Waking Energy 7 Timeless Practices Designed to Reboot Your Body and Unleash Your Potential

Years passed, and Bradford reappeared on Kelder’s doorstep miraculously looking like a virile,
younger version of himself. Bradford told Kelder he had learned the rites he’d been seeking from a
sect of lamas living at a monastery in the Himalayas. He had seen no old people there, only wise old
souls in young vital bodies. Due to the extraordinary power of this ritual, he swore, many of the
monks lived well to one hundred and beyond.
Thrilled with the transformation the rites had produced in his own body, Bradford documented
them in detail and eagerly taught the rites to Kelder. A few years later, enthused about the work and its
results, Kelder started writing his own books about them. First, he published The Eye of Revelation
(1936), then The Original Five Tibetan Rites of Rejuvenation (1939), and finally The Ancient Secret
of the Fountain of Youth (1985). In the last book, he described fully, for the first time, the philosophy
behind the rites, which he called youthing. The Rites of Rejuvenation were now introduced to the
Western world.
The Tibetan monks were “plugging into the source,” harnessing universal energy for their benefit
and for humankind as a whole. Sharing these rites with you here is my way of continuing the tradition.
“Spinning Wheels” of Energy
The chakras are individual vortexes of energy, or “spinning wheels,” and their speed and fluidity are
the keys to vibrant health. When all the chakras are spinning at an optimal rate, they remove stagnant
prana and distribute pure prana throughout the body, resulting in total rejuvenation. When the chakras
dance together, they flow like a fountain that perpetually renews itself.
The body naturally seeks homeostasis. The momentum of health and healing that takes place when
you engage in the Tibetan Rites is akin to keeping plates spinning in a magic act. Once the chakras are
set in perfect motion, they require very little effort to sustain, because, like the whirling dervishes of
Rumi’s Persia, they prefer motion over stillness.
Once the chakra system learns how to function at its optimal speed, it lays down its own new and
improved way of being, establishing something akin to muscle memory, so that little is required to
maintain it. The new energy that the rites introduce to the subtle body, the very thing that initiates the
change and brings the chakras into balance, is what also maintains it long after you finish performing
the movements. Each time you perform them, this muscle memory builds, resulting in greater stamina,
flexibility, and power in your life—the body just keeps getting stronger and stronger.
Because of our sedentary lifestyle, the spinning of our chakras tends to slow down. A slowmoving,
underactive chakra system causes the corresponding organs and parts of the body to stagnate
and deteriorate. When we have to cope with the stresses of life, the chakras can respond by speeding
up too much, leading to a condition of excess, causing nervousness, anxiety, and exhaustion. Neither
state is desirable.
If this cycle continues, the chakras continue to function “in the dark,” without conscious
awareness on the part of the human they belong to, and the pranic energy is blocked, often leading to
accelerated aging.
The Tibetan Rites normalize, then optimize, the speed of our spinning chakras. By spinning at the
same rate as one another, they work in harmony and lead to a heightened state of awareness and