Getting to know Chakras

To begin with, much is written on the 'right' colours for each of the chakras. People are encouraged to meditate with these colours as the goal. I have found that this is not necessarily the best way forward. In any chakra work, my suggestion would be first to work to discover what colours your own chakras already are. Then, do you really feel a need to change them? Why do we believe that everyone's throat chakra should be blue? Why not silver? Our chakras reflect our personalities, and our diversity is what makes us people. If a soldier's base chakra is deep red, is that not appropriate for who he is? Not all eyes have to be blue, so why do our chakras have to all be the same? (I would like to see some responses to this question).

Secondly. I question the wisdom in seeking to have chakras open. It looks like an exercise towards vulnerability to me. Rather, I would seek to exercise flexibility, that is, the ability to control whether or not a particular chakra is open or closed in a given situation. I certainly do not want my heart chakra open when there is furious negativity flying about the place. So, practice opening and closing at will.

There is a vertical spine of energy in our bodies, from above our crowns, going out at the base chakra between our legs. If you want to start chakra work, it is this that first needs working on, as it is the stem for all the chakras. Much like gardening, - if you don't look after the roots, the flowers will not flourish. You can start chakra stem work by breathing exercises. Stand up straight, bring an in-breath through your crown, and breath it out between your legs. Reverse this by breathing in from your root, and out through your crown. You will feel the effect straight away.

Lastly, I believe there are more than the traditional seven chakras. These are not nadis, they are chakras. My favourite is the chakras in our feet, - which we all know from grounding exercises. We also have chakras in our hands, - we know these from healing. Again, - my view.

So, find out for yourself the colours of your chakras. It is like cooking, there is no right or wrong way. If you are happy, keep it. If not, change it to suit yourself. None of us ever thrived from trying to be a person we are not.

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The Base chakra, the 'Muladahara', is located on the Perineum, it's 'petals' face outwards. As you would guess, this chakra corresponds to the earth, - it's otherwise known as the Root chakra. It is a very physical chakra, and is thus employed in grounding exercises. The psychological lesson of this chakra is self acceptance, in order that we may be truly rooted, - acceptance of the physical nature of our beings. It corresponds to our instincts and survival, as well as very much our 'child within'. This means that play is an excellent therapy for the base chakra.

As this chakra is about matter and the physical world, we need to learn to embrace this. Spiritual teachings can make us shy of the physical world, causing problems with this chakra. To me, the most obvious exercise for the base chakra is sex. I also enjoy exercising this chakra when walking, imagining it as a lovely red ball that I move around as I walk.

This is very much the chakra for those who enjoy the elements. Play with water, with sand, build a fire, eat heartily. Enjoy your physical life! These will help you more than any single meditation. The living is the meditation. For a more relaxed exercise, sit cross legged. Feel the chakra connecting to the ground, reaching deep within the earth. Here are your roots. You are a physical being !

You make like to research correspondences with the chakras and the endocrine system.

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The second of the traditional seven chakras is the Sacral, or Navel chakra. This is situated where the womb sits. With that, the concept of the womb describes it very well, - the pregnant woman in a state of nurturing, creativity, and inspiration. I like to correspond this chakra with the Futhark rune, Kenaz. Sacral has some degree of overlap with the base chakra, being one of a sexual nature, and representing Origin. It is also connected with abilities of empathy, sensuality, emotions, relationships, love, and intuition.

If this chakra is overactive, emotional and relationship problems may occur, - like jealousy, frigidity and impotence, and fertility problems. We may be hugely creative but lacking any real sense of peace. If it is underactive, we become shy and oversensitive. Our lives may drift with no sense of direction. We may find it difficult to trust.

Tha sacral blends in with the base chakra, but is more complex It's Sanscrit word 'Svadhisthana' means sweet or pleasurable. It has more petals and movement than the root. The lesson of Sacral is that that which creates can also destruct. We must be the master, not the victim, of our emotions.

The key of therapeutic behavior for the Sacral chakra is in creativity and socializing. We must enjoy our friends, parties, singing, and have a damned good laugh! Laughter truly is the best medicine. Like the base chakra, good food and sex are great therapies. The developmental age for Sacral chakra is 5-8 yrs old. Getting back into that part of ourselves will be therapeutic.

Fragrances can be used to stimulate and quieten Sacral, - rosemary and geranium for stimulating; musk and amber for calming. Moonstone, as water, the emotions, and sensitivity, are components of Sacral, can also be used.

The element for Sacral is water, - clearly, given the high emotional aspect involved. Again, - play ! I would recommend a day at the beach with friends and family. :)

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Next chakra in this series is the Solar Plexus. Situated where it winds you if you get hit, just below the sternum. :P

The developmental age for this chakra is 8-12 years, so spend some time revisiting this part of yourself in order to understand yourself well.

This is a very think like chakra. Children become concrete operational at this age, ie capable of reflective thought. Opinions form, and we begin to exercise logical reason. This means that we can make informed decisions and choices about our lives. We become independent, multi-faceted, people.

It is with the Solar chakra that our psychic abilities begin to bloom. (Notice that the order of the chakras is evolutionary). Astral experience is connected to this chakra. In psychological terms, solar chakra says ''I am''. It is the dwelling place of our egos. Parental influence lives here.

Imbalance in Solar chakra is related with self power. Over activity can lead to anger and uphill battles, - fighting through life. Underactivity makes us experience life as overwhelming and demanding. Try taking a look at your pubescent years for solutions. Much turmoil can be resolved in later days by a good honest think and some building of bridges internally.

For meditation purposes, yellow and gold are the traditional colours. Sunshine is the perfect medicine, 'Solar' meaning Sun. Some rose can have a softening effect if required.

If you feel trapped or stuck in your life, this could be mutually connected with an underactive Solar chakra. Take charge of your situation, empower yourself. As well, irritability might suggest you need to take a step back. Let go some.

Fragrances for Solar chakra include rose for calming, and ylang-ylang for stimulating. Gemstones are topaz, rose quartz, or fools' gold.

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Fourth, the Heart Chakra. I had the most wonderful experience of this chakra opening during an embrace. We truly felt the love melting into one. I would defiantly recommend hugging as a heart chakra therapy :)

This is the chakra, of course, of love. It influences compassion, forgiveness, empathy, trust and being at ease with our selves and our lives. It is a chakra of feeling, and of connection with nature. This is the chakra that teaches unconditional love. These are feelings ungoverned by raw emotion. It is about tenderness and compassion towards others. :)

Also, heart energy compels us towards love of 'God', or whatever word you might choose. It is a balanced two-way flow of love within and without. It teaches too that in order to love effectively, some degree of detachment is required.

The developmental age for Heart energy is 12-15 years. How vulnerable we are at this time. Daring, intense, and inspired, yet still needing support. Parent this part of yourself with love and wisdom, as well as a firm word from time to time. As Heart energy is tactile, - back to hugging and tenderness.

The Heart is the central chakra of the system, and needs to pulsate healthily for all other chakras to work properly. To meditate, ask yourself how you FEEL the world. Use sandalwood to quieten, and pine to stimulate.

Problems with this chakra will be evident in the form of emotional instability, - to feel unloved, suspicious, and to repress our feelings. My personal experience of this chakra's difficulties is in the form of tightness in that area due to anxiety. So, relaxation is a likely therapy for heart chakra. Spend time with loved ones. Meditate on and use the colours green and rose. Take joy in sensual activities.

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Here we arrive at chakra number five. The throat. It is easy to spot a person with a throat chakra problem, as it will manifest in their speech. Someone who mumbles, and clears their throat compulsively, or has any difficulty in speaking is likely to have an underactive chakra. Opposing, the one who speaks non-stop at high volume, with aggressive tones and a sense of pressure, is the one likely to have an overactive chakra.

Developmental, this chakra corresponds with late adolescence. If you are underactive, take a look at these years. Perhaps you lost someone, or an opportunity, that you now need to grieve for. Maybe there was a part of you that never had a chance to be expressed. It is never too late. If it is overactive, then it is possible that you didn't feel heard, and that now you are compensating. Either way, the work can be done now.

Throat chakra is about communication, and truth. Lying will hold you back. Underactive people literally need to find their voice, instead of repressing their truth inside. Also these people resist change. Overactive people can be domineering and self righteous. Both require a look at the relationship with the self, and the need to feel heard. (Nothing wrong with that).

So, really we are looking at expression. At this developmental age it is time to take charge of our own lives, and responding to our 'calling'. To move on in life it is vital that we can communicate and express ourselves. Even in the Bible it says ''In the beginning was the Word''.

How the throat chakra grows, is dependent on how we responded to our choices in late adolescence. When we were either honest with ourselves, or led by those who said they knew better. Or, a balance of both.

Meditative questions - ''How do I hear the world? How does the world hear me?''

I am a big fan of singing, talking and chanting for this chakra. Come to truly love the sound of your own voice! Speak like you mean it! If you are nervous, take some privacy. I would really recommend chanting (as described in my post ''Lotus Sutra''). Under or over active, the therapy is the same. That is, find your voice, find your truth :)

Lavender quietens, patchouli stimulates. Gemstones, - Lapis lazuli, turquoise, sapphire.

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Now for the sixth chakra, or brow chakra, or third eye. First, a reminder:

The 6th chakra is actually located in the middle of your head. The meditations on this chakra should not really be employed alone, but as part of a whole chakra programmer. The colour for this Chakra is a bluey-violet. If you want to work on your chakras, you should work every day as the work is progressive, and will deteriorate without practice. ''Ohm'' is the traditional chant for this chakra.

I would not recommend focusing on any chakra exclusively, and pushing your ''third eye'' to open without correct preparation is inadvisable. Rather, employ balanced chakra work with additional health skills and nature will take it's course.

The third eye is the chakra of Spirit. It is related to clairvoyance, (and clairaudience, clairaudience and others, there are many). Typically, it's colour is variations of purples, and turquoise. Spirit is not Soul. Spirit is clear, direct and initiating, where soul is receptive, - organizing experience. When our third eye opens, we might need to spend time understanding it, and gaining mastery over it. This chakra gives us an 'awakening', a need to enjoy the completeness of harmony of soul, spirit, emotions, mind, and body.

This is the chakra of intuition. This leas to a greater understanding of information received on more subtle levels. We have shifted our consciousness. We begin to listen to the instructions of our spirits.

When our third eye is balanced, we feel in command of our lives. We are confident and courageous.

Headaches, confusion, spiritual fatigue, psychological problems or panic attacks and depression, can be signs of over activity in third eye. These ae common when people focus too much on forcing this chakra open without sound preparation. Please, don't rush in to open this chakra, when it is the right time, no forcing should be necessary.

An underactive third eye is somewhat like a spiritual prison. It causes a person to feel frightened, isolated, and unassertive. They will be out of touch with their intuition, and with their spirituality.

I cannot overemphasis that working on this chakra, before you are ready, will make you poorly. I liken it to forcing kittens' eyes open. Remember that the goal of chakras is to be Balanced. If your third eye is closed, and other chakra work has been neglected, you are not ready! there is a reason why kittens have closed eyes.

If you are ready, try 'breathing' purple colours into this chakra. Take note of spirit in nature, in music, art, and all tht is aesthetic. Look back on your life and recognize when you acted on inspiration from your spirit. (Most children are good at this). As with all chakra practice, play! Have fun with it :D

Quietening fragrances include white musk and hyacinth. Stimulating fragrances are violet, and rose geranium. Crystals can be placed on thr brow during meditation, like, amethyst, sapphire, calcite, and blue and white fluorite.

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The last of the main chakras, the seventh, or ''Crown Chakra''. This chakra is of our true life purpose. It is the evolution meaning of our lives, from a higher perspective. Guidance is given from the divine, rather than from our egos. Our paths are panoramic, and have a cosmic purpose. Here, we surrender our ego to the divine. We trust in our higher selves, and feel spiritually alive. Surrender is about Becoming ourselves, not losing ourselves!

Crown chakra meditations revolve around speaking with deities, guides, the creative force. They connect us to the divine, to our origin and to our goal. We can feel that our crown chakra is open by feeling a small tugging pressure located on our crowns. This chakra's balance is affected by the development of the previous six chakras. The 'halo' is the artists' depiction of an opened seventh chakra.

As this chakra is about connection with the divine, such meditations can be used to ask questions of whatever you experience as divine. Answers may flow freely and immediately, or the make come randomly in a ''Eurika!'' moment. You will gain insight into the nature of your life and it's purpose, and be able to relax into a feeling of trust. Your relationship with your higher self, (which is an aspect of yourself), and with the divine, is one you can always work with to strengthen and allow to flow freely.

Being overly ego driven is a sign that our crown is not functioning properly. Headaches, anxiety, and cognitive problems may occur.

During Brow Chakra meditations, visualize an aura of light and/or gold around your head, together with your personal symbol of deity, be that a pentagram, a cross or an ankh. 'Breathe' violet, gold, and white into it. Visualize a river of white shooting out of your crown and connecting with...your choice. Your experience.

Gems to use with the crown include white jade, diamond, and
snowy quartz. cinnamon, clove and peppermint are suitable fragrances. Chanting ''ohm'' on the note B is also beneficial.

So ends the study of the seven main chakras. There are other chakras, so we can attend to them when we are all suitably aligned! There are many methods. Chakras need constant maintenance, - we are usually in a state of imbalance, so don't stress, none of us are perfect! :D