Self-Healing with Tibetan Medicine: Practices for Rejuvenation

Self-Healing with Tibetan Medicine is a healing retreat at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, devoted to Nejang, a Tibetan self-healing practice. It is for anyone drawn to Tibetan medicine, breathwork and gentle movement as ways to restore energy and steady the mind, whether you are new to the practice or have years behind you. It is led by Lee (Mirabai) Harrington, a Buddhist ngakma, Tibetan mantra-healer and certified Nejang instructor.

Nejang loosely translates as "cleaning the energy sites in the body." It combines breathwork, gentle movement and self-massage to open and invigorate the energy channels. The practice has been used for centuries to pacify existing imbalances, help prevent future ones and support well-being. Its roots lie in Tibetan medicine and Kalachakra tantra.

What to Expect

The retreat runs several days, from an opening evening through a closing morning. The core of it is learning the 24 Nejang exercises and their therapeutic and spiritual applications, as taught by Dr. Nida Chenagtsang. Together they are meant to balance the body's internal energies, regulate the nervous system, nourish the internal organs and relax the mind.

Along the way you will:

- Practice the key points of the calm-abiding posture and Tibetan medical pranayamas, including Ninefold Purification Breathing.
- Explore basic principles of Traditional Tibetan Medicine and begin to understand your own typology.
- Receive a group healing intended to restore a protective life-force energy called bLa.

Lee also offers a Tibetan mantra-healing kirtan on Wednesday evening.

The daily rhythm is steady. Kripalu Yoga class begins the day at 6:30 am, followed by silent breakfast at 7:30. Program sessions run from 9:00 to 11:00 in the morning and 1:30 to 4:00 in the afternoon, with lunch between them. A second yoga class comes at 4:45 pm and dinner at 5:30. An evening session from 7:30 to 9:00 is optional on Wednesday only. The opening day begins with check-in at 2:00 pm, then yoga, dinner and a first program session at 7:30. On the closing day, the final program session ends at 11:00 am, and lunch and departure follow.

About Lee (Mirabai) Harrington

Lee Mirabai Harrington, also known as Sangye Rinchen Lhamo, is an ordained ngakma, a tantric householder yogini and a mantra-healer in the Yuthok Nyingthik lineage. This Tibetan Buddhist tradition is connected with Sowa Rigpa and Medicine Buddha. She has followed the Mantrayana path since 2002 and has studied yoga since her teens. Her daily practice is rooted in Buddhism, Green Tara and the Divine Mother in all Her forms.

Lee is also a devotional mantra music artist based in New York's Hudson Valley. For her, leading kirtan is not a performance but a devotional and healing experience. She believes each of us can heal ourselves, and countless others, through our own voices and through mantra. Her love of mantra has led her to chants from Hindu, Sikh, Native American, Shamanistic, Taoist, Sufi and ancient Christian traditions.

The Setting

Kripalu is a yoga and health center in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Its accommodations are intentionally simple, meant to help you unplug and feel grounded. Options include private rooms for solitude and community-style dorms for connection. Rooms are ready by 4:00 pm, and a luggage room is available if you arrive earlier. On the last day, check-out is at 10:00 am, but you may stay on campus and take part in workshops until 2:00 pm.

Three meals a day are included, with breakfast taken in silence.

Before You Go

Nejang is simple and accessible to all ages, abilities and spiritual backgrounds. Most exercises are done seated on a cushion or in a chair, and modifications are offered to anyone with physical limitations or disabilities. The program is taught in English.

Your stay includes instruction in all 24 exercises, the group healing, the kirtan, daily Kripalu yoga classes (more than ten across the grounds each day), three meals daily and access to the Kripalu grounds. Healing Arts sessions and purchases from the Kripalu Shop and Cafe are extra.