light on treatment protocols. This Review of Literature will discuss how psychosis appears to look like spiritual emergencies, why it is important to address spiritual emergencies from an Ayurvedic approach, and how to strengthen the Sushumna nadi in order to heal, recover, and ultimately gain wisdom from the divine experience. 

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