Namaste all you Beautiful Souls!
This is my first monthly newsletter! I am excited to start this communication with all of you. My intention is to share information I learn with all of you about different yoga topics.
This month I would like to start by sharing with you an overview of our 7 energy sources in the body. These are the 7 chakras. There is an 8th chakra (clear in color) that is not in the body but just above the crown of our heads.
The Location, Color & Names of the 7 Chakras;
 7th Chakra, Top of Head, Violet Crown, Sahasrara
6th Charka, Third Eye between the brows, Indigo Blue, Ajna
5th Chakra, Throat, Turquoise Blue, Visuddha
4th Chakra Heart, Emerald Green, Anahata
3rd Charkra Solar Plexus above Navel, Citrine Yellow, Manipura
2nd Charkra Lower Abdomen, Amber Orange, Svadisthana
1st Chakra Groin at Base of Spine, Garnet Red, Muladhara
These seven chakras, or energy centers, in the body are very powerful. When the chakras are not in balance or blocked our whole body, mind and spirit are affected. Imbalances can be due to many things, sometimes going way back to events that have happened in our lives as a young child or even current experiences in our lives. Long held tension can create body pains and emotional problems. The reasons are not always so clear to identify & understand. But practicing poses that correspond to each chakra can release these blocks and clear the path to higher consciousness.
It is thought that the 7 main chakras are arranged vertically from the base of the spine to the top of the head just like the picture above where the Root Chakra is number 1 and the Crown Charka is number 7. Chakra is the Sanskrit word for wheel, and these "wheels" are thought of as spinning vortexes of energy. The chart above identifies each chakra’s specific color and name.
Each chakra is associated with particular functions within the body and with specific life issues and the way we handle them, both inside ourselves and in our interactions with the world. As centers of force, chakras can be thought of as sites where we receive, absorb, and distribute life energies. Through external situations and internal habits, such as long-held physical tension and limiting self-concepts, a chakra can become either deficient or excessive—and therefore imbalanced.
A deficient chakra neither receives appropriate energy nor easily manifests that chakra's energy in the world. There's a sense of being physically and emotionally closed down in the area of a deficient chakra. Think of the slumped shoulders of someone who is depressed and lonely, their heart chakra receding into their chest. The deficient chakra needs to open.
When a chakra is excessive, it is too overloaded to operate in a healthy way and becomes a dominating force in a person's life. Someone with an excessive fifth (throat) chakra, for example, might talk too much and be unable to listen well. If the chakra were deficient, they might experience restraint and difficulty when communicating.
This is the start of our adventure into the 7 chakras. Next month’s letter will address the 1st chakra, the root, in more detail. What it means and how to use your yoga practice to open and balance the chakras. I will provide you with specific asanas (poses) to help facilitate the opening of the chakra so that the energy can flow freely.
I am so grateful for all of you! You bring me such joy & love! Thank you!
Much Love & Many Blessings,
Karen Rosales |
