Category: meditation

The Seven Chakras

http://www.gaia.com/article/journey-through-chakras-introduction

Yoga and meditation practitioners often talk about keeping the chakras balanced to promote health and well-being. What exactly are chakras and how do we keep them balanced? What happens when they are unbalanced?

Chakra is the Sanskrit word for disc or wheel. There are seven chakras along the spine believed to correspond with neural ganglia and major organs. Energy or Prana flows through these seven chakras unless one or more becomes blocked. Blocked chakras eventually result in disease or emotional turmoil.

The first chakra is located at the base of the spine; the seventh chakra at the crown of the head.

The Seven Chakras

  1. Muladhara ~ Root Chakra ~”I am”: Governs stability, security, and our basic needs.
  2. Svadhisthana ~ Sacral Chakra ~ “I feel”: Governs our sexual center and creativity.
  3. Manipura ~ Solar Plexus Chakra ~ “I do”: Our source of personal power.
  4. Anahata ~ Heart Chakra ~ “I love”: Our source of love and connection.
  5. Vishuddha ~ Throat Chakra ~ “I speak”: Governs verbal expression and our ability to speak our highest truth.
  6. Ajna ~ Third Eye Chakra ~ “I see”: Governs our sense of intuition.
  7. Sahaswara ~ Crown Chakra ~ “I understand”: Our center of enlightenment and spiritual connection to our higher selves, others, and the Divine.

Asana flows are often created so each chakra is worked. Understanding the chakras and their influence on our body’s health helps us decide what poses to work on when we take to the mat. Check back here over the next few weeks to learn more about the different chakras and how to keep them balanced.

In the meantime, to learn more about chakras visit www.chopra.com  or www.gaia.com.

Image credit: Heather Ivany

Disclaimer: All articles written on microyogi are opinions and not meant to serve as any kind of instruction for how to move your body. I am merely writing to serve as a means of trying to find my own answers. I am not a certified trainer or medical expert.

Practice Mindfulness

Mindfulness is the base on which yoga and meditation rest. As we practice yoga and meditation, we are essentially practicing mindfulness. Why not extend the focus we employ during yoga and meditation into everyday tasks and experiences? Try not to worry about the past, try not to worry about the future just be in the here and now. Of course thoughts of the past and the future will come and go. The trick is to merely recognize them without judgment. It is a continual practice. Mindful living encourages positivity, gratitude for the moment, and peace. As we start observing what is in front of us, in the here and now, we focus on those little things in life. For example, when we go for a walk notice what is around you and truly take it in. What do you see? Hear? Smell? Do you pass others and acknowledge them with a smile or do you act as if they were not there? As you begin to notice, and be thankful for, the small things such as the color of the sky, the trees, the flowers, and those we pass along the way, you essentially live a deeper life. Peace comes, acceptance comes; stress and anxiety start to melt away.

image created by microyogi
image created by microyogi

As you adopt a practice of mindfulness, you will start do notice a shift in your awareness:

  1. You will develop a keen sense of curiosity for everyday things. You will cherish them more. The commute to work, arriving back home after a long day.
  2. You will learn the art of forgiveness for yourself and others.
  3. You will learn to practice compassion and learn to connect more deeply with others.
  4. You will learn to be ok with all that is not perfect.
  5. You will develop a greater trust in both yourself and others.
  6. You will learn that things come and go in life; you will also learn to accept and appreciate that.
  7. You will develop a sense of gratitude for the great moments in your life; and a sense of grace for those moments which seem horrible.

Of course this will not all come at once. There will be days when anxiety will try to rule the day. However, when you know you can slow down the tailspin into deep anxiety by thinking differently, perhaps the day can be saved and there may be some moments which you can be thankful for. To live in this day and age of stress, of the pressures created by our society, media, our peers, and our occupations we need something to help us through. We need to remember that life does not have to be about go, go, go and more, more, more, and bigger, bigger, bigger. Remember the little things, those things we can be grateful for. If you catch yourself feeling anxious about what’s to come in life, find one small thing to focus on during that moment. Perhaps it is a sunny day. Maybe it is raining. We can find gratitude for either situation, lessen our anxiety, and increase our happiness. Even if it is just by a hair, it is still progress. The practice will be life-long. Try to let go of self-judgment, accept your way of thinking and just be.

Live right now, not yesterday, not tomorrow. Live in today. In the now.

Disclaimer: All articles written on microyogi are opinions and not meant to serve as any kind of instruction for how to move your body. I am merely writing to serve as a means of trying to find my own answers. I am not a certified trainer or medical expert.