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Color: Red Verb: I have Attributes: Survival, grounding, solidity, the body The first chakra is found at the base of the spine, the point you are sitting on right now. Its name, Muladhara, means "root," and the paths of energy in this chakra extend downward like a root through the legs and feet to contact the solid Earth below. Its color is deep red, and its symbol is a lotus of four petals within which is a downward-pointing triangle, symbolizing the root energy. A simple way to energize this chakra is to sit up straight in your chair with your feet flat against the floor and puch slightly into your feet. Your legs will tighten a bit and there will be an increased flow into your base chakra. As you relax your legs and feet, you will feel the flow recede, and as you tighten them, you can feel your body become more solid. The Muladhara chakra is the foundation for the whole chakra system. Its function is to respond to any issues concerning survival: eating, sleeping, exercising, recovering from illness, making a living, or simply feeling safe and secure. If our survival needs are properly taken care of, then we can safely focus on other levels, such as learning, creativity, or relationships. If there is some damage to the chakra, then we find ourselves repeatedly coping with threats to our survival, which keeps us from accomplishing other things. These are all issues that occur occasionally in the normal course of one's life. Anytime they occur, they trigger our first chakra programming. It is only when such issues become a frequent pattern that a first chakra problem is indicated. Survival consciousness is the primary state of the infant, and if this phase of life is properly taken care of, it should not be a recurrent issue later in life. Children who are abandoned, separated fromtheir mothers at birth (such as incubator babies), physically abused, or suffering from severe childhood illnesses will be more likely to have first chakra problems throughout their lives. The results can be the situational problems mentioned above, as well as psychological problems having to do with lack of focus or discipline, dependency on others, (unable to stand on one's own two feet), possible eating disorders, feeling vague and "spacy," and a general inability to "let down and relax." These are all signs that the first chakra is blocked in some way, generally indicating that the chakra does not open properly and allow the enrgy to flow through freely. If, on the other hand, the chakra is too open, then we become overly attached at this level. We may be obsessed with money and possessions or our health, unable to allow change or to let go, and as a result we get stuck in the same routines, same old job, same old patterns. When the chakra is closed, we lack stability. When it is too open, we are frozen solid. The ideal state would be to have stability and flexibility in balance. The element associated with the first chakra is Earth. Earth is solid, Earth is heavy, Earth is below us, and Earth supplies us with our survival needs: food, clothing and shelter. The universal force that flows downward, like roots, toward the Earth is gravity. Gravity is created by mass - the more mass something has, the stronger the gravity. The force of gravity allows us to stay connected with the Earth. We need not do anything but relax, and gravity is there. When we allow ourselves to flow gracefully with gravity, we are in harmony with the downward flow of the first chakra. The common term for this flow as it occurs in the human body is grounding. Grounding is a process of dynamic contact with the Earth that occurs through our legs and feet. When grounding is done appropriately, our whole body is nourished and energized. Grounding is the building of a foundation. Without a good foundation, nothing that follows will be as durable. Grounding puts us in touch with our bodies. Uncovering the truths buried within our bodies brings us to a solid connection with our ground, manifesting in greater health, prosperity, and well-being. Eating is a basic first chakra survival activity. Without food, we do not survive very long. Eating disorders often indicate first chakra imbalance. Eating is a grounding activity - it helps bring us down, helps us to feel settled, calm, secure. Excess weight can be an attempt to ground out high stress, to protect the body, or to replace proper grounding techniques. Eating too little or being chronically underweight can be an attempt to avoid grounding and physicality because it seems too frightening or confining. |
Color: Orange Verb: I feel, I want Attributes: Polarity, movement, sexuality, pleasure, emotion As we enter the second chakra, we encounter change. Our singleness becomes duality; our point becomes a line; the solid, a liquid; stillness becomes movement. We have gained a degree of freedom. Through change we create and discover difference. Difference, at its extremes, creates polarities. Polarities create attraction and movement, Movement is essential and characteristic of all life. The second chakra is in the lower abdomen, centered between the naval and the genitals. It corresponds to the sacral vertebrae and the nerve ganglion called the sacral plexus. This plexus hooks into the sciatic nerve and is a center of motion for the body. It is often called the "seat of life." Its element is water. Therefore, the chakra corresponds with bodily functions having to do with liquid: circulation, urinary elimination, sexuality and reproduction. Classically, this chakra is the center of sexuality, emotions, sensation, pleasure, movement, and nurturance. Like water, it is ruled by the moon, which influences the tides and our emotions. The Sanskrit name for the second chakra is Svadhisthana, which means "sweetness." This is an apt name for the sweetness of desire, pleasure, and sexuality associated with the life-giving water of Svadhisthana. Its color is orange, and its lotus contains a crescent Moon surrounded by six petals. The second chakra embodies the nature of "two" and runs polarity, instigating the movement in the body and psyche that begins the climbing process of coiled Kundalini as she rises through the chakras. Encountering "other" creates desire, and desire gets us to move, to reach out, to grow and change. All the chakras are connected by a nonphysical channel running straight up the spine called sushumna. Two alternate channels, ida and pingala, twist in figure eight like patterns around each chakra, crossing the sushumna. These channels are among thousands of psychic channels called nadis (from "nad," meaning "motion"). Ida and pingala represent the lunar and solar aspects, respectively. They are responsible for "charging" the chakras, causing them to spin. Our psychic sense at this level is experienced in the form of emotions. We may "feel" something wrong, but the information is not yet conscious. If the chakra is too open, there is a tendency to feel everyone else's emotions or to be overly ruled by one's own emotions with frequent and dramatic emotional episodes. If the chakra is closed down, then we are flat, dull, lifeless, dry. We are out of touch with our emotions, have very little desire or passion, and little or no interest in sexuality. The main aspect of the second chakra, however, is sexuality. Sexuality is a life force. It is the water that softens the hard Earth and readies it for change. It is a force too often denied or perverted, and being robbed of our pleasure, we are robbed of our power. When we lose our desire, we lose our will. Power and will are attributes of the next chakra, and pleasure and desire are their seed. Sexuality is the flower of that seed. Power and will are its fruits. |
| Color: Yellow Verb: I can Attributes: Power, will, energy, transformation This is our third chakra, a yellow lotus of ten petals, located at the solar plexus - the place where we get those butterfly feelings when we feel scare or powerless. Its element is fire - that radiates and transforms matter into energy, giving light and warmth. This chakra represents out "get up and go," our action, our will, our vitality, and our sense of personal power. Its name, Manipura, means "lotus gem." We can think of it as a yellow glowing sun, radiating through the center of our body. On the physical plane, the third chakra rules metabolism, the process whereby we turn food (matter) into energy and action. Digestion troubles, stomach troubles, hypoglycemia, diabetes, ulcers, or addictions to stimulants, such as caffeine, are all related to malfunctioning of the third chakra. Weight problems may also be an indication that the body is not properly turning its matter into energy. Examining your relationship to the properties of fire can give further clues to the nature of your third chakra. When the third chakra is closed down, one may feel tired, afraid, shaky, quiet, or withdrawn. There is a fear of taking risks, confronting people or issues, taking charge, and with all this, a lack of energy. There may be too much seriousness and not enough laughter, ease or fun, all of which help the third chakra open and relax. Pleasure, from the chakra below, helps make the fire warm and easy; without it, our fires are cold and hard. If the chakra is too open, then we have a kind of bully archetype - someone who also needs to be in control, to dominate, to seek after power, prestige, ambition. As the lower chakras in general are more ego-oriented, third chakra excess can make a person narcissistically self-centered. An appropriate concept for a healthy balance in this chakra is the archetype of the warrior - standing strong, staying in touch with feelings, confronting only when appropriate and quietly maintaining a sense of power. A healthy third chakra can take on a task and complete it, take on a risk and not be bound by perfectionism, or act in the role of leadership without domination or self-aggrandizement. In the second chakra we encountered desire. Desire is the fuel for the will, the passion within out body giving strength to decisions made by the mind.Fire is the spark of life that ignites will to action. Fire is the spark that lies between the poles, and the third chakra creates power by combining the polarity introduced by the second chakra, just as electricity is made by the combination of polarities. Having made yet another step toward consciousness, we now temper our desires and instincts with knowledge, making decisions that are then put into action, again combining the poles of mind and body. Power, then, is seen as an act of combination, of joining together parts to make a greater whole. When we embrace and combine all the parts within us - our bodies, our emotions, our visions, our knowledge - then we emerge whole and powerful. |
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The 12-petaled lotus symbol of the heart chakra contains within it two intersecting triangles forming a six-pointed star. These triangles represent the force of matter moving upward toward liberation and the force of spirit moving into manifestation. It is at this chakra that they are evenly combined, creating a center of peace and balance. Its seed sound is "yam" and its animal is an antelope, running free. The heart chakra is related to the element air and the quality of love. Air is formless, largely invisible, absolutely necessary, and the least dense of our first four elements. Air is expansive as it will expand to fit any space it is put into, yet it is soft and gentle. So, too, is love. Love is the expansion of the heart, the transcendence of boundaries, the interconnectedness of spirit. Love is balance, ease, softness, forgiveness. And love at the heart chakra is felt as a state of being, exisitng independently of any object or person, unlike the passion-oriented love of the second chakra. The Sanskrit name for this chakra is Anahata, which means "sound that is made without any two things striking." This describes a state where we are no longer fighting or confronting what we love but moving with it in graceful harmony. The fight of the third chakra gives way to graceful acceptance in the fourth. Because Anahata is related to the element air, it is accessible through the breath. The Hindus call the breath prana, which means "first unit," and they believe it contains the essence of all vitality and nourishment, being the point of commonality between the mental and physical worlds. If the heart chakra is closed down, the very core of us suffers. Our breathing is shallow, slowing down our metabolism and our physical energy. Blocked at the center, we feel divided between mind and body. We pull into ourselves, withdraw, and become a closed system. When the heart chakra is too open, there is a tendency to give all our time and energy away, to be so focused on "others" that we lose our own enter. Ideally, the heart chakra should radiate love from a strong, solid center of self-acceptance and reach out with supportive care and compassion toward others. |
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by Anodea Judith & Silver Ravenwolf
