We made it to the top! We've reached the seventh chakra - Sahasrara (or Crown chakra). This chakra is located at the top of the head and it connects us to our higher consciousness. When off balance there may be depression, inability to learn, rigid thoughts, confusion and fear of alienation. When in balance we live in the now with a strong trust in our inner guidance. Physically the Sahasrara is associated with the central nervous system and the brain, and also the pituitary gland and pineal gland which orchestrates all the endocrine glands in the body in their secretion of hormones.
The seed mantra for Sahasrara chakra is Om, and the colour is violet or sometimes white. Meditation is the most helpful way to balance this chakra (scroll down for a really good article and 2 short videos that might help you with your meditation practice).
The affirmation for the crown chakra is:
I am connected to the wisdom of the Universe. I seek experiences that nourish my spirit. I am grateful for the good things in my life. I am open to letting go of my attachments. I live in the present moment.
Your questions answered....Have you ever wondered why, when we've finished our lovely relaxing Savasana, we always roll to the right side? Well, here's why it is nearly always practiced this way - the physical reason and the energetic reason:
The heart is slightly to the left side of the chest cavity so, when we roll to the right, it remains on top, therefore experiencing a little less pressure. Pausing here allows the blood pressure to readjust and we then push up to sitting slowly so we don't get dizzy.
However, if someone does experience dizziness due to low blood pressure when coming up from Savasana they might need to turn to the left side instead, as their venous return might not be enough and that would therefore make them feel dizzy. Turning to the left would increase the blood flow from the vena cava (on the right side of the heart) into the right atrium and prevent dizziness. (I had a little help from my well-thumbed copy of Anatomy of Hatha Yoga by H. David Coulter here.)
It is also recommended that pregnant women lie on their left side as the liver is on the right side of the abdomen, and lying on the left side helps prevent the uterus pressing on this organ. It also allows for the best blood flow to the fetus, uterus, and kidneys.
The energetic reason is concerned with the Nadis. According to yogic philosophy there are 72,000 of these channels or pathways of energy that run through the body. The primary nadi runs up the spine and is called the Sushumna. Either side of this central channel are the Ida nadi on the left and Pingala nadi on the right. The Pingala is related to the the active, solar, masculine right side of the brain and body and the Ida is related to the passive, lunar, feminine left side. When we roll to the right, the left nostril remains uppermost and open so the energy flows freely through the Ida nadi, encouraging the quiet, passivej, relaxed energy to remain with us after Savasana.
These are the reasons we roll to the right after Savasana but they are both very subtle and nothing bad will happen to you if you roll to and lie on the other side! In yoga we tend to honour the traditions and the way it has been taught for so many years because to change it and do it "our way" starts to dilute it and make it feel a little more casual. The discipline and rituals of yoga help us find a deeper sense of meaning in our practice and our life and, when we honour the traditional way of practice, (like human beings in every culture have for centuries) we connect to something much deeper than ourselves.
I have a third reason too - everyone rolling the same way meaning less bumping into each other and disturbance of that lovely feeling after Savasana :-)
Here's an article which might help you with your meditation practice:
A Simple Trick That Makes Meditation Much, Much Easier
by James Brown via Mindbodygreen
Imagine your mind is like a glass of Coke (stay with me here). There's the foamy head with all those millions of bubbles—analogous to the surface of the mind. It's that frothy layer of useless, distracted thinking where we're trying to pay attention to too many things and doing a bad job in the process.
Settle just below that foamy head and the difference is striking. The foam has become dark, brown liquid. But guess what? There are still lots and lots of bubbles. Settle a little deeper in the glass and you still have lots of bubbles but they start to become fewer and bigger. Settle deeper and you find still fewer and bigger bubbles. And when you get all the way to the bottom of the glass, you find those big, fat, juicy bubbles as they begin to coalesce and rise up from the bottom. There are bubbles all the way down.
And so it is with your mind. There are thoughts all the way down. Because as it turns out, your mind is for thinking thoughts. That is the nature of the mind. Vedic meditation, the practice I teach, is not the process for running around on the surface of the mind trying to pop all the bubbles.
We sit, close our eyes, and begin to think our mantra, and the mind begins to settle beneath of the frothy surface. We quickly get to a place where we can actually witness how many thoughts we have. (When you're lost in the froth, you can't even do that!) Then we come back to the mantra and settle a bit more. And so on. Sometimes we can settle so far that we get beyond the mind itself to touch that space between or beneath the thoughts. We transcend the mind itself.
But we never reach that space in consciousness simply because we tried to (in the same way that we don’t become the best listeners by trying to listen so hard our ears fall off). We get there because we allow it to happen. And we find that when we simply open ourselves up to whatever is happening in meditation—without wishing we had fewer thoughts, without worrying that we're not doing it right—we settle much faster. It's an easy, effortless practice. And the only thing we need to do to be doing it "right" is to do as little as possible.
It’s a much easier way to meditate. And it works better too.
The seed mantra for Sahasrara chakra is Om, and the colour is violet or sometimes white. Meditation is the most helpful way to balance this chakra (scroll down for a really good article and 2 short videos that might help you with your meditation practice).
The affirmation for the crown chakra is:
I am connected to the wisdom of the Universe. I seek experiences that nourish my spirit. I am grateful for the good things in my life. I am open to letting go of my attachments. I live in the present moment.
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| The crown chakra is depicted by a 1,000 petalled lotus flower opening up to receive enlightenment |
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| The essence of each chakra |
Your questions answered....Have you ever wondered why, when we've finished our lovely relaxing Savasana, we always roll to the right side? Well, here's why it is nearly always practiced this way - the physical reason and the energetic reason:
The heart is slightly to the left side of the chest cavity so, when we roll to the right, it remains on top, therefore experiencing a little less pressure. Pausing here allows the blood pressure to readjust and we then push up to sitting slowly so we don't get dizzy.
However, if someone does experience dizziness due to low blood pressure when coming up from Savasana they might need to turn to the left side instead, as their venous return might not be enough and that would therefore make them feel dizzy. Turning to the left would increase the blood flow from the vena cava (on the right side of the heart) into the right atrium and prevent dizziness. (I had a little help from my well-thumbed copy of Anatomy of Hatha Yoga by H. David Coulter here.)
It is also recommended that pregnant women lie on their left side as the liver is on the right side of the abdomen, and lying on the left side helps prevent the uterus pressing on this organ. It also allows for the best blood flow to the fetus, uterus, and kidneys.
The energetic reason is concerned with the Nadis. According to yogic philosophy there are 72,000 of these channels or pathways of energy that run through the body. The primary nadi runs up the spine and is called the Sushumna. Either side of this central channel are the Ida nadi on the left and Pingala nadi on the right. The Pingala is related to the the active, solar, masculine right side of the brain and body and the Ida is related to the passive, lunar, feminine left side. When we roll to the right, the left nostril remains uppermost and open so the energy flows freely through the Ida nadi, encouraging the quiet, passivej, relaxed energy to remain with us after Savasana.
These are the reasons we roll to the right after Savasana but they are both very subtle and nothing bad will happen to you if you roll to and lie on the other side! In yoga we tend to honour the traditions and the way it has been taught for so many years because to change it and do it "our way" starts to dilute it and make it feel a little more casual. The discipline and rituals of yoga help us find a deeper sense of meaning in our practice and our life and, when we honour the traditional way of practice, (like human beings in every culture have for centuries) we connect to something much deeper than ourselves.
I have a third reason too - everyone rolling the same way meaning less bumping into each other and disturbance of that lovely feeling after Savasana :-)
Here's an article which might help you with your meditation practice:
A Simple Trick That Makes Meditation Much, Much Easier
by James Brown via Mindbodygreen
Imagine your mind is like a glass of Coke (stay with me here). There's the foamy head with all those millions of bubbles—analogous to the surface of the mind. It's that frothy layer of useless, distracted thinking where we're trying to pay attention to too many things and doing a bad job in the process.
Settle just below that foamy head and the difference is striking. The foam has become dark, brown liquid. But guess what? There are still lots and lots of bubbles. Settle a little deeper in the glass and you still have lots of bubbles but they start to become fewer and bigger. Settle deeper and you find still fewer and bigger bubbles. And when you get all the way to the bottom of the glass, you find those big, fat, juicy bubbles as they begin to coalesce and rise up from the bottom. There are bubbles all the way down.
And so it is with your mind. There are thoughts all the way down. Because as it turns out, your mind is for thinking thoughts. That is the nature of the mind. Vedic meditation, the practice I teach, is not the process for running around on the surface of the mind trying to pop all the bubbles.
We sit, close our eyes, and begin to think our mantra, and the mind begins to settle beneath of the frothy surface. We quickly get to a place where we can actually witness how many thoughts we have. (When you're lost in the froth, you can't even do that!) Then we come back to the mantra and settle a bit more. And so on. Sometimes we can settle so far that we get beyond the mind itself to touch that space between or beneath the thoughts. We transcend the mind itself.
But we never reach that space in consciousness simply because we tried to (in the same way that we don’t become the best listeners by trying to listen so hard our ears fall off). We get there because we allow it to happen. And we find that when we simply open ourselves up to whatever is happening in meditation—without wishing we had fewer thoughts, without worrying that we're not doing it right—we settle much faster. It's an easy, effortless practice. And the only thing we need to do to be doing it "right" is to do as little as possible.
It’s a much easier way to meditate. And it works better too.
This week's recipe...is my current favourite green smoothie recipe. This is lovely and creamy and almost like a dessert. Nice to think that something so tasty is so good for me...
Smoothies are good medicine - they are an easy way to get your vitamins and minerals and, unlike juices, the provide you with lots of fibre too.
I have a super-duper blender called a Nutribullet which whizzes everything up really quickly but an ordinary blender will do the job almost as well - just keep blending until you're happy with the consistency. The smoothie might be a little more fibrous but it's nutritional benefits will be just as good.
You will need:
A large handful of spinach
A quarter of a cucumber
Half an avocado
A ripe banana
A ripe pear
An apple
One cup of liquid - I used Coconut milk but you could use water.
(You can add little extras to make your smoothie even more nutritious - I add a teaspoonful of wheatgrass powder which is full of vitamins, minerals, enzymes and chlorophyll.)
This week in the garden.... as part of my 'create space' theme for the new half-term I'm carrying on with the weeding and dividing and, bit by bit, it is all starting to look a bit clearer. However, it's been a busy week with the new term of classes and I haven't had as much time to spend out there as I would have liked.... ah well, there's always next week ....
Smoothies are good medicine - they are an easy way to get your vitamins and minerals and, unlike juices, the provide you with lots of fibre too.
I have a super-duper blender called a Nutribullet which whizzes everything up really quickly but an ordinary blender will do the job almost as well - just keep blending until you're happy with the consistency. The smoothie might be a little more fibrous but it's nutritional benefits will be just as good.
You will need:
A large handful of spinach
A quarter of a cucumber
Half an avocado
A ripe banana
A ripe pear
An apple
One cup of liquid - I used Coconut milk but you could use water.
(You can add little extras to make your smoothie even more nutritious - I add a teaspoonful of wheatgrass powder which is full of vitamins, minerals, enzymes and chlorophyll.)
Here's how to do it:
First, blend the spinach with the liquid.
Then add the other fruits and veggies and blend again.
Add more liquid to thin it if necessary
Drink your medicine.
Here's a helpful guide from www.simplegreensmoothies.com. Their website is full of tips and recipes - everything you need to make great smoothies.
This week in the garden.... as part of my 'create space' theme for the new half-term I'm carrying on with the weeding and dividing and, bit by bit, it is all starting to look a bit clearer. However, it's been a busy week with the new term of classes and I haven't had as much time to spend out there as I would have liked.... ah well, there's always next week ....
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| First pick of the year - forsythia and alkanet |
This week's music offering.... I didn't play any music in most of my classes this week as part of my 'create space' theme for the new half term so there's not much to choose from. However, I did play this in Savasana during one class so ..... this is Home by Drala. Enjoy.
And finally, two short animations about mindfulness and meditation .... Namaste and thanks for reading.
The information about the chakras and the meditation given in this blog was really amazing. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeletewith regards
Reiki India