Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Vissudha Chakra: TRUTH

Of all the chakras, this one speaks most loudly to me. For many reasons. Mostly what I realized while revisiting Vissudha chakra is this: Its all about truth. All of it. Every chakra, every bone in the body, every cell, every breath, every thought. The throat chakra is where truth is expressed and heard from within, from below, and above. 

Do you speak your truth?
The human voice is powerful beyond belief. A vibration, calibrated by human emotion. What comes through the voice is an expression of what's inside body, heart, soul, mind. Righteous and real. Angry and fearful. Sad and shy. Creative and wild.

Through the power of the voice we can sing a baby to sleep. Express love or cause pain. Cause a revolution. Take a stand. Alter our entire existence through mantra. Yet, words are limiting. The power and effectiveness, lies within the emotion, the feeling underneath the sound of the voice. Sound is created, expressed, heard and felt deep within the human psyche. Sound travels through ether in waves. The pranic body, or energetic body (maybe even the intricate web of fascia), picks up on these waves. We are all affected by what is expressed within the world around us no matter how far or near the distance between its source and receptor. 

Sound is vibration. Vibration is everything.

What we say, what we think, what we tell ourselves, our prayers, and intentions all have a vibration and travel in waves ready to be received. We will resonate with similar wavelengths. What we hear, is what we are tuned into.

Truth and love have a strong recognizable vibration to all of us (we were born this way). If we choose to be honest no matter what the consequences are, we release the blocks that hold back our true essence. We can than resonate with truth, we vibrate at a higher frequency; we attract more truth in our lives and further align with our soul's true purpose.

The truth shall set you free! 
Its not always pretty. Removing the obstacles that hold back truth might mean a total disintegration of things that have been jamming the path. Its vulnerable. Its painful. This is the point where we need to stay committed to ourSelf, to a practice, and trust with all thats left, that there is a divine plan at work.

There's a saying, "speak up even if your voice shakes."
My voice shook for a long time when I would speak. Even the most simplest of things. Family dinner. Making an important phone call to a supposed stranger. But I knew I had to keep talking. What was inside me needed out. I practiced (and still do) raw rough vulnerable honesty.

Being honest and true requires a commitment to practices that uncover the authentic power of truth and love.

Its through yoga that I smoothed out my voice. Even before my first yoga teacher training. The yoga asanas silently opened my body up and moved some blockage. Traumas surfaced and healed. Eventually I had to face my biggest block head on (see How Yoga Changed My Life). The lump in the back of my throat. The noose around my neck.

It loosened, because I continually showed up to teach. Not because I always wanted to (yes, there were times I secretly wished no one would show up, so I wouldn't have to). But because I knew deep within that it was the right thing for me to do.

Now, I use my voice wholeheartedly to deliver truth. When it sounds like crap, I trust. When its smooth and to the point, I trust. When it shakes, I trust. When my whole body vibrates, I trust.
I trust I am heard.



Monday, August 24, 2015

Manipura Chakra: AGNI

The body is dense. It takes a lot of will power and action to get it to move, and "catch up" with the energetic, emotional, mental and spiritual bodies. 


Manipura chakra (third chakra) is strongly associated with action, will power, transformation and fire. More specifically, agni, the sacred digestive fire. Agni is the digestive fire of all things, including food, water, emotions, thoughts. In relation to the physical body, manipura chakra is located at a very soft vulnerable spot. Above the navel and just below where the lower front ribs join. Structurally, only the spine holds us together here. The rest is soft tissue and organs. To be able to stand up straight and strong, strengthening the core and spine is necessary. Fire needs space. A collapsed core, suffocates the inner fire. A strong spacious body is better able to digest, contain and integrate life experiences. When we feel weak and overwhelmed with life, our systems are not able process which can lead to lock down (fight, flight or freeze response). 

A synchronistic encounter immediately following that day at Wanderlust (see The Unexpected Awakening), provided a very helpful tip on how to ground and transmute excess or intense energy. I was inspired by Rod Stryker's teachings. So, on the last day I found myself at his booth purchasing his book, The Four Desires. As I waited to speak with him and have him sign the book, I connected with one of his assistants. I shared with her my experience, from the previous day, and what I thought was likely a kundalini shakti awakening. She agreed. She went further to explain how to manage it. "Send the energy here." She pointed to her navel. 

I've intellectually known this. But now I am able to apply the practice of directing excess energy to the digestive fire for emotions, excess energy, and life experiences. 

To practice this I visualize the excess energy moving down from either the crown of the head or heart and to the belly, and new vital energy rising up. As I do this a "wheel" begins to circulate the energy, transmuting excess, scattered energy into a more balanced purified energy. Inhale draw excess energy in through crown, exhale sending it down into belly, into the fire.

This practice is integrative. Mental energy is focused on the direction of pranic energy within the physical body; which ultimately leads to alignment of spiritual energy within the physical. Embodiment. Spiritual action. Spirit in action.