Yoga for Chakra Balancing by Ula Moleda There are seven major power center in our body called Chakras. Chakras is a Sanskrit word which means 'wheel or disc'. Each of those centers correlates to our endocrine system which mediates the intimate relationship of body and mind - emotions such as love or hate, anger, rage or grief reflect hormonal activity. A severe shock or tragedy upsets the whole system and can cause illness. In addition the chakras also correlate to levels of consciousness, archetypal elements, colors, sounds, developmental stages of life, planets and much more. The state of each chakra reflects the health of certain area of our body - our psychological, emotional, physical and spiritual well-being. There are some people who compare chakras in our body to database in the computer. That actually might give you even better picture - imagine that every event, thought, experience you had (have and will have) is filtered through these chakra databases, and stored into your cells. Just imagine all that stuff being stored in you - all negative and positive thoughts you feed yourself every second, people you surround yourself with, the projection of your experiences, your life, your dreams. How ''Your computer'' look like? How does it feel? There are so many different therapies which are shown to balance, energize, heal and profoundly affect our state of mind and health. The knowledge of chakras, what they represent and how we can help to sustain the healthy flow of energy in them will help you to choose the right therapy for yourself. Chakra healing maintains the natural balance of the body and the flow of life energy. It helps us also to understand the creative energy brought by each chakra into our lives, the imbalances and areas which needs to be healed or/and improved. Listen to your heart and feel which therapy/practice might be good for you. There are so many of them today that it might be very confusing for you to which to chose. Trust yourself and experience few of them - the answer will come. Your body will tell you whether this is right for you. I would like to share with you few Hatha yoga postures here which might be very helpful for the chakra healing. I believe that everyone can practice simple yoga asanas. I started to study yoga from books in my own home in a small village in Poland. Not many knew about yoga that time, certainly not many in my little world. You might start with simple postures (asanas) in your home which will help you to keep flexible body, present mind, and joyful soul. I will show you few postures for each chakra and the benefit of practicing them. When you practice those certain asanas please keep your mind fully present with what your body is doing - become one and whole. I would like to add one more thing - yoga is not only asanas and body work. Yoga is a complete science of life that originated in India many thousands of years ago. It's the oldest known system of personal development connecting body, mind and spirit. At first it might look like those exercises are only physical postures, which keeps the body flexible. However, while practicing them for a while you will become aware of a subtle changes in your approach to life, of your inner peace and joy. Holding a posture ensures that the nadis (energy channels), the chakras, the muscles all work to bring specific functions of the system into balance. However, to find more about yoga and how to do the asanas please use variety of great yoga books or find a yoga class near by you. Remember to breath! Remember also to enjoy those postures. Keep a smile on your face and let the energy flow through your body. Have some fun! The are four main paths of yoga - Karma Yoga which is yoga of action. It purifies the hart by teaching people to act selflessly and detaching from the fruits of actions; Bhakti Yoga is the path of devotion. Through prayer, chanting, singing, worship and ritual people give themselves to God by transmuting the emotions into unconditional love and devotion; Jnana Yoga is the path of knowledge and wisdom which requires a great strength of will and intellect. It leads to experience the unity with God directly by dissolving the veils of ignorance; usually used in connection with other paths; Raja Yoga is the path of science of physical and mental control. It gives us methods for controlling the waves of thoughts by turning our mental and physical energy into spiritual energy. There are 5 Principles: * Proper Relaxation, * Proper Exercise (asanas and you might find different names for asanas in different yoga school), * Proper Breathing (pranayama), * A Proper Diet, * Positive Thinking and Mediation 'The ancient yogis perceived the physical body as a vehicle, with the mind as the driver, the soul man's true identity, and action, emotion and intelligence as the three forces which pull the body-vehicle. In order for there to be integrated development these three forces must be in balance. Taking into account the interrelationship between body and mind, they formulated a unique method for maintaining this balance - a method that combines all the movements you need for physical health with the breathing and meditation techniques that ensure peace of mind'' - from The Sivananda Companion to Yoga, The Sivananda Yoga Center CHAKRA ONE - ROOT CHAKRA Sanskrit name - Muladhara (Root support) Location - Base of spine, perineum Endocrine gland - Adrenals Element - Earth Color - Red Lesson - Lessons related to the material world If you have issues with: family, home, work, finances, security, nourishment, trust, feeling of 'belonging' to your family, place even planet, grounding or physically with: adrenals, legs, feet, chronic lower back pain, sciatica, rectal tumors/cancer, depression, immune system - -you might want to do some work for your first root chakra remembering that even thought you do work specially on the first chakra you need to treat chakra system as a whole. Yoga Postures/Asanas 1- Standing Posture This yoga posture stabilizes the base/root chakra. Great grounding posture. Stand with your feet apart (1-2 feet). You can do now couple of things - A - if you feel the root chakra excessive you would focus more now on letting go and allow unwanted energies such as stress, pain, patterns from the past, unwanted habits etc. drain down through whole your body to your legs, feet and out of your body. Breath in positive energy and breath out unwanted ones. B - if you feel the root chakra deficient you would focus now on felling yourself with needed/wanted energies. Breath in and draw that wanted - positive - vital - earth energy up through your roots into your body. Just like a tree is drawing the nourishment from the earth imagine yourself doing the same. 2- Knee to chest pose - Apanasana Lie down on your back which is a very grounding by itself. When you lie down you let the earth to hold you completely up. It's very nurturing posture for your base chakra. However, if you have certain lower back injures you might not want to do this posture. If you feel discomfort, stop. Bring your knee to your chest very slowly. Nurture yourself. Breath in - bring your knees to upper shins. Breath out - imagine your tailbone moving toward the floor releasing unwanted energy. Slowly move back and forth feeling the shift in weight in your lower back. 3- Chair pose - Utkatasana Great balancing, stabilizing, grounding posture. Nourish yourself with the earth energy while doing it. From standing upright with your feel parallel to each other gently press your feet down into the earth, allow your body feel the gravity and slowly bend your knees and tightening your thighs. Raise your hands in front of your body and find a comfortable position you can hold for about 10 second. Breath slowly. CHAKRA TWO - SACRAL CHAKRA Sanskrit name - Svadhisthana (one's own place) Location - Sacral area, genitals, hips, low back Endocrine glands - Ovaries, testicles Element - Water Color - Orange Lesson - Lessons related to sexuality, work and physical desire If you have issues with: Sexuality, identity, power & control, money, creativity, respect in relationship, blame, guilt Or physically with: Sexual potency, urinary problems, chronic back pain, sciatica, ovaries, testicles, large intestine, bladder, hip area - you might want to do some work for your second sacral chakra remembering that each chakra shall be treated individually as well as a whole system. That's one of the divine paradoxes. Yoga Postures/Asanas 1 - Butterfly - Bhadrasana This posture encourages energy flow in the sacral chakra. With straight spine, the energy flows smoothly in your body. The postures makes ankles, knees and hips more flexible and nourishes the nerves of the legs. Sit with straight spine and soles of your feet together, heels close to the body. Clasp your feet with your hands and move your knees gently up and down which will promote relaxation and release. Moving your knees quickly will bring energy into the second chakra. If you feel discomfort, use pillows on each side under your knees. This is also a great preparation for Lotus Pose. Let your lower part of body relax and become more flexible. Enjoy. 2- The Bow - Dhanurasana This posture straighten your back muscles, maintains the elasticity of your spine, increasing flow of energy in your body, reduces abdominal body fat, keeps the digestive and reproductive system healthy and balanced. Lie down on your front, head down. Breath in - bend your knees up and reach back with your hands and hold your ankles.