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chakra

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Warm up for Chakra meditations

This quick series of movements is meant to help you get in touch with your body and open up the “lower” chakras a little bit before you sit to meditate. It is also a reminder that body mind and spirit are all interconnected. You could consider them to be a small series warm up movements before chakra meditation.

All of the Chakras are equally important but because the 6th and 7th chakras are less physical, and higher energy we will only be touching in with the first 5 chakras with physical movement. I chose these movements for their simplicity. The whole series should take no more than 5 minutes, and no yoga experience is necessary. 😉

Let’s start with the Root Chakra (see overview page) and work up to the throat.

Root (1st) Chakra
Slowly squat down towards the earth, and stay for a few seconds (if comfortable) Imagine you are connected to the earth through your feet, as though your feet were rooted to the center of the earth. Feel the strength of that connection to the earth.

If squatting is difficult, you can modify this so you are standing while still imagining your connection to earth.

Sacral (2nd) Chakra
Sway your hips in gentle circles first in one direction then in the other for a few seconds to loosen up the navel area.

Solar Plexis (3rd) Chakra
Stand tall and lift your arms straight out from your sides bring them gently overhead, press your palms together and bring them down in front of your body. Imagine as you do this that you are bringing energy from the sun down into your solar plexis area.

 

Heart (4th) Chakra

Grasp your hands behind your back and gently pull them up and away from your buttocks. This will help loosen up your shoulders and open up the heart area.

Throat (5th) Chakra
Huuuuummmmmm 🙂  No, really I mean it … hum, just a few seconds will do the trick.

Notes:

There are many yoga poses that are wonderful for opening and strengthening the physical parts of your body that are associated with each chakra.

If you choose to learn yoga, find an experienced yoga instructor to ensure you get good results without pulling any muscles. If you do not have qualified yoga teachers in your area there are many great DVDs and books on the topic. I will do some further research and come up with some I like that I feel are useful for people who are relatively new to meditation and include links to them 🙂

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Chakras the tiny tour :)

CHAKRAS – A VERY QUICK OVERVIEW

A concept sometimes used during meditation is that of energy centers called Chakras. The popularity of yoga has made them a familiar concept throughout North America. Other spiritual practices have similar energy systems, some are also referred to as Chakras. For simplicity’s sake we will use a pared down version of the more familiar yoga Chakras.

Generally, there are 7 major Chakras, and dozens (if not hundreds depending on who you listen to) minor Chakras. At the end of this description there is a very rough drawing indicating where the 7 main Chakras are located on the human body. You can check online for many beautiful artworks depicting Chakras.

Starting with the ones closest to earth and going up (when doing Chakra meditations I usually start with the base ones and work up to the higher ones. I find it helps me to be more “grounded” during the meditation):

NAME # Sanscrite Name COLOUR SOUND APPROX. LOCATION ATTRIBUTES
Root 1 Muladhara Red Lam Perineum, the region between the genitals and the anus Is associated with the earth and feeling secure and entitled to be alive.
Sacral 2 Svadhisthana Orange Vam Sacrum (Navel) Physically governs sex organs. Is associated with basic emotions, creativity and reproduction.
Solar Plexis 3 Manipura Yellow Ram Solar Plexis Physically governs metabolic and digestive systems, and is associated with personal power
Heart 4 Anahata Green (or pink) Yam Heart + Lungs Physically associated with circulation, emotionally with love for self, others and the world.
Throat 5 Vishuddha Light Blue Ham Base of your throat Governs communication and growth through expression.
Brow 3rd eye 6 Anja Indigo or dark Purple Sham Forehead, behind your eyes Associated with sight, intuition and clear seeing
Crown 7 Sahasrara Gold Ohm Top of your head Universal consciousness

If you would like a more in depth study of chakras, there is a wealth of information to be found online and I will be adding resources to this site that I feel would be useful to you. In the meantime if you to choose an “energy system” that makes sense to you it will make it easier to visualize your energy.

I feel it is helpful to find a system that works for you now instead of getting lost in the search for “the right way”.

Now you have a rough “road map” I will describe mini visualizations that can be used with each one in future posts 🙂

Locations of the 7 major Chakras
Approximate locations of the 7 major Chakras

The poster below is both practical and looks great.