6th Chakra- Breaking Through Illusions

The 6th Chakra is known as “Ajna” in Sanskrit translating as “to perceive and command.” Located between the eyebrows, the 6th Chakra or “third eye” coordinates the functions of the eyes including the gift of sight. Through the physical eyes we take in and perceive images from the outside to create an internal map of the world around us. Our mind’s eye gleans insight from dreams, unconscious images, intuitions and creative visualizations so we may command or create our reality. Seeing fills our brain with the element of light shining the truth of our spirit into our consciousness. The third eye also governs the functions of the pineal gland, a light sensitive organ that monitors our relationship to the sun, to light. We can use light to help us transcend physical limitations or beliefs of the mind. By engaging our intuition with our mind’s eye, we can break through illusions and “see into the windows of the soul”. This chakra challenges us to deeply examine the beliefs we invest our energies in: Can you believe that your life has purpose and meaning beyond what you can see? Can you see the way ahead is clear? Can you close your eyes to see? Can you see auras? Self-doubt often prevents us from seeing what is true--what has always been right there in front of our eyes. Build trust, strength, and compassion for your intuition as you practice opening the 6th Chakra with the following exercises:

Stretching the Eyes
In a seated position close your eyes until you feel relaxed. Once you are ready open eyes and gaze straight ahead. As you breathe in look up and as you breathe out look down. Return your gaze straight ahead, close your eyes, pause and relax. Open eyes again and gaze straight ahead. As you breathe in look left and as you breathe out look right. Return gaze straight ahead, close your eyes, pause and relax. Open eyes and gaze straight ahead. As you breathe in look up and as you breathe out roll eyes toward the right in a clockwise direction reaching the bottom of your out-breath as you’re looking down. Inhale beginning to move towards the left completing the circle at the end of your in-breath by looking up. Repeat three times in both clockwise and then counter-clockwise directions moving with your breath. Return your gaze straight ahead. Clap hands together and rub until warm, place warm hands over eyes, close your eyes, pause and relax as you block all light out with your palms. This exercise stretches the eye muscles, relaxes the optic nerve, and can improve the clarity of your sight.

Color Meditation
Begin in a seated position on the floor or in a chair. Close your eyes and allow your breathe to be even. Imagine a shining disk of bright white light floating directly above your head, holding color which you can pull from.
When you are ready breathe in and pull down a color from the disk through your crown and down your spine. Start with the first Chakra and the color red. For example:
Breathe in and pull the color red down through the top of your head, along your spine and fill the base of your spine (1st Chakra) with red. Rest and notice how this color feels. Energized? Uncomfortable?
Continue for each chakra until all wheels are spinning with light and color:
1st chakra- Red
2nd chakra- Orange
3rd chakra- Yellow
4th chakra-Green
5th chakra- Blue
6th chakra- Indigo
7th chakra-Violet
Once you are complete check each chakra to see if they are retaining their color. Which is brightest? Strongest? Pale? Or weak? The colors that feel easy to see are most likely places of strength. The colors that are most difficult to see may represent areas of challenge. Work at balancing the colors and seeing your body as a continuous rainbow.

“Change how you see, not how you look”-Unknown

The 5th or Throat Chakra - What you Say Matters

Prana or vital life force flows through the top of the head and down through the chakras, and simultaneously flows upward through the chakras. These ascending and descending currents are inherent to our physical and spiritual growth. As prana passes through us, each center is given the nourishment needed to express, transform and understand our inner landscape and our interconnection with all that is.

“Right thought leads to right speech leads to right action.” -Caroline Myss

Mandala of the 5th Chakra or Throat Soul

Vishuddha or “Purification” is the 5th Chakra found at the throat. This Chakra works to keep the free flow of blood, lymph and prana to the neck, shoulders, arms and hands. It helps balance the energies and functions of the thyroid and parathyroid. This chakra may be balanced or enhanced by wearing the color blue-think bright blue. It expresses itself through the element of sound and works to achieve clarity. This chakra represents the ability to clearly express our truth. Are you speaking your truth? Do you say yes, when you mean no? Do you realize that what you say matters? We are creating the world around us each and every moment with the words we choose to say. The throat soul is a powerful center providing the opening into conscious creation. Let us strengthen our resounding truth by activating the 5th chakra with movement:

Neck Stretch-
Sit or stand comfortably. Take an expansive breath in, and as you exhale gently allow your head to fall forward reaching your chin to your chest. Breathe in and arch your head and chin toward the ceiling. Repeat 3-4 times.
Breathe in; as you exhale gently reach your ear to your shoulder. Breathe in, stretch your ear to the opposite shoulder. Repeat 3-4 times moving from side to side.

Breathe in; as you exhale look to the left bringing your chin to your shoulder. Breathe in and the head returns to center; exhale look to the right. Repeat 3-4 times looking and gently exploring your range of motion from side to side.

Shoulder Stand

Start lying flat on your back legs and arms outstretched. Bring your knees in toward your chest. Lift hips off the floor and allow legs to straighten as you reach them toward the ceiling. Bring hands up to support your lower back. Make sure to keep your head centered as you continue to take full deep breaths. Remain in shoulder stand for up to 10 minutes.

To release the pose first bend the knees in and toward your head. Gently roll the spine back on the floor slowly, one vertebra at a time. Pause laying on the floor to feel the effects of your efforts.

Fish Pose-
Begin by lying down on your back with your legs stretched out along the floor. Bring your hands under your hips with the palms facing down. Strongly press into the elbows lifting your chest up towards the ceiling; allow your head to lift and arch the top of your head to touch the floor. Hold for as long as comfortable taking long deep expansive breathes into your shining heart as the throat is stretched open.

4th Chakra-Smile Into Your Heart

As we explore up through the chakras, the liberating forces of awareness are emphasized. Each chakra offers opportunities to experience new degrees of freedom and expansion. Activating and opening the lower chakras fuels an upward and outward sensation that is energizing, exciting and personally liberating. Continue to revisit one or two exercises from the lower chakras to assist the opening and activation of the upper chakras. They are interrelated, accessed through each other, and are inseparable. A block in one chakra may affect the processes of the one above it or below it. Practice feeling the effects of opening each chakra physically and meta-physically i.e.; new ideas, different emotions.

Anahata is the Sanskrit name of the 4th Chakra, meaning ‘unstruck’ or the pure energy potential of creation. It helps balance the energies and functions of the lungs, heart, thymus gland, pericardium, arms and hands. This chakra is closely related to the element of air, having to do with the breath and is the gateway between the mind and body.

Centered at the heart, this chakra mediates the lower three and upper three chakras. The heart chakra’s central alignment allows balance between: the mind and body, giving and receiving, and self and other. It is believed the heart is the center of healing, and love is the ultimate healing force. When balanced we radiate love, joy and gratitude. This chakra asks you to create time for a personal ritual in which you “take yourself into your own heart”. Do something to awaken feelings of tranquility and harmony: listen to soft music or meditations, receive a massage, smile into your heart, do yoga.

4th Chakra Movement & Meditations

Chest Opener
Start standing with feet at least hip width apart. Clasp hands behind your back, as you do this allow your arms to rotate and the elbows lock. Doing this will push your chest out and bring your shoulders down and back. Gently fold forward, allow arms to float up behind you, let your head be heavy, and avoid locking out your knees. Hang for 10 breaths. Release arms and roll back up gently.

Sphinx/Cobra Pose
Lay on your belly with your arms bent, your elbows under your shoulders and palms placed face down on the floor. Press evenly into your elbows to lift your chest off the floor. Keep your neck long, shoulders relaxed and your glutes soft. Hold up to 12 breathes.


If you would like to open more deeply into the heart, you can press evenly into the palms to lift the belly off the floor and hold for several breaths.



Deep Breathing
Find a comfortable position to sit and begin to watch your breath. Take deep, full, complete breaths. Breathe in and allow the breath to first fill your belly- then your chest-your shoulders and throat. Exhale and reverse the order: exhale shoulders and throat-then chest-then your belly. Repeat several times. Sit longer than you think, so that you can rest your body and rest your mind. “If your breathing is any way restricted, to that degree, so is your life.”- Michael Grant White.

3rd Chakra: Transformation

"The greatest illusion of the New Age is that awareness alone heals. Believe me, awareness by itself does nothing! Putting the healing process in motion requires a regular spiritual practice and discipline not just exercise and clean living."
– Caroline Myss

Sushumna in Yoga or Sumana in Thai is considered to be the home of the Chakras. The Chakras are located along the spine like a ‘super highway’ or a channel connecting one to another. Because of where the Chakras are located we can feel there influence over our entire nervous and endocrine systems. The alignment of the spine will help form the shape of the body and determine the openness of each Chakra i.e.; a collapsed chest, ventral drag or rolled in shoulders may indicate an imbalance in the core or 3rd chakra. It is possible to open and balance the Chakras by bringing more awareness and flexibility to the spine.

Manipura is the Sanskrit name of the 3rd Chakra, meaning ‘lustrous gem’. It is located between the navel and the lower ribs, and is often referred to as the solar plexus. It connects us to the pancreas, digestion and our musculature. This chakra is closely related to the element of fire and is expressed through the color yellow. It is here in the 3rd Chakra we understand power, assertiveness, will and transformation. We learn how to overcome inertia, liberate ourselves from fixed patterns and create new behavior. This chakra asks: Do I take time to develop and maintain my own personal power? Do I feel empowered by the choices I make? Do I feel excited about life? Do I feel confidant?

Contemplation and movement can help to clear toxins, raise your internal fire and stimulate the ascending current. Keep these questions in mind as you explore the strength of your solar plexus with the following asanas or postures.

Breath of Fire
This is a pranayama or breathing exercise to help clear toxins from the body. Start sitting in a comfortable position on the floor or in a chair. Rest your hands over your solar plexus. Use your diaphragm to vigorously pump your exhale out your nose. Focus on the exhalation, your body will naturally inhale without force. Repeat this breath several times (perhaps 10-30) quickly until you feel the heat rising. Pause and take deep breaths if you feel dizzy.

The Woodchopper
Stand with your feet about hip width apart, knees soft, hands interlaced over your head, and back slightly arched. As you exhale swing your hands and arms down and in between your legs. Repeat several times. If you like you can make a loud ‘ah’ sound as you exhale and swing downwards. Feel the power of release as you do this.

Bow Pose
Lay on your stomach with your hands down by your side. Bend your knees and reach for your ankles. As you inhale lift your head and pull the ankles backwards to lift your chest and to balance on your belly. Breathe deeply pressing the belly into the ground. Allow your shoulders to relax and your chest to open to the ceiling. Feel the internal fire growing as you try this.

Yoga for the Chakras: Fluidic Movement

"You could not step twice into the same river; for other waters are ever flowing on to you."- Hercalitus

The chakras interweave the history of yoga with the practice of yoga. The word yoga comes from a Sanskrit word which means to “yoke” or to join. Yoga is the practice in which we can unify personal consciousness with universal consciousness. The origin of yoga and the earliest mention of chakras reach back to the Vedas, a series of hymns, incantations, and rituals from ancient India. Following the Vedas were the Upanishads or wisdom teachings passed from teacher to disciple. The Upanishads are difficult to date because they are believed to have been passed down orally for approximately a thousand years before being written down for the first time between 1200–900 BCE. It is understood in eastern cultural traditions that each chakra holds a unique set of energy's, and when one is blocked it affects all other parts of the body. Practicing yoga can help release, balance, and align the chakras through specific asanas, or postures.

Svadisthana is the Sanskrit name of the 2nd Chakra, meaning sweetness. It is found at the lower abdomen, and is related to the element of water and the color orange. The 2nd chakra connects us to the womb, genitals, low back, kidneys and bladder. It is in charge of our adrenals and helps us understand our feelings. This chakra teaches us how to let go and create flow. This chakra asks: Do you feel comfortable expressing your sexuality? Do you take time to take care of yourself, to fill your own cup? Do you enjoy or take delight in change?

Regular practice of the following poses can help balance the energy of the 2nd chakra:

Goddess Pose
Lay down onto the floor with your knees bent and your feet on the floor. Gently allow your knees to part until they reach the floor or until you feel a good stretch in your inner thighs. Hold for 6 breaths. You may place a pillow or bolster under each thigh to provide added support and comfort.

Scissor Legs
Continue lying on the floor with your legs straight. On an exhale lift both your legs 6-12 inches off the floor. On your inhalation spread your legs apart, and on your exhalation squeeze them back together again. Repeat at least 6 times or until you’re tired.

Hip Circles
Begin standing with your feet just a bit wider than your hips. Keep your knees bent slightly as you rotate your pelvis in small and large circles moving clockwise and counter-clockwise. Remember to keep your head and feet stationary and the movement smooth.

All these asanas or postures are designed to encourage the energy to move or open throughout the pelvis and lower abdomen. Take time to nurture yourself through movement, drink enough water, take long hot baths or showers and feed yourself with energy, love and touch. Be well.

Yoga for the Chakras: Grounding

“What is Rooted is easy to Nourish”- Tao Te Ching

Join us for the next several weeks as we briefly introduce and share a few yoga poses to help activate and balance each chakra. Chakra is a Sanskrit word meaning wheel or disk. These ‘wheel centers’ are the point of intersection where the mind and body meet. Each chakra has a specific location related to a specific element and color, corresponding to nerve ganglia, organs, muscles, glands and have their own function. It is the job of each chakra to help us process and understand information and energy from the world around us.

The following yoga exercises work on stimulating and releasing energy from the chakras. By clearing each chakra thru movement, we become aware of the liberating and manifesting currents moving us towards wholeness.
As you do each exercise tune into that area of the body. Ask yourself how each area feels i.e.; tight, tense, relaxed, painful? Notice the quality and quantity of emotion felt in each area: is it what you want it to be? Breathe into the area, acknowledge each area and notice how it changes.

1st Chakra

Muladhara is the Sanskrit name of the 1st Chakra, meaning root support. It is located at the base of the spine, it is related to the earth element and the color is red. The first Chakra connects us to our legs, feet and our large intestine. It is in charge of our adrenals and helps us understand our personal security and stability. This Chakra teaches us how to survive and how to stay grounded. This Chakra asks: Do I feel safe? Do I give myself what I need? Do I have the right to be here?

Knee to Chest
Begin lying on your back with the legs outstretched. Interlace your fingers or arms around one knee and gently hug that knee into your chest. Hold your knee towards your chest for 4-16 long, deep breathes. Repeat for the opposite side. Now hug both legs into your chest and hold for another 4-16 long, deep breathes.

Grounding
Now stand up and stomp your feet, one at a time, 4-16 times.
Jump up and down off the ground with soft knees 4-16 times: push off the earth, and then sink into the earth to energize your legs and your connection with the ground.
Jog inside or outside

Enjoy and practice feeling the benefits of your efforts. If you have any questions or comments about your experience with the Root Chakra please add your comment. Namaste’

Neti Neti

Thank Goodness for the Neti Pot! Performing the Neti on myself throughout the week has saved my life this spring allergy season . . . no more runny nose, sneezing fits, sinus headaches or mad sniffling. I didn’t realize how exhausted I was trying to keep my nasal passages clear until they were clear. If you are a fan of Oprah, I am certain that you have at least heard of the Neti Pot. If not let me share with you the wonderful practice of nasal irrigation or “jala neti”:
Originally part of a millennia-old Indian yogic tradition, jala net is performed with a small pot that looks like a cross between Aladdin’s lamp and a gravy boat. To use the Neti pot mix about 16 ounces (1 pint) of lukewarm water with 1 teaspoon of mineral salt. Once you've filled the Neti pot tilt your head at about a 45-degree angle, place the spout into your top nostril and gently pour the saline solution into that nostril. The saline solution will flow through your nasal cavity into and out the other nostril. If the fluid runs into your throat no worries, spit it out and you may need to tilt your head further. Blow your nose to get rid of any remaining liquid, (breathe of fire usually works really well) then refill the Neti pot and repeat the process on the other side.
This ancient yogic practice works by clearing the overloaded hairs and mucus membranes in the nasal passage. Everyday exposure to pollution, chemicals, fragrances, pollen and dust can overload the nasal passage causing chronic sinusitis and allergies.
I have to admit at first I avoided using the Neti Pot mostly because it sounded gross and the first time I tried it I thought I was going to drown. However, my allergy symptoms were getting the best of me and I had to do something about how I was feeling, so I picked the Neti Pot up one more time and haven’t put it down since. I did have to practice getting the right head angles and the perfect salt to water ratio until it felt more comfortable. Now, my nose is the nose that knows that the Neti Pot saves your nose! Happy windy Spring !!