What’s with all the Chakra talk?
Stop right where you are and look around! Everything you see and hear is vibrating with a vibrant, energetic life-force. That same life-force or prana is also within you, coursing through your cells, fascia, muscles and your mind. Pronounced with a hard “ch” as in “change,” chakra is a Sanskrit work meaning “wheel” or “disc” and can be visualized as spinning wheels of energy about the size of a golf ball. While there are many chakras in the body, the 7 primary chakras run in a line from the base of the spine to the top of your head, each one swirling and radiating with its own energetic colour. These chakras cannot be seen or touched in the physical sense, but they exist on the level of the subtle or energy body and can be sensed physically in the form of gut instincts, sexual energy, heart fluttering, a lump in your throat, stomach butterflies, or intuitive or inspirational energies, just to name a few.
The chakras contain their own energy and are also stimulated or enhanced by subtle body energy currents that move vertically in our core through 3 major energy channels. One channel, Sushumna, runs straight up and down from tailbone to the top of the head. The other two channels, Ida and Pingala, move in a figure-eight pattern around the chakras up and down, back and forth between the tailbone and the crown of the head; carrying masculine and feminine energies.
The flow of these energy currents can become blocked and create in imbalance in one or more of the chakras causing energy excesses or deficiencies which can manifest in negative patterns such as the formation of bad habits, negative belief patterns, feelings of being stuck or simply feeling out of sync. Luckily, we have many methods available to heal the chakras and re-open the energy flow, some of which are physical exercise, visualization, chanting, breathing practices, energetic healing and meditation. The colours and vibrational properties of the semi-precious gemstones used in mala necklaces and bracelets can be a powerful tool for meditation.
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CROWN CHAKRA |
awareness, wisdom, awakening |
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BROW OR THIRD-EYE CHAKRA |
intuition, imagination, feeling |
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THROAT CHAKRA |
communication, harmony, expression |
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HEART CHAKRA |
love, relationships, balance |
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SOLAR PLEXUS CHAKRA |
power, will, strength, purpose |
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SACRAL CHAKRA |
emotions, feeling, pleasure |
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ROOT CHAKRA |
stability, embodiment, grounding |
Meditating on a chakra or gemstone property can increase both our physical awareness and how these qualities manifest in our lives and relationships.
Namaste!
