Hi! I am so sad that our time together has come to an end, but I hope that you learned something from my blog. I try to write in a way that people can connect to my words and the chakras that I am trying to teach.

Before I get into the last chakra, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for one of the most welcoming and open classes that I have been in. I have learned so much from all of you both in personal and through your blogs, and I truly feel at peace with how our class is ending although it is a sweet goodbye.

Now let’s get into it!

This week its our last chakra, Muladhara, or the root chakra. The root chakra is responsible for setting a foundation for ourselves that allows the chakras to truly open up from the bottom up. A solid and strong root chakra provides the needed stability needed to sustain both physical and emotional needs. Muladhara’s color association is to the color red. Some gemstones that connect to this association include garnet, red jasper, and bloodstone.

As we know by now, having a balanced chakra is needed in this type of meditation. If the rook chakra is imbalanced, it can lead to anxiety, fears, and nightmares. There are also some physical symptoms that include manifested problems with the colon, lower back, legs, bladder, and the feet.

While there are many imbalances, there are a plethora of ways to balance Muladhara. Some of the best ways to ground the root chakra are through yoga, mantras or sounds, and auras.

One specific yoga practice, is Yoga Asanas. These include specific poses that are associated to certain names that can be practice to root the chakra closer to the ground. Some of these include:

• A knee to chest pose, otherwise known as Pavanamuktasana
• A squatting pose, otherwise known as Malasana
• A head to knee pose, otherwise known as Janu Sirsansana

Another balancing practice for that root chakra that we have learned about with others is a mantra. This includes listening to certain sounds and chants that open up the chakra and release bad energy to bring in the good. The specific mantra for the root charka is the sound “lam.” Please refer to the video below for a further look into this practice style.

Lastly, aside from specific yoga poses, there are a wide variety of yoga sessions that work on grounding the chakra Muladhara. While it is pretty easy to search for any series of of chakra yoga practices on YouTube, I linked one below that specifically works on the root chakra.

One different aspect with this chakra compared to some of the others is the aspect of the root chakra being connected to an element, and in this case, it is the Earth. Because the root chakra is all about grounding, Earth is an important element in this meditation practice because it gives us the ability to dig into the soil and firmly feel us being rooted. Another important connection is that the color of this chakra is red, which relates to the dirt of the Earth.

In the end, I really hope that you took something away from my blogs. Whether that is the inspiration to try chakra meditations yourself or maybe you learned something new about a meditation practice you already knew of. My blogs will always be here to refer to, and I hope you do. I tried to include as many intermediate and beginner information as possible to relate to everyone, especially by including the videos that walk through chakra practices. With that it is time to close out this semester of blogs, but …

As always with peace,

Elizabeth

Sources:

https://chopra.com/articles/the-root-chakra-muladhara

https://www.yogajournal.com/yoga-101/chakras-yoga-for-beginners/intro-root-chakra-muladhara/

Hello everyone! I hope you are enjoying this journey with me. While it is close to the end, there is still so much to learn. This week especially, I am going to introduce two new chakras.

Hello everyone! This week we move onto our next chakra that marks the half-way point of our chakra journey.

Today I will introduce you to the heart chakra, otherwise known as Anahata. The name Anahata comes from the meaning of “unhurt, unstruck, and unbeaten” as it protects our heart. Overall, the heart chakra is associated with unconditional love, forgiveness, passion, and joy. Anahata is also a very important chakra in that it connects the upper and lower chakras together with it being in the center of our bodies. It is also connected to the color green to represent energy and transformation as our heart chakra allows us to naturally flow from one situation, relationship, or experience to the next with the proper adjustment of feeling.

While the heart chakra is a very important component of the entire chakra system, there are some major symptoms and signs of a blocked heart chakra that has the ability to throw everything off. Some signs of a blocked Anahata are: loneliness, the feeling of isolation, holding grudges, jealousy, being overly defensive, and difficulty in trusting others.

Although it may sound easy to have a blocked heart chakra, similar to the others, there are practices that help to clear these signs and put your life back in balance in terms of Anahata.

Currently, the use of crystals is becoming a more widely used and accepted practice in society. Using rose quartz in your life is linked to opening the heart chakra, along with some other heart chakra related crystals.

Another simple practice to keep the heart chakra open and aligned is through the use of a daily gratitude journal. This allows the energy to flow from the heart chakra to paper when recalling various things that you are grateful for. In addition to this practice, drinking beverages like rose tea and cacao are linked to opening the heart chakra. Furthermore, even drinking and eating green foods are fuel for the heart chakra. These foods include green tea, green vegetables, spinach, and kale.

Unlike the other chakras, while yoga can be practiced to clear the Anahata in a practice where a pose is selected to meditate in, the heart chakra becomes open through the practice of self-love. Aside from a gratitude journal, the heart chakra strives off of taking time to appreciate oneself. Devotion is also a large part of clearing the heart chakra, since it can evoke deep feelings and expression.

Ultimately, the heart chakra is an essential chakra to the entire system, but it is unique in that the methods to reset and open Anahata is completely different than the others. While this is true, I know that sometimes meditation videos are easy and quick when you want to practice chakras but do not have much time. For this reason I still am going to share some video practices for the heart chakra.

Recently, I introduced that music and sounds are associated with chakras. The heart chakra while it does not have a specific sound, there are certain musical notes that send an internal message to open the heart.

Aside from sounds, all chakras have yoga practices that enhance the movement of opening specific chakras. For the heart chakra there are a few poses that can help stretch the body to release the bad energy of Anahata.

Along with the yoga practice, I have my own experience doing chakra yoga. One thing that stood out and helped me release my heart chakra even more was performing the practice under green light to match the color that the chakra is associated with. Within this experience, there was also diffusers releasing scents into the air and sounds/music that made the grounding of myself even more intense.

Out of all the chakras, for a beginner I believe that the heart chakra is a great one to start on when wanting to get into the practice. As mentioned above, the heart chakra does not necessarily take that much outside practice, but rather more personal practice. I think with how society is today in that stress is so high, practicing the heart chakra is a special experience in that all it takes it being grateful to yourself and making devotions to do better for you.

Sources:
https://www.yogajournal.com/yoga-101/chakras-yoga-for-beginners/intro-heart-chakra-anahata/

https://www.artofliving.org/us-en/blog/heart-chakra-fourth-anahata

Hello everyone!

Similar to last week, I am going to introduce a new chakra to you all, and this week’s chakra just happens to be my favorite one. I would like to introduce to you the third eye chakra, also known as Ajna. This chakra can be found in between the center of your two eyebrows and/or above the nose. For me, when I practice meditating the third eye chakra, I can most times than not feel the energy, which is why I have found a strong gravitation to it. This chakra is all about intuition, spiritual connection, imagination, and insight.

The name Anja, comes from the meaning of “perceive,” “command,” and “wisdom.” This chakra is represented by the color indigo and is associated with light. While I did not mention this last week, chakras can actually be connected to crystals and stones, so for the third eye chakra connections can be made to amethyst and purple sapphire. Overall, this chakra, like the others are all connected to the physical and mental body. The third eye is associated to our physical body through the pineal gland in the brain that controls hormones, melatonin, and our internal clock. Ajna is connected to our mental body through facts, fears, experiences, and memories which allows dualistic thinking between the hemispheres of the brain. On a more emotional level, Ajna can also make-up our emotional bodies which provide us visions, auras, precognition, and out-of-body experiences.

The importance of all of our chakras is to keep them aligned, or recenter them when they become imbalanced. Some signs of an imbalanced third eye chakra are any form of stress (physical or mental), a feeling of overdrive, unwillingness, the fear of acknowledging the truth, fear of criticism, fear of the unknown, confusion, lack of focus/purpose, depression, hallucinations, and dissociations from the physical world.

While there are many signs to having an imbalanced Ajna, the techniques to realign this chakra are very soothing and peaceful, unlike some of the other more difficult practices for realignment. Another reason why I love this chakra so much is because there are unique, individual yoga poses that contribute to finding balance. Below I have attached a video of a yoga practice that reviews some of these poses, but if you do not have time some of the poses include: downward dog, plough pose, lotus pose, child’s pose, or putting your legs up a wall. Personally, I strongly suggest downward dog or the child’s pose, not only for this chakra, but for all chakra practice.

Another method to focusing Ajna is through sound vibrations. This practice is specifically called Chantra mantras, and it includes using a vibrational frequency to focus the third eye. Through sound and breathing, this method can be a powerful way to signify the meaning of Ajna. To practice, you are supposed to breathe in and then breathe out on the vibration sound of “OM.” Below is a video of the OM mediation sound. To complete this practice, you simply sit still, close your eyes, and breathe to the sound.

The last practice that I recommend is the practice of Trataka, which embraces light throughout the practice. Because the third eye chakra is associated to light, picturing lights, orbs, or even using light helps to better center Ajna. The practice of Trataka, focuses on both the physical and internal worlds as it involves a candle flame. In this practice, you ultimately stare at a candle flame without blinking and then you meditate with your eyes closed while still embracing the light of the flame. Traditionally, this practice is done in a dark room, with your body positioned on the floor with the candle about an arm’s length away. Meditation posture is used to relax any tension in the body as you close and open your eyes to observe the flame. Ultimately, this practice is used to improve concentration, balance, memory, focus, and release suppressed thoughts. For more information and specific instructions on this practice visit the sources below.

Overall, the third eye chakra, Ajna, brings harmony to our lives when it is in balance because it is connected to both our physical, emotional, and mental states. An important part of this chakra is earthliness. Some say that spending more time in nature is a great way to connect to Ajna. In the end, Ajna can bring peace, opportunity, and fulfillment if practiced properly, which is how I have found ease in stressful times. As someone who gets a lot of migraines, I found that channeling a focus to my third eye chakra and even physically rubbing between my eyebrows, brings a greater intention to my life as I realize the situation is only temporary as long as I focus to change it.

While I know chakra practice is not for everyone, and some people may not even believe that it has any substantial benefits, I encourage you to keep in mind what I shared in this blog, and just try one practice for even a few minutes. I honestly had no idea about the practice of chakras until I started going to a yoga class with my mom that solely focused on them. Each class the instructor would light the room to the associated colors, scents, and feelings of that week’s chakra. Even you could mimic this if you have any type of LED colored lights and a space to practice some yoga. I wish you all the best of luck, and see you next time!

With peace,

Elizabeth

Sources:

https://www.ekhartyoga.com/articles/practice/third-eye-chakra-ajna-chakra

https://beyogi.com/trataka-love-beauty-third-eye-beholder/

https://www.arhantayoga.org/blog/ajna-chakra-your-third-eye-chakra-awakening/

Welcome back everyone!

I know it has been awhile since my last Passion blog, so if you do not remember I will be introducing you to the various chakras that are used as a method of meditation and awareness. Throughout each blog, I will be individually introducing a new chakra.

Today we will start with our first chakra, Sahasrara. Sahasrara is also known as the crown chakra, and ultimately it is associated with thinking, controlling, and connecting with oneself. The crown chakra allows us to gain a sense of wisdom, universal consciousness, and self awareness. Sahasrara is also associated to the color violet which amplifies the idea of spirituality and enlightenment. The word “Sahasrara” actually means thousands of petal locus, which is a common symbol when learning about the chakra spirit and being divine.

The overall purpose of identifying and practicing meditation of this chakra is because it can get blocked and clogged in the everyday world. It is found that a clocked crown chakra can lead to not only a clogged mind, but also an unstable body as this chakra is found at the top of the head. Some signs of a blocked Sahasrara are poor coordination, imbalance, low physical function, confusion, lack of focus, poor mental state, and a lack of connection to the world.

While I am sure that all of these signs sound all too familiar to us, as we spend our lives running around without pausing, chakra meditation focuses on internally healing these symptoms through realignment. Altogether when practicing chakra meditation, in order to set an intention to “fix” our chakras, we always have to look towards realigning them. To this point, there are different ways of doing this depending on the chakra at hand.

Specifically speaking for the crown chakra, I am going to run through a series of meditations to focus on bettering the Sahasrara, to overall create a better life. Because Sahasrara is the energy center, otherwise known as the brain, the focus on realignment has to be high due to the amount of thoughts that get put out. Although more focus and power is needed, the crown chakra is a direct path to the self, so once this chakra gets realigned, so are we. We are able to let go of all bad thoughts and misunderstandings, and rather focus on good intentions and healing.

The first way to realign the crown chakra is through yoga asana, which works on tuning our connection to Sahasrara. In this practice, balancing poses and head-activating movements are utilized to gain feeling of the energy that flows from the crown. Below I have attached a video that walks through an entire yoga session, solely focusing on the crown chakra.

Another way to work on realigning Sahasrara is through pranayama, which is an alternate method of breathing only through the nostrils. This practice specifically helps to release tension that may be caused by anxiety and other mental limitations with deeper-inner breaths. Many times in more advanced yoga settings, this means of breathing is always used, but as someone that is looking to sit down and take a second to rewind, learning this technique can be very useful. Below is a video that walks through how to perform alternate breathing, which I do recommend to try.

Overall, it is important to have awareness of why it is important to have an aligned crown chakra. The crown chakra gives us openness to the world, as it allows us to open our higher self and inner-connectivity to things. Sahasrara gives us a conscious that is separate from the physical world, which can be a powerful thing.

While it is just as important to have an aligned crown chakra, it is also important for our other chakras to keep Sahasrara grounded, so that it can not become too powerful. As we continue further into this journey together, we will learn about how some chakras support others, which is why it is crucial to gain knowledge about all of them. As one may assume, the crown chakra is an intuition that gives us the power and knowledge to a spiritual energy. It internally sends messages that we cannot always put into words, but it can also have a high power on our lives. Because of this, we have other chakras like the root chakra that keeps us connected to Earth without always having “our heads in the clouds.”

A great warning that comes with embracing the crown chakra is that we are still human beings living on Earth; therefore, we cannot gain a spiritual obsession. The point of a “spiritual awareness” is simply knowing that there are higher powers giving influence to our lives, like our conscious, but we do not have any control to them. Like with all the chakras, we will learn that we need to have awareness to our bodies’ energy flow, but we also need to have self-awareness to the outside world which means practicing these methods in moderation and only when they are needed for a realignment when times get stressful.

I hope that this information is as helpful to you as it was to me. I do find insight and peace when practicing methods such as yoga and alternate breathing when I am tense and stressed out. Since high school, I found benefits to doing yoga daily to help reset my body in order to maintain a better well-being.

I would love to answer any questions, or even just hear your personal connections to anything that I mentioned above. In today’s society I think it is important to bring up conversations about both physical and mental health, as the further we get into life, the more stressful weight we take on.

With peace,

Elizabeth

https://www.yogajournal.com/yoga-101/chakras-yoga-for-beginners/intro-sahasrara-crown-chakra/

https://yogamasti.co.uk/the-meaning-of-sahasrara-the-crown-chakra/

Welcome back everyone!

I am so glad that we can be together once again, and it is my pleasure to continue to expand the meditative practices to becoming a better YOU!

Last blog session, I talked a lot about mindfulness and what it means to live your life in a state of mindfulness for well-being. Most of the approaches that I went over were only the beginning to the journey of self-discovery and self-worship. This time around, I want to explore the idea of chakra meditation, for it is a practice that I find healing yet fascinating.

Before getting into the specific meditations of chakras, I thought I would take the time to introduce this type of meditation and provide some background information to make our time together in the next couple of weeks more valuable.

Chakras are a practice derived from the culture of Hinduism that are meant to connect our bodies to a body or energy of power. In the Hinduism culture, they refer to chakras as a lotus flower that blossoms and opens up to restore energy and put out good spirits. In the human body, there are seven chakras that are associated to a different type of energy and color that are balanced throughout the body along the spine. It is noted that the higher frequency of acknowledgement and power to our chakras, the more balance we will have in life.

With all of these ideas behind the practice, many people find it is important to meditate with these chakras in mind to maintain a balanced lifestyle and well-being. The meditation practice using chakras is more about becoming more aware with your body, your mental well-being, and your emotions. It is interpreted that when we are struggling, our chakras are not aligned so time is needed to re-align or clear any blocked chakra.

For the purpose of our time together. I am going to take each week to introduce a new chakra and its importance in our lives. I will also provide various meditations to focus this specific chakra, so that altogether we can work on improving ourselves.

Last blog session, I was an advocate for working on yourself at a pace that is comfortable to you. In meditation practices there is no right or wrong, but I believe that there is a lot to learn and take away from each session. Meditation is all about listening to your body and becoming connected with one’s own self.

I cannot wait to take on this journey together. I know that when I first learned about chakras, I was unable to comprehend it all, but now I find myself in my daily life thinking about resetting my energy by focusing on a specific chakra, or area of my body. I encourage you to take the time to learn with me, even through the bizarreness, and hopefully you too will be able to find a practice that creates bliss in your life without much thought over time.

As always with peace,

Elizabeth

Source: “Chakra Meditation.” Learn How To Unlock The 7 Chakras & Their Benefits, https://www.anahana.com/en/meditation/chakra-meditation.