Time to Connect

A Time to Connect: Inside the Chakra System

Technically I have nothing to do these days. 

I don’t have a job, no kids or pets to care for, and I’ve been welcomed back to where and with whom I was raised. The Massage Industry and countless others are at a standstill due to the quiet and invisible virus penetrating our society. I’m proud most of us can agree physical distancing is the right thing to do, no matter how much it hurts our economy and livelihoods. 

So I am stepping back in review, as I am grateful beyond measure to have relative safety and security. In order to move on swiftly and efficiently towards my goals when work is available, and social commitments will be oh so welcome, I’d like to make space and tune up while I have the time. Strengthening my immune system with healthy practices (integral to this series) is my first line of defense. Since the pandemic, the human world is in survival mode. Perhaps… caused by the earth being in survival mode for the past few decades. Over time, our bodies have replaced fears of: the fire burning out, and guarding our food from predators…with new threats to survival: losing our job, getting evicted, and getting sick. No one was prepared for the global cataclysm. Since at least February 2020, every one of our modern innate fears are being realized in rapid fire. No one should feel wrong for panicking!

In two days it will be four weeks since I began quarantining. I love reading, I love memes, and the backyard is still safe. So beside some early panic, a regular stream of sadness, and some light self-loathing for scrolling to oblivion some days, I’ve been pretty darn content. Keeping myself busy with exercise, yoga, guided meditations, Netflix, and books. But still, I am plagued by a pinching need to “do something”. Normally I would accept more jobs, or travel to someplace I haven’t been, to soothe these feelings. Both are out of the question now. Instead, I’m going to dive into a subject I’ve been wanting to find time to study for the past 4 years. I will travel within my body and soul, exploring a topic which truly addresses so much of what is going on today, THE CHAKRAS. For those of you who need one, pull on your “woo-woo” hoodie and settle in if you like, as I share my findings and examine a well-versed topic that has been around since chisel met stone!

“More than just an assemblage of energy centers located in the body, the chakras reveal a profound mapping of universal principles, intricately nested within each other as progressively transcendent planes of reality.”

If you are skeptical about anything I’m writing, make it here for the Yoga. All a Massage Therapist wants for each human is a body they are at ease in. Yoga is an amazing practice for so many reasons, but the most important reason is for you to serve your mind/body connection, a break from it serving you. Each day presents a new flow by a different guide, all under 30 minutes.

Background

This is the first post in an 8-part series. Hang in there with me, as I promise this will be the opposite of your standard school course; where you feel hope and promise at the first day of class, which slowly dwindles. The most ‘boring’ lecture is the first, and the rest will be engaging! My purpose in this series is to intertwine concepts with activity, stimulating your chakras without having to search for anything that is not already in your body.

To understand a complex system, we will look at the ancient context, and usage, to understand its origin… before we can update the model to use in modern contexts. Chakra System comes into present form from Tantric Teachings which are innately “world-embracing” rather than “world-denying”.

I am interested in this philosophy because the various ways “connection” presents itself to me is when I feel the most whole and exquisitely “well”. 

• The origin of yoga and chakras dates back to reference in a series of hymns – the oldest written tradition in India, the “Vedas” meaning “knowledge”. Written in sanskrit, the Vedas are sacred texts of Hinduism.
• The Vedas date back to 1700-1000BC (dates vary in many sources) believed to be passed down from an Indo-European tribe, the Aryan (believed to be nomads migrating, but a large migration was seen as an invasion by some).
• Yoga: written as “yoke” in the Vedas. A system of philosophy and practice tying the mortal self to its divine nature of pure consciousness. Teaches us that liberation is possible by uniting the universe of opposites within ourselves.
• Chakra: written as “cakra” in the Vedas. Meaning “the wheel”, denotes the eternal circle of time/life “kalacakra”. The wheel, a building block of nature, represents celestial order and balance that flows through everything in existence. These spinning wheels, chakras, are intersections of vital life forces. Therefore, a chakra is known as an “energy vortex”.

“When an action or a thing, once complete, becomes beneficial in several matters to one person, or to many people, that is known as Tantra.” ~ Sabara, 6th Cent. A.D.

• Tantric Philosophies arose in 600-700AD in reaction to the dualistic philosophies predating it – meaning they rejected the belief there is only polar opposites
  • Good or Evil
  • Masculine or Feminine
  • Heaven or Earth
  • Mind or Body
  • Spirit or Matter
• Tantra means “Loom”, “weaving of disparate threads into a tapestry of wholeness”.
  • The chakras emerge more profoundly in tantric teachings, as “wheels” are embodiment of – many parts creating a whole. 
  • Tantric philosophy weaves “spirit and matter” together as a whole, into a single philosophy of many philosophical origins. This “whole” moves along its own inner circle of evolution – the “wheel”.
  • Tantra started forming as people grew tired of the old systems that were not longer working. I think we can see a lot of this present in 2020; tides are turning, but not towards destruction, towards unity we hope.
  • “Tantra emphasizes personal experimentation and experience as a way to move forward on the path to self-realization” YJ
  • Simply… Tantra integrates universal forces

*The Western World hears “tantra” as a sexual tradition. Tantra simply holds sexuality as sacred, the body is a sacred “temple of consciousness”. Sex can be an expression of universal integration.

Chakra System

comes from

Tantric Traditions

Weaving   Polarities

Spirit + Matter

Mind + Body

Masculine + Feminine

As a society there is plenty of evidence that we are embracing models of integration and wholeness. The Global Wellness Industry is valued at $4.5 Trillion and growing. It is generally accepted that the repression of natural forces creates bad side effects. We must be active in the care of our body and spirits if we want to be happy and well; liberating from suffering.

Ignoring the body creates illness

Devaluing the earth creates ecological crisis

Repression of sex or love can create anger and crime

Okay, now let’s get into the Chakras System itself ! There is much to say about each one so I will have a new post for each Chakra.

Chakras exist in the subtle body. What is the subtle body? 

• “Non-physical” – the subtle body is measured as electromagnetic force fields within all living creatures. Our physical body vibrates at a rate which we can see, whereas our inner energy fields vibrate much higher and are responsible for how we feel our emotions and thoughts – things we are aware of but cannot see. 
• Our energetic layers make up the subtle body. The vibrations create an interconnected field of energy inside as well as around the physical body that is commonly known as the auric field. Each subtle body connects into the physical body via an energy point or chakra, which directs the energy into the physical body via the meridian system.

How the Chakras Work

• The chakras are located near the 7 major nerve ganglia emanating from the spinal column
  • Chakras are not the same as any part of the body, as they are part of the energetic body, but there is an effect on the body which can occasionally affect shape and behavior of physical body
  • Some texts describe more than 7 or fewer than 7 chakras. A chakra is a vortex of energy in the body so there is really no limit to how many there can be, however the 7 master chakras logically map our physical body so 7 is most common to see.
• Just because there are “lower” and “higher” chakras does NOT correlate to a hierarchical system. Every chakra is equally important, and all must be open and balanced for a healthy system. When working on chakra alignment, always start at the first chakra, do not start at the one you think you want to work on.
• To work on chakras is to heal ourselves of old constricting patterns lodged in body, mind, and behavior
  • Each chakra (wheel, vortex) is a point of intersection where mind and body meet- where the dimensions of ourselves influence each side. It is completely normal and expected for us to hold onto painful things we hear, and these dense energies do not easily pass through the vortex.
• As chakras spin, this attracts or repels activity on that “plane”(vibrational level)
  • Anything on the same vibrational level is drawn into the chakra, processed, and passed out again
  • Processing is the reception of the energy, assimilation of the information, and transmission of the vital life energy on its path
    • This could be a creative thought that starts making its way to the canvas
    • This could be your response to someone yelling at you
      • Each of these acts are done at a different energetic frequency, and likely processed at different chakras, but processed physically the same like a “whirlpool”

The  7 Chakras are suspended along the vertical column called Sushumna the “super highway” of energy travel

Nadis are alternate channels – like meridians – there are over 72,000 in the body – all springing from these three main channels in the image. Ida and Pingala represent the inante duality of creation – male and female – but also represent other qualities like logic and intuition. So while we have the far right and the far left, there is a world of variations between there that make up who we are individually, and they intertwine.

• Anodea Judith asks us to imagine the chakras as the programming on a harddrive 
  • Sushumna and chakras send energy out from the core (our inante energies of self), and the chakras process the outside energy coming into the core. There are constant streams of energy going opposite directions, merging on the same frequency – into this vortex where the chakras listen to that information. 
    • As we age, it makes sense to work on our harddrives and clean out dysfunctional, outdated, or negative programming!
• Content of our chakras is formed largely by the repeated patterns of our life
  • What we generate determines much of what we receive
    • For example someone who spends most of their paycheck and fails to save, will be trapped in a low economic spiral as incidents occur that keeps them there – a car breakdown or a health issue.
    • We can get stuck in a chakra – either by underdevelopment or overemphasis of a chakra
    • Chakras can be open, or closed, excessive or deficient, or any state in between
      • Closed Chakra: avoidance of certain energies
      • Excessively Open: chronic fixation
      • Is there an effortless flow of energy or is it a subject of fear and anxiety?
      • As the mind and body are inseparable, so are the chakras
        • A malfunction in one effects them all

Alright! We have covered quite a few of the most important aspects of the greater spiritual connections: Tantra, Yoga, Nadis, Vedas, and the Subtle Body. There are 3 more things we must be conscious of to progress. The Hindu Mythology of the Universe, The Currents within Sushumna, and Kundalini. 

Who doesn’t love a little Mythology? There are MANY creation stories and many deities in Hinduism which I won’t speak to in this series, but are certainly worth looking into.

The Hindu Mythology of the Universe

• Shiva: Power Holder. Pure unmanifest consciousness. Formless deity, deep in meditation – separate from his manifestations
• Shakti: Power. The creation of Shiva’s manifestations. The mother of the universe. Inventor of “maya” – the substance of the manifested universe – are illusory projections of consciousness (art, magic, wisdom, and extraordinary power). She is the vital energy which gives power to the formation of life.
  • It is told that when “karma ripens” (actions coming into form by surprise), Shakti becomes desirous of the creations and covers herself with her own “maya”. Shrouding consciousness. 
  • Can you see how we may live in this veil of maya sometimes? Living for our material attachments.
  • Shakti produces the universe, but only with the “seed” of consciousness from Shiva
• Shiva and Shakti are attracted to each other, existing in an eternal embrace, unable to exist without the other.
  • Shakti pushes up from the earth – “the divine aspiration of the human soul” and Shiva descends from above, irresistibly attracted to divine grace and manifestation
  • Both Shiva and Shakti reside in each of us. We practice to join their forces, to bring enlightenment from the veil of maya – realizing our consciousness under the illusion.
• Here is the important part for our Chakra System practice:
  • Shiva and Shakti represent our inner two currents of energy through the chakras. Downward and Upward – sending/receiving to the ground and to the sky, existing as a dynamic energetic being in the middle.

Lastly, a brief note on Kundalini

Kundalini is divine energy which lies coils at the base of the spine (often viewed as a serpent). This is the life energy created in the womb. Kundalini yoga is an ancient discipline designed to arouse the Kundalini-Shakti force and raise it up the spine to unite with her Shiva counterpart, divine consciousness, and the result is enlightenment or bliss.

• There is some evidence that Kundalini experience sets up a wave like movement in the cerebrospinal fluid which triggers the pleasure center of the brain
• Very important to know the rising of Kundalini can also ignite deep unpleasantness, unsettling vibrations, profound depression, or fear “as you look at your life through the eyes of the serpent goddess”
• To be practiced with extreme care with a knowledgeable guide
• Kundalini is a healing force, though not always gentle
• This experience of raising Kundalini is not what we will practice here, as it is a more forceful style of awakening best done under guidance from a spiritual teacher or experienced therapist. We can raise energy from root to crown naturally and with ease by our practice of relaxing deeply and paying attention to each chakra.

Now we are ready to dive into the individual chakras, and examine how to get in touch with the energies inside. I hope this post has given a foundation and the language to continue. The concepts covered here will show up in the rest of the series.

The methods I will utilize in this series are based in CAM (complementary alternative medicine) which all have proven track records and research compiled on why such things are useful for healing. Their strength is the ability to aid the functioning of your natural immune system. I will include yoga, meditation, and videos in each session to name a few. Each activity is meant to be done consecutively, as we truly are trying to raise our energy and clear out blockages – if we take a 5 hour break in between, it lessens the strength of the energy. Ultimately, do what you feel is right and of course don’t drop your commitments for this. In my opinion this series is best done first thing in the morning or before bed, not on a full stomach but enough to have energy. Each post will take between 1-2 hours. All you need is a mat, notebook, and water to drink. This blog is also best read on a computer or iPad – phone is a bit too small.

Today I want to leave you with a TedTalk. And surprisingly, it is the only one I will use in this series. I am obsessed with the insights and diversity of the TED Talk platform, BUT I wanted to challenge myself to find other outlets of communication. I like this talk by Tom Chi because his message holds several clues about how this Chakra Series will unfold, but putting it in a wider perspective; both scientific and historical. I also appreciate that he may not be the most gifted presenter, but he put himself out of his comfort zone to share well-informed research he found through activating his personal gifts throughout his life. That there, is the essence of a personal tantric journey.

In the following posts I will share information on each chakra, a meditation, self-massage, affirmations, music, activities, a yoga session, and more on how to improve the health of each chakra…a smashing of tantric energy you could say! By improving our connection to ourselves, we hope to feel greater energy alignment, and have healthy bodies and minds, leading to a more powerful connection of who we are in this great big world. We will be feeling stronger and more aware of our body, mind, and spirit as we integrate connections and open our senses, desires, and truths. As always, do your own research, I truly apologize for any mistakes in here, please alert me so I can make changes 🙂

Come back tomorrow with curiosity. Enjoy your own journey!

With Health and Happiness we go,

Kaitlin

4/10/2020

Resources:

https://www.yogajournal.com/yoga-101/tantra-rising

Wheels of Life, Anodea Judith