Exploring the Ancient Rites with Mary Garvey
Article by Judith Lynch
A very interesting event about the Tibetan Rites was held on Zoom. The session was led by Mary Garvey, a Cyta member who has recently been welcomed onto the Cyta Committee. She has been studying the practice and sent participants a summary of her findings and also some books and YouTube references (see below) for those who wish to delve deeper.
There are 5 movements (rites) which should initially be practised 3 times in the morning, increasing by 2 each week up to 21 repetitions by 10 weeks, but only increasing if you are ready for it. They are not referred to as exercises and they should be practised in the order they are listed, although some may be missed out if not suitable for you. Even just practising Rite 1 is said to be beneficial for health and vitality as the practices also work on the subtle body, via the vortexes/energy spaces located deep in the forehead, back of brain, throat/ base of neck, the right side of the waist, deep in the reproductive organs and in each knee. There are no breathing instructions but a pause (a breath?) between each movement before you repeat it is encouraged. There is a kindness in the instructions to perform in an easy manner, with an inventive mind. The books below mention many other non-physical aspects of the practice such as diet, voice vibrations, scalp care, mantram and mantra.
Mary took us through an extensive warm up, focussing on an awareness of the areas of the rites and providing good preparation for the rites practice to follow. She also incorporated instructions for alternative versions of rites 4 and 5 as these are the harder ones to execute. As a teacher I found all of this very useful to enable me to help students with these more challenging movements.
The Five (Physical) Rites
- Spinning clockwise
- Raised leg /raised head. Apanasana
- Ustrasana with head movement
- Tabletop
- Updog/downdog
(There is a supplementary Rite 6, celibacy and use of sexual energy – a type of standing uddiyana bandha)
For an easier alternative execution of tabletop (ie pushing up from lying on back with knees bent, heels raised) Mary suggested using blocks or books under hands and pushing away with legs to raise the body off the floor. For Rite 5 an alternative suggested was sitting back to heels with forearms down then forward into easy upward facing dog then back into downward dog, releasing back to start point.
Thank you Mary for sharing your magical journey researching the Tibetan Rites and for the well-planned and executed practice you led us through. Thanks to those who attended the event and to the Cyta Committee for organising it.
REFERENCES
Kelder, Peter “The Eye of Revelation. The Ancient Tibetan Rites of Rejuvenation”
Kelder, Peter “Ancient System of the Fountain of Youth, Book2, A companion book to above. 2012 Virgin Books/Ebury Publishing
Watt, JW (Ed) “The True Tibetan Rites Revealed” 2008 Booklocker.com
Youtube video: Tibetan Rites, the Fountain of Youth, Debunking the Myths:
with Tim Van der Vliet