CHAKRAS

Ok, here goes.  We are going to take this short month of February to explore the chakras online and in person during our classes. It is a rather large volume of information and often overlooked in teaching yoga classes.  We hope this helps you to delve deeper into your practice and start to not only feel stronger and flexible in your physical body but start to understand how the practice is affecting your whole being including your mental, emotional and spiritual energetic bodies.

Let’s begin by saying we are shifting from the more concrete, physical body to the very subtle energy body, from what we can more clearly see and feel (skin, bone, muscle, organs) to the ethereal realm of sensing and intuiting (flow or stagnation of energy, sensations of emotions.)  Just as blood and neurological signals flow through a very intricate pattern of vessels and organs throughout the body, so does our life force.  Our physical and energetic bodies are entwined and are inclusive of each other.  The elements that are part of how our physical body functions are dependent on the well-being of our life force flow.  In yoga we call this energy prana.

The channels of our Pranic flow are similar to our physical channels.  We have a central channel called the Sushumna that runs like the spinal cord up and down our spinal area, with Ida and Pingala weaving around the Sushumna creating vortexes called Chakras (wheels), as well as the Nadis that bring energy to the outer regions of the body.  The way energy moves through these channels helps develop flows of manifestation, liberation, reception, and expression. 

Chakras are like wheels or disks and are the centers of activity for the reception, assimilation, and transmission of life energy.  They are the point of intersection where consciousness and body meet.  They have the capacity to function by opening and closing in a balanced rhythm when vital and can become stuck in one of those patterns when off kilter.  Think of them as spinning vortex that attract and repel consciousness through our programming. 

There are 7 major chakras as well as minor ones and they are in constant interplay with one another.  The first 3 chakras are found from pelvic floor to below the heart and are considered to be more earthly in their nature. The top 3 chakras (throat to crown of head) are related to spiritual energy, while the heart chakra is the switching point from earth to the heavens.  Each chakra has qualities related to the elements, color, and ways of being that inspire us in our mental, emotional, physical and spiritual bodies’ functions and disfunctions.

We will explore each of the major chakras this month by learning (mental), movement (physical and emotional) and meditating (spiritual) focused on one at a time and then grouping them together.  Remember they are always in play with one another.

(If you want to read more about Chakras I suggest the book THE WHEELS OF LIFE by Judith, Anodea)