I have always been skeptical when people ask me to tie my hair. I felt they are always unable to accept the latest trend and simply try to enforce all old school philosphies. When asked for reason,nobody gave a convincing reason. So I decided to research on this topic and was surprised to know a lot of facts. Hair on our head is there to do more than just to look good. Let us dive into the this topic and I am sure after reading this post you will have a different perspective about your hair.
Hair has an amazing power
You will notice all of our religious practises have got something to do with hair.
Staring from birth, when a child is born we tonsure on or before their first birthday.
When someone dies, the family member, who performed the last rituals end up tonsuring their hair in some religions.
Brahmins who recite mantras on a daily basis have a tuft of hair called Shikha at the back of their head.
Even in history it says that when Genghis Khan conquered China, he considered the Chinese to be very wise, intelligent people who would not allow themselves to be subjugated. He therefore required all women in the country to cut their hair and wear bangs, because he knew this would serve to keep them timid and more easily controlled.
So everything around us, is interlinked with hair. Let us demystify the significance of hair.
It is said that,hair acts like an antenna absorbing the energy around us. The cosmic energy enters through the ends of the hair, and transfers that energy to the nervous system which travels down the spine. A simple way to realise this is, when you encounter any threat you get goosebumps. It is because of hairs in action alerting the brain. Hair throughout our body has appropriate functions and send signals to brain.
As claimed by Yogi Bhajan, “when we allow the hairs to reach their full length the minerals and nutrients can then enter the spinal fluid. This aids in improving memory and elevating the energy levels.
By cutting hairs, we stop this useful flow as now the mineral and nutrients have to first work to grow back the hair again.”
Why should we not have unbound/loose hair?
Hair attracts negative energies to a greater extent. If you notice,Gods like Kali have ubounded hair as they are ferocious,violent and aggressive. When unfastened hair rub against each other and due to friction Raja Tama energy is generated.It becomes easy for the negative energies to release and store distressing energy in an individual with the help of this flowing Raja Tama energy.
Later, through effective spread of this distressing energy, the possibility of a negative energy entering the body of the individual increases.
When a woman leaves her hair open, the Raja component within her hair increases even further. An increase in the Raja subtle-component tends to make a person’s mind more fickle(not constant in thoughts) and also increases the tendency to be frivolous. You might notice in all mythological stories that when women unbounded their hair,there was a destruction. Panjali promised not to tie her hair until the Gauravas were killed. Sita Devi did not braid her hair till Ravanan was killed. When women leave their hair open there is a significant possibility of destruction. That’s why our elders always insist on tying a knot at the end even after hair wash.
This fickleness of the mind can be taken advantage of by negative energies to affect a woman and make her do and say things she normally wouldn’t.
What does science say?
All matter (solids, liquids, gasses) are made of particles called atoms. All atoms are made of sub-atom particles called “electrons”, “protons”, and “neutrons”. These sub-atom’s all have electromagnetic fields. That means all things are basically made of mini magnets.
Dirt, water, air, and even photons are all made of “mini-magnets”.Actually your entire brain is made of magnets that interact with each other. Your hair is like magnetic flux lines exiting your body. Your hair plays many important roles for your body. The least known role is that of antenna. Your hair is capable of sending/receiving information to and from your body exactly like a radio antenna, and exactly like the antenna described in biology. Your hair balances the body’s electromagnetic field and also attracts the energies around it.
So when you leave your hair open,you keep the antenna (your hair) more active to absorb everything from the environment. If there is negativity in the environment you are going to absorb it and get into trouble.
The Raja Tama energy id the same reason why men who performed the last rituals for their parents tonsure their head. Once someone dies, the body starts the process of decomposition. The environment in the home becomes Raja-Tama predominant because of negative vibrations emitting from the body of deceased. Our hair has a tendency to quickly absorb such waves. Hence the person has a tendency to suffer from headache,numbness and a lot of health issues. Men who actively participate in final rites are prone to get affected. That’s why they must shave off their head completely and others take a hair bath immediately after last rites. They even clean their home completely to avoid getting affected.
What is the ideal practice?
During the day hair absorbs solar energy and at night our hair absorbs lunar energy.
So coil your hair up during the day into a Rishi knot to energize the brain cells with solar energy and braid your hair in evening basically at the start of night and do not leave the ends of the hair exposed. That’s why in olden days they used Kunjalam or Kunjam to tie at the end of the hair. Loose scattered hair might attract energies and also practically cause split ends.
Now you might think,men always have loose hair. Won’t this concept be applicable to them.
At a spiritual level, men generally have less of the Raja subtle-component than women; hence they are less emotional and are also less sensitive. They also have a higher ability to fight with negativity. As a result, they are less prone to a subtle-attack because of their hair being cut. Men have a higher ability to imbibe Sattva component with short and open hair. It is therefore recommended for men to keep their hair short. Hair grown long by men increases the subtle-heat in their body and disturbs their inner stability. It also leads to men being more fickle minded.
You might have noticed Sadhus having a tuft of hair at the back of their head.
This is because our body has seven chakras, starting from the base, mooladara chakra to Sahashra chakra. The life energy(Kundalini) lies coiled in the base chakra and with the help of yogic exercises and meditation we can uncoil it and rise it up to reach Sahashra Chakra. A Brahmin’s final goal is to reach this final Union or state of perfection. To protect that Sahashra Chakra he retains a tuft of hair at the top of his head. It is believed that sun is the cleanest form of energy. So the rest part of his head is shaved to soak the rays of sun when he does Sandhayvandanam.
Braiding advantages
Braiding protects the hair to a greater extent from getting tangled.
Braiding applies a mild pressure on the hair roots that stimulate hair growth. If braided too tightly,it will hamper the whole process.
Hair breakage stops significantly.
Again hair growth depends a lot on genetics and your diet. If the other two components are proper then try braiding your hair and you will notice a significant difference.
Conclusion
Our ancestors say, braiding has a philosophy behind it. They relate braiding to a successful women’s character in a family.
For braiding,we part the hair into three divisions. The first division is her parents’ home(the home she was born) and the third division is her in law’s home. She is the middle division. If you notice,after braiding you notice only two divisions. The middle division becomes invisible. That means, a woman being in the middle of both her home and her in law’s home should braid it together into a family invisibly doing it. She holds the power to build or break a family🤩.
MommyReturns 