Your Chakras and a Simple Method for Cleansing them
There is a great deal of information on the internet about our chakras, so I will keep things simple here, and allow those of you who wish to explore deeper, to do so at your own pace.
There are 43 Chakras corresponding to points in the physical body, and at least 5 chakras outside of our physical body, existing in our aura (energy field). Today I am focusing on the 7 major chakras.
The word “Chakra” is derived from Sanskrit and means wheel. The chakras are circular energy centres connected to a fine channel of energy running parallel to the spinal cord and our material body could not exist without them. Serving as gateways for the flow of energy and life into our physical bodies, each chakra is associated with a certain part of the body and a certain organ, which it provides with the energy it needs to function. Each chakra also corresponds to a specific aspect of human behaviour and development.
The lower chakras are associated with fundamental emotions and needs, and the finer energy of the upper chakras corresponds to human’s higher mental and spiritual aspirations and faculties.
Both blockages in the energy flow, and an excess of energy in the chakras can lead to imbalance and disharmony on the physical, mental and spiritual levels. Such disturbances are caused by stress and trauma as well as painful experiences or an excess of joy.
1. The “Root” or “Base” Chakra (the Muladhara Chakra) is red, and located in the coccyx of men, and between the ovaries in women. This chakra is the seat of our primal energy - survival and self preservation instincts, groundedness, security, connectedness to the earth, the ability to live on the physical plane, and sense of life purpose.
2. The “Sacral” or “Sexual” Chakra (the Swadhisthana Chakra) is orange, and positioned slightly below the navel, in front of the sacrum. It is the centre of sexual energy; our ability to connect with others on an intimate and sexual level, giving and receiving, expression of emotional and sexual needs in a relationship, our ability to relate sense of self to another, sensitivity, and our ability to respond. The feelings of other people are directly perceived with this chakra, making it one of the centres of extrasensory perception.
3. The “Solar Plexus” or “Naval’ Chakra (The Manipura Chakra) is yellow, and lies slightly above the navel. It is the actual centre of the body, the place where physical energy is distributed, our sense of personal authority and self control, our nervous system (emotional radio). When we are scared, we can feel this area tightening up. This is the area of power and control issues.
4. The “Heart” Chakra (the Anahata Chakra) is green, and positioned in the middle of the chest at the height of the heart. It is the centre of real, unconditional affection as well as brotherliness, spiritual growth, compassion, devotion and love and forgiveness. Many Eastern methods of meditation are especially designed to open up this chakra. It represents the beginning of the upper chakras, which all correspond to spiritual issues. A lot of people have some fears about experiencing true communion and intimacy with another person, due to having previously experienced pain in a love relationship. As a result, love is eventually associated with pain. Barriers are then created in the heart chakra to prevent the loss of control and feeling love deeply (lest we be hurt again). However, our Divine origin is spiritual love. Love is the source of all our power, of everything we need and desire. To block love’s awareness is to block everything!
5. The “Throat” Chakra (the Vishuddhi Chakra) is sky-blue and the chakra of communication, self expression and creativity. This is also where you hear your inner voice and voices coming from extrasensory realms. Fears about communicating shrink the throat chakra and often create physical discomfort in that area.
6. The “Third Eye” Chakra (the Ajna Chakra) is indigo, and lies in the middle of the forehead, a little higher than the eyebrows. It is the centre of such forms of extrasensory perception as clairvoyance and telepathy. The intuitive insight that transcends the five body senses and the limitations of time and space, it is here that we visualise things. The opening of the Third Eye corresponds to spiritual awakening in many mystic traditions.
If you close your eyes and place your attention on the area between your two physical eyes, you will begin to see or feel an oval shaped object lying on its side. This is your third eye, and it is looking directly at you. It is the eye of your true self or your higher self. The reason why the eye is turned towards you is because everything is within you.
7. The “Crown” or “Lotus” Chakra (the Sahasrara Chakra … lotus of a thousand pearls) is violet and positioned at the top of the head, at the fontanel. This chakra represents the highest level of consciousness that mankind can attain, known as enlightenment, consciousness of unity and the consciousness of “I AM”. (For this reason a spiritually awakened person is often represented with a halo or rays of light around his/her head.) This chakra is the seat of intuition and direct spiritual vision which exceeds the ability of clairvoyance by far.
The crown chakra crowns the chakras within our bodies. It is essential to claircognizance, or “clear knowing”, which is the ability to receive thoughts, information and ideas from the Divine mind or collective unconscious.
Chakras shrink in size when we hold fearful thoughts about the issues corresponding to that chakra. They enlarge out of proportion to the other chakras when we have obsessions about the issue related to a particular one. For example fear about money would create a shrunken root chakra. Obsessions about acquiring money would create a disproportionately large chakra.
There is nothing wrong with having a large chakra, in fact, it is healthy. We just need to keep them equally large so that the energy flows through them.
It is beneficial to ensure our chakras are kept clean, clear and balanced.
A simple meditation for cleansing your Chakras.
• Find a quiet space, play some quiet music if you like
• Take a few deep breaths to relax
• Bring your awareness to the white light of the divine entering your crown chakra (top of your head) and flowing down through your body
• Feel the light flowing down through your face….your throat….down into your chest….your pelvis/hips….down through your legs….your knees….into your feet….out through the soles of your feet and travelling down, down, down, down, to the crystal at the centre of the earth.
• Just feel this flow for a few moments, allowing yourself to connect to the energy of Gaia, our beloved Earth Mother
• When you are ready, bring in a stream of red….allow it to flow down to your base chakra, between your hips. Allow this red to spin, cleaning away any dull red that was there, and any debris, allowing it to fill the space with bright red light.
• Bring in a stream of orange….allow it to flow down to your sacral chakra, just below your belly button. Allow this orange to spin, cleaning away any dull orange and any debris that was there, allow it to fill the space with bright orange light.
• Bring in a stream of yellow…allow it to flow down to your solar plexus chakra, just above your belly button, over your ribs. Allow this yellow to spin, cleaning away any dull yellow that was there, allow it to fill the space with bright yellow light
• Bring in a stream of green…allow it to flow down into your heart chakra, the centre of your chest. Allow this green to spin, cleaning away any dull green that was there, allow it to fill the space with soft green light
• Bring in a stream of blue….allow it to flow down into your throat. Allow this blue to spin, cleaning away any dull blue that was there, allow it to fill the space with bright blue light
• Bring in a stream of purple….allow it to flow down to your third eye chakra, in the centre of your forehead. Allow this purple to spin, cleaning away any dull purple that was there, allow it to fill the space with soft purple light
• Finally, bring in another stream of white light. Watch it travel again through your chakras, this time, taking with it all the debris you have cleaned out and shaken loose. Allow it to flow all the way to the centre of the earth taking this debris with it for transmutation to the light.
• Watch as all your chakras continue to shine, and be aware of the flow of the divine white light through you.
• When you sense that you are done, bring your awareness back to your physical body, feeling your feet on the floor and the seat beneath you. Allow yourself to feel calm and relaxed. Open your eyes when you are ready.