This is a very simple practice, yet a very effective one. Do not be put off by the fact that it contains no complicated elements: its simplicity may conceal profound personal discoveries and experiences. This is a practice of finding a key, in which you yourself become that key. A key is needed to open doors. Only when it fits every part of the lock can the door be opened. Every notch and groove must match; the key must fit the lock perfectly, and then the door will open. You yourself are the key, and the doors you open lead to your true higher Consciousness.
So you need to reach that unique, natural state known as the golden mean, balance or harmony, in which your key fits the lock of your door. You cannot have this harmony until it is achieved within. All the elements of a human being must come into their natural, harmonious balance to become the right key that opens your particular door. You are the key. By entering the harmonious state originally intended by Nature, you will open your door and set yourself Free.

For this practice you will need a bag of salt and a metre of cotton fabric. Use coarse salt, the kind sold in one-kilogram bags: the simplest kind available in any shop.

Pour 2 glasses of salt (250 g) into one container, such as a plate, and the same amount into another. You now have two plates of salt to place outdoors in turn: one during the day and the other at night. The sky should be as clear as possible, with minimal cloud cover. Put the first plate in direct sunlight for a whole day, so that the sun's rays fall on the salt. In the evening, after sunset, bring in the first plate and put the second plate of salt in its place. Leave this second plate under the open night sky all night to absorb the vibrations of the heavenly bodies: the Moon, the stars and so on. Ideally, the Moon should be shining at this time; a full moon is best.

When the night is over, bring in the second plate and replace it with the first, and continue for 3 days. Some of these days may be overcast or rainy. If so, wait until the sky is clear again and then continue. A break does not matter: the point is to accumulate a total of 3 days. You may leave the plates of salt out for longer, for example a week; this will only be beneficial. But 3 days is enough. As you put the plates out, ask the Universe to fill the salt with its vibrations.
Someone who is ill and unable to carry out these preparations themselves, perhaps a relative, may ask you to do this for them. You may do so, but it is very important that they participate at least inwardly: they must know what is happening and understand that it is all being done for them, at their request. It is very important that the Universe knows for whom this harmoniser is being made. You should not make it for yourself and then, for some reason, impulsively give it to another person.

After a few days you will have two plates of salt "charged" with cosmic Yin and Yang energies. It is important not to mix them up. You can simply mark or label them.
Take some white fabric. Any natural fabric will do. The photographs below show the harmonisers I made myself from ordinary cotton, but you can use any natural fabric you like, preferably white. Cut out 4 circles, or squares or octagons, as in the photograph below.

Depending on the size of your hand, pour 1.5 or 2 glasses of salt from the plate that was in the sunlight into the centre of the first octagon.

Lift the corners of the octagon, bring them together and tie the pouch. Do not make it tight; leave it loose.

Then make another identical pouch around the first. This allows you to replace the outer pouch and always keep it clean. Tie this pouch with a coloured ribbon, for example yellow or gold.

Do exactly the same with the salt from the plate that was under the night sky. Mark this pouch too by tying it with a coloured ribbon, for example grey or silver. You can mark it in any other convenient way, but you must always know exactly which pouch is solar and which is lunar.

You will have two pouches of salt. When you squeeze them gently, your fingers press slightly into the salt, allowing the whole surface of your palm to make good contact with the pouch.

Practice

1. For the practice itself, take the solar pouch, containing the salt that was in the sunlight, in your right palm. Take the lunar pouch, containing the salt that absorbed the cosmic vibrations of the Moon and distant space, in your left palm.
2. Squeeze the pouches slightly with your fingers so that your fingers sink a little into them, then relax your hands in this position.
3. Next, sense and recognise that the right pouch has absorbed solar vibrations, and the left one the vibrations of the Moon and distant space. This will be easy to do.
4. Then feel the space around you filled with light. You can simply imagine that you are outside in the sunshine on a bright, sunny day.
5. Sit or lie like this for 10 minutes or longer. Practising for up to 30 minutes or an hour is very good.

During the first 3–7 days, many of you may notice an inner coolness while practising, as though cool, refreshing waves were passing through your body. Your hands may also feel cold. Later, after 3–7 days, this may change: after 10–30 minutes of practice, an inner energetic heat may arise in your palms, especially their centres, along with a pleasant warmth throughout your body and a sense of energetic balance and cleansing. It may feel as though something within you has suddenly fallen into its familiar, natural place, bringing a pleasant, soothing feeling. The sensations in your palms may be especially unusual, as though you were holding some energetic substance... But you will discover all of this through your own practice, so describing the sensations is not part of the practice itself.

Notes

1. Do not mix up the salt pouches. The solar pouch belongs in your right hand, and the lunar one in your left.
2. You can do this practice at bedtime. When you go to bed, simply take the salt pouches in your hands and lie there, drifting into sleep.
3. Once a year, preferably in summer when there is plenty of sunshine, you may replace the pouches completely and charge fresh salt for new ones. It is very important not to throw away the salt from the old pouches, but to dissolve it in water, for example by putting it into a river or lake, or simply washing it away with water in the bath. You do not have to replace them every year; you can do so less often, depending on how frequently you practise.

As with all the practices on the Your Yoga website, I say little about what should happen or what any particular practice is for. Someone who begins practising may start to predict the future and see the past, while someone else may find it an excellent remedy for stress... Every person is an abyss. What can words say about an abyss? Words disappear into it like sparks from a fire into the emptiness of the night sky. Feel yourself; seek the balance within that will open your door.

Practice received on 28 April 2006.
© Author: Sergey Veretennikov (Om Shanti)