You could be walking and strolling down a road and pass by a very ordinary building which has a board on which a doctor's name is written. Having seen so many of these you could easily miss it, but do not get fooled by the normalcy of the approach of Dr. Kiran Pande. Within the first few minutes of walking in you realize that you have entered into something which is has not restricted itself to the confines of medicine and scientific reasoning. Dr Pande is a trained professional in using “Spiritual Healing” to help people cure their ailments. Residing in Sahakar Nagar, Parvati, Pune, she attends to patients with various health problems who look upon her to give them the cure, if not then at least the knowledge of it. So what is spiritual healing? How does it work? Does it really help? How did it start? These are some of the questions which will be answered in this article.

On 15th August 1974, Swami Swaroopnanda took “Sanjeevan samadhi” at Pawas, Ratnagiri in Maharashtra. This particular samadhi is when you can control the time in which you want to leave your body. The government gave him permission and he chose to “Pass on” and was from then on known as “Saint Paramhansa of Pawas”. Believers and followers still visit the samadhi where his body has been preserved till today and it is considered to be a place of worship. You must be wondering what Dr. Kiran Pande has to do with all this. Well, she is the daughter–in–law of one of the followers, Swami Vidyananda, disciple of Swami Swaroopnanda. Being in close companionship with him, he is the ideal example of devout believers who carry on the faith after the guru in no longer there.

Dr. Pande, states that this method of spiritual healing is based on the theory of “Sohamsadhna”. It is purely based on respiration. She very patiently then went onto to demonstrate what the theory was about. When you inhale a sound is produced: ‘˜Sah:’, this means “HE”. Thus in turn when one exhales the sound ‘˜Aha:’ is produced, which signifies “MYSELF”. Combine the two (sah: aha:) and it translates itself to “He is Me”. He is god, the supreme power and MYSELF is me or I. It teaches you to put faith in yourself and believe that you are all powerful and can cure yourself. This way you are also close and in touch with your inner self–being God. Therefore the practice of respiration and it's effects on well being came about.

“Sohamsadhna” has now gained recognition as being one of the mediums to attain closeness to the supreme being. It is not related to any religion or sect. Dr. Pande along with her husband hold lectures and conduct camps to bring to the people this method of healing. Swami Vidyananda, has an ashram at Vadkinala,just outside Pune, where inmates can come, live, meditate and heal their inner self. This is free of cost and has a Hanuman mandir, rooms and yoga, pranayama, and various other spiritual healing methods are practiced and taught here.

Spirituality is a faith, the belief of which exists in most people. It does not restrict itself to the definitions of segregated religions. The knowledge of various ways of attaining spirituality cannot be wrong. The next time you are crossing a lane or taking a walk and see a sign board of a healer, go in and visit. You never know how close you might already be to finding god or yourself.