Chakras 101 (Part 2)
Welcome back!
Last week was an overview of Chakras 1-3. I hope you found some of the information informative and helpful for building a knowledge base and connection to your own chakras. I want to reiterate that the study of these 7 chakras could take months and even then you could still find yourself only at the tip of the iceberg. My hope is that this will be a far less intense, and if anything, it will allow you to understand yourself and how your own Chakras can find their balance.
OK, let’s dive back in with the 4th Chakra!
4th Chakra
Color: Green
Location: Heart, Circulatory, Lungs, arms and hands
Ahhhh the fourth chakra. Looooove. That is the main focus here. Right now, pause from reading this and take a deep breath in, expanding arms out to the side and over head as you inhale. Then, gently as you exhale, bring palms together to heart center. Go ahead…I’ll wait here.
“Prana is the life force which permeates both the individual as well as the universe at all levels. It is at once physical, sexual, mental, intellectual, spiritual, and cosmic. Prana, the breath, and the mind are inextricably linked to each other.”
More centered? Calm?
Heart center. Isn’t that just lovely? This 4th chakra is so powerful. Let’s think of it in a physical aspect first. The heart keeps us alive! It is constantly working, 24-7, awake and sleeping, pumping blood to all of our vital organs. Our heart is protected beneath ribs and muscle, deep in our chest. It sends fresh blood out and drives our circulatory system. It is our life force.
When speaking in terms of Chakras, the heart is something we want to protect in a metaphorical sense. It is the sacred place holding down the center of all of the chakras. This “heart" allows us to love unconditionally, forgive, accept, commit, feel intimacy, feel at peace, contentment and so much more. We think of our heart so often as loving others. Loving our kids, parents, partners etc. But what about loving ourselves?
This chakra, being ruled by breath, allows us to use that life force to reconnect and clear the chakra. Not only to love, but to be loved. We all have this awesomeness right inside of us. Compassion for others as well as yourself and a feeling of peace are just a couple characteristics of a balanced 4th chakra
Deepen your connection by asking:
Am I social or more withdrawn?
How often do you show your appreciation to others?
Can you let go of your own schedule or agenda to help another?
What can you do for your own personal self/body to show appreciation?
5th Chakra
Color: Blue
Location: Throat, mouth
The 5th chakra allows us to speak our mind. Communication is so important in all of our lives. It allows us to speak our truth and share our knowledge and feelings with the world around us. We all know how powerful words can be. When we can communicate with compassion and love that ripple effect can be infinite. One example I can think of is the power of song. How the voice of someone singing can have the ability to bring so much emotion into your heart and trigger powerful memories of love, loss, joy and sadness. In addition to hearing the sound, feeling the sound can be just as powerful. This chakra introduces the power of chanting which is a deep subject of its own. Vibrations we make in our body can offer assistance to finding harmony in our own world.
With a balanced 5th chakra you are a good listener and you have the courage to speak wisely, with kindness and compassion.
Throat chakra
“Your voice is a live example of your essence - of who you are on the inside. Pretty powerful. Use it wisely.”
-me
Deepen your connection by asking:
Are there times when you feel you are not being heard? Are you scared to speak up?
Do you offer this right to others by allowing them the time and space to speak ?
Have you ever been made to feel small or humiliated by speaking?
Reflect on the communication you have/had with loved ones currently and in the past?
6th Chakra
Color: Purple
Location: ‘Third eye’ - the space between the forehead and eyes. (nerve bundle - Pituitary gland)
This chakra allows us the ability to see and be seen. It is our right to see the world and let the world see us.
I think William Shakespeare said it best.
“The eyes are the gateway to the soul.”
Our eyes can say a lot about how we are feeling. They are also how we see our physical world, our friends, movies, and nature. We strive to take care of our eyes as we do for the rest of our body. However just as we strive to see words in a book or letters on a sign clearly we also strive to see our emotions, problems and those of others. This is where visualization comes in.
This is so powerful and intriguing to me! So what we perceive to be true is our idea of a collection of evidence that makes that perception true in our mind. The mind is a tricky and powerful tool. Unfortunately it is not always working in our favor. We can confuse perception with reality. We start to believe them to be true. This can be negative body image or maybe how you think someone feels about you. It can even come into play in this crazy time we are living now. We are reading and seeing so many images as well as visualizing possible worst case scenarios that these can all become our reality.
A balanced 4th chakra allows us to see through the illusion. We think too much on what we are striving for; perfect job, body, house, etc. We need to recognize the awesome qualities these all have in the present. It can also help to have an objective bestie to set you straight.
Deepen your connection by asking:
Do I visualize daily? What am I visualizing? Will this enhance or hinder my life?
Do I allow myself to see what I am grateful for at this moment?
When I am stressed, can I allow myself time to sit and sort out illusion from fact?
What creative outlet will bring me joy?
7th Chakra
Color: White
Location: Crown, Cerebrum
You did it! You made it to the 7th and final chakra. Unification and realization. Here you find your right to knowledge and your connection to a higher power. Imagine all of the Chakras working. We began our journey with the first chakra, the root. Much like the root of a strong tree, growing and flowing through the feelings of the 2nd chakra. From there you find the sturdy trunk, your will and drive, of the 3rd chakra. Thus, leading you to self acceptance and love of self and others, heart chakra. The 5th chakra you balance your right to speak with listening and your right to see and be seen in the 6th chakra. All creating balance and allowing you access into your 7th chakra.
Here you are able to feel enlightened and awake. Meditation comes easy to you and you have a clear understanding with what is truly important and the present moment. Here you are able to remove those insensitive blocks of distraction and the ‘noise’ in your head that can not only hinder rational thought, but also creativity.
“Meditation increases the longevity of our brains, and medical science certainly seems to be catching up to that belief…Any form of exercise increases blood flow to the brain, but the amazing thing about yoga is these exercises are specifically designed to stimulate all the glands in the endocrine system. In Yogic science, the glands are always described as the ‘guardians of health.’” - Gurmukh
Clearing space in your mind to allow ourselves to get to the next level can take much time and dedication. This is removing all outside distractions and anything that can block us from being present and awake. This can be past experiences we are still holding on to, grudges, etc. The main goal in working toward the 7th chakra is non-attachment. This means letting go. Letting go of physical belongings is one example. Knowing it is not the objects around us that bring us joy. I’m not saying go and clear out all of your books and furniture. These things are fun and enhance our lives. But could you be happy if they were gone? Could you still find joy? This attachment is not only for physical items. It also represents an attachment to our thoughts and feelings. Like I mentioned above this could be holding on to a past argument and not being able to move forward from it. Holding those grudges and judgements toward others without even knowing them.
Deepen your connection by asking:
What people in my life am I most attached to? Why?
How attached am I to my life plans? How do I handle change?
Am I too committed to the result? Can I honestly say I am focused on my intentions instead?
Am I able to learn and be open to all levels of spirituality while still practicing my own?
Do I have an excessive amount of attachment or apathy?
I hope this helps to broaden your knowledge and maybe even entice you to learn more.
To me Chakras are just another tool we can use to examine ourselves on a deeper level. We can use them to study ourselves and how we see the world. In addition, the ability to determine areas we may be more excessive or areas we may be more deficient. A place to start is to find a chakra that spoke to you or you feel may be blocked and start there. Another recommended place to start is at the root. It just makes sense. Start with the first Chakra and move from there. Some will flow easily and some may be more challenging.
I loved this idea, by Andea Judith in Chakra Balancing, “Doing the work to open and balance the chakras is analogous to the acrobat at the circus who is spinning plates. First you get one plate moving, then another, then another. As long as each plate is moving smoothly, you can just let it spin, but when it starts to run down, you have to go back and give it a whirl.”
Namaste xo
Namaste
Thank you for taking the journey through your 7 chakras!
Stay balanced!
Chakra Balancing, Anodea Judith. Workbook
YogaFit teacher training manual, Level 3