Sahasrara Chakra: CONSCIOUSNESS

Consciousness, Embodiment, and Surrender. These are the words that came to mind as I contemplate the crown chakra, the 7th chakra.

What is consciousness?

An expansion of the awareness, the mind, the intellect. To be the witness of our own experience in the world. To observe.  Consciousness could be the connection to source, a higher power, to God, the I behind the I.

I am that, that I am.

I think its safe to say, that most humans on the planet today believe in something beyond which we can see, feel, and grasp with our own hands. Whether its found in direct communication with your God through religion, the spirit that moves through all things in nature, the spark that creates your art, the eyes of a child, in your dance, your walk, your talk. For the skeptics and the atheists, isn't the breath evidence enough that there is a mystery to the power of life? 

Where do you feel most connected? What brings you joy? When and where do you get your best ideas, insights, inspiration?

We all have our own way in which we connect with God, or higher power.
A balanced crown chakra, is so connected with the bliss of consciousness and understands that we are all connected beyond the illusion, that judgement of others falls away. All paths begin and end at the source. So, the journey does not matter as much as how much you are dedicated and devoted to awakening the power of consciousness.

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.