Timing

The first step to committing to daily meditation is telling yourself you will do it everyday, around the same time, only for two minutes. If you do more than that, great! But always start small. For the past week I told myself that I would gradually increase the amount of time spent meditating. The result was a constantly wandering mind during the last minute of each session. A person who meditates for 20 minutes is not necessarily a better meditator than one who meditates for two. Don’t worry about the timing, don’t worry about trying to progress by increasing time spent. Simply, meditate. As you get better you will find yourself naturally meditating for longer. Some people find having a timer or stopwatch to keep time to their meditation sessions useful, but I’ve found that going without a clock keeps me from being distracted by time, and instead, allows me to focus on my breath, mantra, or central point of focus. If after a few meditations you feel yourself getting antsy about when you can get on to the rest of your day, bring your session back down to around two minutes so that you don’t stress about spending too much time meditating. This will allow even those two minutes to be most productive. If you do not know how long two minutes feels, try finding a soothing sounds of nature or guided meditation audio track online to listen to. Then you can move onto meditating on your own if you like. Or, you can count your breaths, and once you reach 20 exhales, you’ve meditated for approximately a minute. Allow your natural breath to be your timer.

-Evelyn

 

5. The Throat Chakra

Also known as “Vishuddha”, the 5th Chakra, or throat Chakra is located at the throat and is the first of the three spiritual chakras. Associated with the color blue, the physical sense hearing, the musical note G, and the sacred sound “Ham”, this Chakra–when in balance–allows one to communicate and express themselves in the most effective ways.

The Throat chakra has a powerful connection to the Sacral Chakra. The Sacral is the center of creativity and personal power, and the Throat is used to effectively speak our creative ideas to make them real. It is when we speak our creative ideas to others that we can create plans to make them a reality.

However, the Throat chakra is not all about speaking, it is also about listening. One may not know when or how to respond to someone unless they are truly listening to the conversation at hand. What’s more, we must listen for the subtle forms of communication like tone of voice, eye-contact, and body-language, in order to fully understand what others are expressing to us. It is when we are really listening that we know how to interpret messages and send our own in response.

When the Throat Chakra is in balance and cleared, physically one wouldn’t feel any pain in the throat, jaw, mouth or neck. Mentally, one should feel able to speak truthfully at all times and feel able to express themselves and their ideas.
On the other hand, if the Throat Chakra is out of balance or needs to be cleansed, one may find themselves consistently telling lies, or having trouble communicating feelings or ideas. In addition, they may be unable to spit the words out of their mouth, are struggling with addiction, feel a lack of creativity, or a lack of faith in themselves and/or others.

Like the Heart chakra, when the Throat chakra is healed we can release heavy burdens, grudges, or habits that have long been stored-away. This can be difficult because we don’t want to face the dark, troubling parts of our mind since it is often a painful reminder of past experiences. Remembering troubled times hurts, and can feel like a huge obstacle. But, in the end, being able to embrace our troubles in order to release them forever can feel like a huge weight off the shoulders. Once we clean out the bad and ugly, we leave room for so much good and so much beautiful. Clearing the Throat chakra can be difficult but with a little bit of help from our crystals, we can clear our wheel of energy and express ourselves freely.

The three crystals I will discuss with you today, which of course are not the only crystals that can be used to clear the throat chakra include: Blue Lace Agate, Aquamarine, and Celestite. All these crystals are blue which is matches the Throat Chakra’s color, however, it is not the case that only blue crystals can clear this chakra.  There are many of other colors which work on this chakra for cleansing and healing.

Blue Lace Agate is a very peaceful stone which heals sore shoulders, back, and throat. It also creates space to improve self-expression and personal truth. Additionally, it helps men accept their natural sensitive feelings even when the world is telling them not to.

Aquamarine aligns to all chakras but does well to clear the Throat and open the 3rd Eye (which we will cover tomorrow). It is beneficial for healing sore throats, swollen glands, and jaw or teeth pain. It is a blue crystal which aligns to this Chakra’s color, and aids in understanding underlying emotional states of oneself or others, as well as helps interpret personal feelings. Aquamarine filters all the information absorbed during the day and helps maintain a clear perception of reality.

Celestite (also a blue crystal) strengthens ones ability to resolve conflicts, and have peaceful conversations. Celestite enhances clarity of mind while tapping into the spiritual side of things. This crystal opens up the metaphysical abilities of the body and gives greater openness of mind for negotiations and new experiences, whether they are physical, mental, divine…or otherwise.
And with that I shall leave you. Tomorrow we shall explore the wonders of the Third Eye Chakra.

3. The Solar Chakra

Manipura–also known as the Solar, Yellow, or Power Chakra–is located just above the bellybutton, at the base of the chest. It is directly linked to the Solar Plexus (wow…that’s weird) as well as the digestive system. This Chakra is often associated with the element of fire, the sun, the musical note “E”, and the sacred sound “Ram”.
While beginning our journey of learning the chakras from the Root to the Sacral and now here at the Solar Chakra, there has been a steady advancement in a distinct direction. Have you noticed it yet?
While all the chakras are associated with part of the physical body–like the Solar Chakra is to the Solar Plexus and digestive system–we do, in fact, see a shift in mental focus as we move through the list of chakras. Root Chakra topics relate to survival and are rooted (pun-intended) in human survival. The Sacral Chakra moves it’s focus to personal creativity and self-actualizing topics linked heavily to survival situations in life. And now, with the Solar Plexus, we learn that this is the Chakra of personal power and control. We move away from the necessary comforts of surviving, and towards improving the self. Moving towards self-improvement, personal faith, and one could suppose…Enlightenment.

If at this point you are slightly confused you should go read this blog: Intro to the Chakras.
Then follow it by reading about the Root Chakra, then the Sacral.
This may help. I promise the blogs are short so it’s not a huge commitment, I know you can do it 🙂 Or you can simply continue reading. You do you Boo.

So. Let’s talk about the Solar Chakra.
This Chakra is all about you. Well, I guess they all are really, but at the same time, they all aren’t. They’re about you in your environment, and body and mind and surroundings. Ugh, okay, move on Evelyn.

Warmth in your personality. Healthy self-esteem. Freedom to interpret the world without fear of consequences. A perception of yourself and who you are, and how you can contribute to this world. Making the conscious choice to contribute to this world. Being able to find the right path to make your contribution, to make a difference, to be a proactive leader and drive forward with good ambitions. All of these things are associated with the Solar Chakra. When the Chakra is healthy and aligned, these topics focused on improving your personal self, ideas, and intentions, will come to fruition. However, when the Solar Chakra is out of balance, you may feel you do not have control over your life, or you are being over-controlling and over-authoritative. You may not be able to turn your ideas into actions. Additionally, if this Chakra is imbalanced you could be having trouble with your digestive system, and may be more prone to getting sick.

To keep this chakra in balance, you can use the following crystals to help energy flow smoothly through the wheel of power. Of course there are not the only crystals you can use but I am giving you a short list to start. Thank you to Judy Hall’s Encyclopedia of Crystals for much of the crystal information that follows.

1. Citrine. I love Citrine! It is an orange, yellow, and clear stone that is very cleansing. In fact, if you leave citrine in a bowl with other crystals, it will charge and cleanse your other crystals for you! Citrine is said to carry the energy of the sun and promotes creativity and joy in anyone who beholds it. It also is said to open the mind to constructive criticism and improves self-confidence, self-expression, digestion, and protects the environment. It is said to cleanse and re-energize all chakras but I think it’s perfect for the Solar Chakra because of it’s link to the energy of the sun.

2. Desert Rose. This beautiful crystal can be found often in gift shops throughout the southwestern U.S. because Native American lore says they were carved by Native American warriors returning from the spirit world and were scattered on the land to keep spirit homes sacred. While this stone is beautiful and linked to Southwestern culture, it is also said to strengthen affirmations of purpose, keeping one driven towards their goals. It also heightens one’s ability to interpret and express thought-whether it’s their own or someone else’s–and confronting issues to settle grievances.

3. Snow Quartz/Milk Quartz/Quartzite goes by many names but supports those who are learning important life lessons. This stone enhances cooperation and helps you filter thoughts before speaking. With this stone in your possession, keeping the Solar Chakra balanced, you can definitely become a more powerful and driven individual, as all the skills Snow Quartz assists with are noted skills of some of the most successful individuals in the world today.

And there you have it!
Come back tomorrow for more information on the next Chakra: The Heart Chakra.

1. The Root Chakra

The first of the seven standard Chakras is located at the base of the spine. Known as the Root or Base Chakra, it’s Sanskrit name is “Muladhara”, musical note is B, color is red, and sacred sound is “Lam”. The Plexus’–or bundles of nerves or vessels in the body-that the root chakra aligns to are the Lumbar and Coccygeal Plexus’. Both are located at the bottom part of the spine.

Survival instincts and physical state are the main focus of the root chakra. With the right types of healing exercises, the root chakra works to keep issues related to these focuses at bay. Say you are having trouble accepting your body, you are feeling restless, or lacking physical energy. Maybe you are having financial problems and don’t know if or how you can pay next month’s rent. Perhaps you aren’t eating as well as you normally do, or you are having suicidal thoughts. Of course not all of these issues can be completely healed by meditation, or crystal healing, but it is likely that self-healing exercises can aid in the healing process. I’m not a doctor nor are many practicing chakra healers, so please don’t depend on me for medical advice. However, the root chakra is centered on these types of issues and when healed, can ground you in a healthier and safer state of mind.

Like Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs where physiological needs need to be attained before reaching self actualization, the Root chakra needs to be healed to create stability in the rest of the body and mind. Once this stability is obtained, one can move on to healing the next Chakra. It would be difficult to try and open your 3rd eye to become more spiritual if you were constantly worried about your weight or financial state. There is an order in which certain needs must be addressed. One must focus on physical needs before gaining the privilege of wondering how to improve creativity skills or harness a sense of accomplishment. That is why the Root chakra comes first, because it must be addressed before any of the other chakras for the best healing.

Crystal healing is often associated with the Chakras so with each Chakra that I share with you, I will list crystals which focus on healing the chakra at hand. To use crystals in chakra healing, place the crystal on the chakra area for 20 minutes while laying down in a quiet, undisturbed space.

Crystals aligned with the Root chakra include but are not limited to: Jet, Red Jasper, Smokey Quartz, Bloodstone, Fire Agate, Stichtite, Obsidian, and Red Calcite. As you can see, many of the stones are red, like the color of the Chakra. This will be a reoccurring theme as we move on to the other chakras.

To wrap up, let me tell you about the first three stones I’ve listed:

1. Jet is a very dark matte-black stone which aids in taking control of life and stabilizing financial situations. If you carry this stone in your wallet you may see an increase in money coming your way. 
2. Jasper is actually said to align with all the chakras and depending on the color, will align to a specific chakra. The root chakra is red, so Red Jasper aligns to it and helps calm emotions, decrease worries, and calm sexual aggressiveness. 
3. Smokey Quartz is one of the most efficient of the grounding and cleansing stones. It is used to detoxify the body, alleviate suicidal tendencies, and increases acceptance of the body.

 

Visit back tomorrow to read about Chakra #2: The Sacral Chakra