Tag: yoga

Chakras

Crown Chakra Healing

The Awakened Sage

The crown chakra, or Sahasrara, is the seventh chakra which is located at the top of the head and is associated with the higher-self, your connection to the divine, enlightenment, wisdom and universal consciousness. It’s represented by the color violet which is connected to spiritual enlightenment, psychic abilities, intuition, wisdom and peace.

When this chakra is working properly you’ll be more in tune with your spirituality, the divine and your higher-self. You may experience a spiritual awakening and a feeling of becoming more enlightened or self-realized. When the energy in this chakra is flowing nicely you may feel more gratitude, compassion and empathy. A balanced crown chakra also helps you to embody a vibe of non-attachment allowing you to be in flow with the energies of the universe. 

The Sanskrit word “Sahasrara” means “thousand-petaled” and is connected to the many petals on a lotus flower. These petals represent the many different aspects of being including mind, body and spirit, representing the unity of all of these aspects. So the crown chakra represents unity both on a personal level and a collective level. 

Imbalanced Crown Chakra

When this chakra is imbalanced you may feel very ungrounded which may cause you to dissociate from reality. A block in this chakra can make you feel very close-minded, confused and even lost at times. When the energy in this chakra is imbalanced you’ll feel disconnected from your soul and spirituality which can make you feel as though you’re lacking any real meaning and purpose in your life.

Balanced Crown Chakra

When this chakra is balanced you’ll feel a stronger connection to your divine self or your soul which will help you to remain more true to yourself. You’ll be more in tune with your intuition and your level of awareness will expand, which will allow your senses to become heightened. When this chakra is balanced you may also feel a stronger sense of purpose in your life and you’ll have a clearer view of your path in life.

Healing Your Crown Chakra

The ways to heal and balance the crown chakra are very similar to the ways that you heal the third eye chakra. Through things like meditation, starting a spiritual practice, engaging in a practice of gratitude, positive affirmations, yoga and connecting with nature.

Some other ways to balance out this chakra is to seek more spiritual wisdom, knowledge and self-awareness through reading, researching, seeking and practicing mindfulness. Becoming more aware of yourself, who you are and how you interact with life will connect you more with your true self or your soul. This will also help you to become more aware of the world around you which will help you to better pick up on things.

Lastly, a good way to work on healing this chakra is by practicing yoga poses such as headstand, rabbit pose and corpse pose. All of these will help to put your focus and attention on your head and mind which will increase the energy flow in this chakra.

For more info about the Crown Chakra, check out my downloadable guide sheets on Chakra Healing. If you’d like to do a Chakra Healing, book a Reiki session with me.

Chakras

Third Eye Chakra Healing

The Awakened Sage

The third eye chakra, or Ajna, is the sixth chakra which is located in between the eyes and is associated with intuition, sight, visualization, imagination and higher consciousness. It’s represented by the color indigo which is connected to spirituality, wisdom, creativity, justice and devotion.

When this chakra is working properly you’ll be more in tune with your intuition and inner guiding system. This chakra also connects you more to your spirituality and opens the doors to higher, mystical states of being. Psychic abilities are also enhanced when the energy in this chakra is flowing nicely.

The third eye is associated with sight and the ability to visualize or to get in touch with your Clairvoyant abilities. It helps you to develop your imagination, creativity and connection with your soul.

Imbalanced Third Eye Chakra

When this chakra is imbalanced you may feel disconnected from your intuition and imagination. You may become stuck in certain perspectives and beliefs which prevent you from growing and developing on a soul level. An imbalance here can also lead to excessive fantasizing which can create a disconnect from reality. This can make it challenging for you to pursue your dreams and to set realistic goals for yourself. A block in this chakra can also make it hard for you to connect to your spirituality and spiritual nature.

Balanced Third Eye Chakra

When this chakra is balanced you’ll feel connected to your intuitive senses and imagination. Creative inspiration will flow to you more easily and your psychic senses will be enhanced. When this chakra is open and the energy is flowing you’ll have more clarity about your life circumstances which will help you to see the bigger picture. You’ll also be more insightful, aware and perceptive of the world around you and your self-awareness will become heightened.

Healing Your Third Eye Chakra

A good way to work on healing your third eye chakra is by starting a meditation practice as this will make you more aware and in touch with your internal senses. Meditation helps to quiet the mind, calm the body and ground and center yourself which makes it easier for you to hear intuitive messages or the promptings of your heart and soul.

Practices like mindfulness will help to heal this chakra because it helps you to stay focused on the present moment which expands your level of awareness. Engaging in mindfulness puts your attention on what’s happening in the moment without judgment, just observation. Over time this can help you to become more aware of subtle details and energies which you may normally have missed.

Starting a daily spiritual practice is also a good way to heal your third eye chakra as it puts you more in touch with your spiritual nature as well as your intuition. Things like meditation, daily prayers, affirmations, connecting with a deity, journaling, walking outdoors, yoga and being creative can all be forms of spirituality. Creating your own unique spiritual practice will also get you in touch with your creativity.

Lastly, a good way to work on healing this chakra is by practicing yoga poses such as child’s pose, downward dog and lotus pose. All of these will help to put your focus and attention on your mind which will increase the energy flow in this chakra.

For more info about the Third Eye Chakra, check out my downloadable guide sheets on Chakra Healing. If you’d like to do a Chakra Healing, book a Reiki session with me.

Chakras

Throat Chakra Healing

The Awakened Sage

The throat chakra, or Vishuddha, is the fifth chakra and is associated with communication, self-expression, listening, authenticity and speaking your truth. It’s represented by the color blue which is a very soothing, harmonious and calming color that allows you to feel comfortable opening up. 

This chakra helps you to not only communicate effectively, it also helps you to understand those around you and connect with them in a genuine way. Communication in general and within your personal relationships can be challenging at times, especially if you’re discussing touchy subjects. 

If the heart chakra represents your capacity to love and your ability to love from a soul-centered place, then the throat chakra helps you to express that love through the spoken or written word. Speaking your truth can be scary but it’s also brave and liberating and it also creates a deeper connection with the people in your life.

Imbalanced Throat Chakra

When this chakra is imbalanced and/or blocked it can be challenging to express yourself or to get your message across in the way you want. This can cause miscommunications, misunderstandings and even a distortion of the truth. When this chakra is blocked you may feel anxious or afraid to say what you need to say for fear of the response you’ll get. 

This may cause you to stifle your voice in an attempt to keep the status quo, not step on any toes or generally create waves with those around you. Suppressing your unspoken needs, feelings, thoughts and desires can create a disconnect between you and the people around you and it can also create a disconnect within yourself. 

Balanced Throat Chakra

When this chakra is balanced you’ll feel more comfortable and confident expressing yourself and communicating with others from a place of truth and authenticity. When the energy is flowy nicely in this chakra you’ll be able to more easily manifest your desires into reality, as this chakra is also connected to your intention. You may feel more heard when this chakra is balanced and you’ll also be a better listener, which will help you to connect more with others.

Healing Your Throat Chakra

A good way to work on healing this chakra is by practicing healthy and authentic self-expression with things like communication, journaling or creative self-expression. Learning how to properly express yourself will help to bring about more energy flow in this chakra and it will teach you how to communicate from a place of truth. Things like speaking your mind with tact can be very empowering, especially if this is something you don’t usually feel comfortable doing or don’t do out of fear.

Good listening skills are also essential for helping to open this chakra, as communication and listening are intrinsically linked. Learning how to listen in order to understand instead of listening to respond can help you to understand people better and feel like you get them. When people feel heard and understood a connection is formed and your relationship has an opportunity to grow and blossom.

Staying true to yourself, not changing who you are in order to please other people and following a path in life that feels authentic to you are all ways to help heal and open this chakra. True freedom and liberation comes from being unapologetically you. 

Lastly, a good way to open this chakra is through practicing yoga poses such as fish pose, cat-cow pose and shoulder-stand. All of these poses help to open and stretch the throat area which creates more energy flow in this part of the body.

For more info about the Throat Chakra, check out my downloadable guide sheets on Chakra Healing. If you’d like to do a Chakra Healing, book a Reiki session with me.

Chakras

Heart Chakra Healing

The Awakened Sage

The heart chakra, or Anahata, is the fourth chakra located in the middle of the chest and is associated with love, compassion, forgiveness, empathy and acceptance. The heart chakra is connected to the color green which is the color of rebirth, life, renewal, hope and abundance.

This chakra helps you to feel connected to your emotions and allows you to express those emotions with unconditional love and compassion. When the energy here is flowing nicely you’ll feel more in touch with the ability to empathize with others as well as engaging in things like self-love and self-acceptance.

The heart chakra is the bridge between the lower and higher chakras, as it’s the first chakra that connects you to your soul. This chakra takes you out of the physical aspect of the lower chakras and assists you with transitioning to the higher vibration of the higher chakras.

Imbalanced Heart Chakra

When this chakra is imbalanced and/or blocked it can produce things like codependency, insecurity, an inability to connect with others and feelings of low self-worth. When this chakra is out of balance you may feel disconnected from your heart center which can affect your ability to follow your heart and be in touch with your emotions. A block in this chakra can also create a fear of intimacy, loneliness, resentment and an inability to trust others.

Balanced Heart Chakra

When this chakra is balanced you’ll feel more open to giving and receiving love and you’ll feel more connected to your heart and soul. When the energy is flowing nicely in this chakra it allows you to feel joy, empathy and to better relate to and understand others from a place of compassion. This chakra also helps with things like self-love, self-acceptance and self-forgiveness when it’s balanced. When the heart chakra is working properly it allows you to see the beauty and good in all things which helps you to retain a positive and optimistic outlook.

Healing Your Heart Chakra

A good way to begin healing your heart chakra is to work on things like self-love, self-care and self-acceptance because it’s hard to give love to others when you can’t give that love to yourself first. So learning to love, accept and nurture yourself will teach you about love and what it means to be loved and accepted unconditionally without judgment. 

Developing a gratitude practice will also help to open your heart chakra, which will help you to accept your life and where you currently are on your life path. Things like reciting or writing down daily gratitude affirmations will help to reprogram your mind and direct it towards a vibration of acceptance, love and gratitude for all the good things you have in your life. This practice will also help you to become more grateful for the little things you have in your life that we all may take for granted periodically like food, shelter, your bed, phone, etc. 

Lastly, another good way to begin working on opening and balancing your heart chakra is to do a few yoga poses such as camel pose, cobra pose and bridge pose. All of these poses help to open the chest and heart center and stretch the chest area. This can help bring in more energy flow to this area of the body which will open it up to receiving.

For more info about the Heart Chakra, check out my downloadable guide sheets on Chakra Healing. If you’d like to do a Chakra Healing, book a Reiki session with me.

Chakras

Solar Plexus Chakra Healing

The Awakened Sage

The solar plexus chakra, or Manipura, is located in the upper stomach region and is associated with personal power, inner strength, confidence and ambition. The solar plexus chakra is associated with the color yellow like the bright, shining sun.

This chakra helps you to feel empowered and like you can handle any challenges that life throws at you. It boosts your confidence level and helps you to know your own worth and value. This chakra acts as your inner fire and helps to keep your “engine” running, as it’s connected to the stomach, gallbladder and liver. Being able to trust your gut with confidence comes easily when this chakra is running smoothly. General intuitive and instinctual processes are heightened when this chakra is healthy.

The solar plexus is the third chakra and the last of the lower chakras which also includes the sacral chakra and the root chakra. The lower chakras are connected to the physical realm and things like stability, personal relationships, creativity and overall self-mastery. The higher chakras which include the heart chakra, throat chakra, third eye chakra and crown chakra are connected to your soul, higher self, intuition and the universe. Once you master the three lower chakras you will have a solid foundation to begin working on the higher chakras.

Imbalanced Solar Plexus Chakra

When the solar plexus is out of balance you may lack the motivation and drive to pursue your goals. You may also experience feelings of low self-worth, a lack of self-esteem, trouble making decisions and overall lack confidence in yourself. Needing reassurance and validation from others can also be a sign of a blocked solar plexus, as this can create an inability to trust your own intuition. On a physical level, you may experience stomach/digestive issues as well as anxiety.

Balanced Solar Plexus Chakra

When this chakra is balanced you will have the confidence and drive necessary to ambitiously pursue your goals. You may also feel more empowered, connected and aligned to your purpose. When this chakra is balanced and the energy is flowing nicely you will have a stronger sense of self and be more in touch with your personal values. This chakra can help you shine and radiate the light within you in a very positive way which can also affect others positively as they will be attracted to your light.

Healing Your Solar Plexus Chakra

An important thing to focus on when healing this chakra is to start working on your self-esteem and self-worth which will improve your confidence level. It can be challenging trying to pull yourself back up when you’re struggling with feelings of low self-worth, so being patient and compassionate with yourself is recommended. 

A good way to build your confidence level is to do something that takes you out of your comfort zone, no matter how big or small. The point of this is to take on a challenge that once you overcome will help to restore your confidence level. Once you start doing this little by little you’ll notice that you don’t shy away from doing things you used to be afraid to do. You’ll be more willing to take risks and put yourself out there because you’ll be more confident in your ability to push through challenges. 

Another healing technique for this chakra is to start taking action on your dreams and goals. If you have goals which you haven’t started pursuing yet then doing this and creating a plan of action will help to motivate you and ignite a fire within you. This can help to engage the solar plexus and it can also further inspire you to keep taking action on your dreams and goals. 

Lastly, another good way to heal the solar plexus is to have a yoga practice that includes plank pose. This yoga pose is a great way to get that inner core fire burning.  This can be accomplished by doing a few Sun Salutations every morning or finding another way to incorporate plank pose into your exercise routine. 

For more info about the Solar Plexus Chakra, check out my downloadable guide sheets on Chakra Healing. If you’d like to do a Chakra Healing, book a Reiki session with me.

Chakras

Sacral Chakra Healing

The Awakened Sage

The sacral chakra, or Svadhisthana, is located in the pelvic region and is associated with passion, pleasure, emotions, creativity and sensuality. The color of this chakra is orange which is connected to inspiration, happiness, joy and creativity. This chakra helps you to feel inspired and connected with yourself and those around you. 

Held within the sacral chakra is the womb which is the seat of creation. It’s deeply connected to your emotions and feeling centers which helps to inspire creativity. Expressing your emotions in healthy ways is very important for healing this chakra and for healing in general.

The sacral chakra helps to get you in touch with that primal, fertile force within yourself. Where the root chakra grounds and stabilizes you, the sacral chakra opens you up to feeling pleasure and joy. This chakra is associated with feminine energy as well as the element of water.

Imbalanced Sacral Chakra

When the sacral chakra is out of balance, you may lack inspiration, feel emotionally unbalanced and overall feel numb. There may also be struggles connecting with others or the opposite can be true and you can experience codependency. An unbalanced sacral chakra can also lead to addictions of various kinds. This chakra determines how we relate to each other and also how we relate to ourselves. So if this chakra is blocked you may struggle with emotional intimacy issues within your relationships.

Balanced Sacral Chakra

When the sacral chakra is balanced you will feel more inspired, creative and in flow with your emotions. You may feel a greater desire to create more balance between work and play in your life and to do things which bring you pleasure and joy. When this chakra is balanced you will be more in touch with your self-worth and value and this will help you to know that you deserve good things in your life. That you deserve happiness and joy, as these emotions are what motivates and inspires you to keep going. 

Healing Your Sacral Chakra

A good way to work on healing the sacral chakra is to work on healing your emotions through creative self-expression. When you express your creative self, you invariably also connect with your true self. This connects you directly to your soul and as such, your creation will be a direct expression of who you really are.

Creativity is supposed to be a fun experience which will help you to heal and connect with your inner child. The point is to have fun so the end result of the creation itself is not necessarily important for this exercise to work out positively. It’s more about the act and experience of the creation itself. It’s about what happens to the connections between your heart, mind and soul when you’re creating something from a place of childlike innocence.

Another way to work on healing the sacral chakra is to express or release your suppressed emotions. Suppressed emotions don’t just go away, as they get stored in the body and usually manifest themselves in various different ways. Physically releasing these emotions through things like crying or physical exercise can break up stuck or stagnant energy and get the flow of energy moving again. Working up a good sweat will also help you to release toxins from the body and it helps with depression and anxiety.

Journaling or talking about your unhealed emotional wounds will also help you to release these things which will make room for new, inspired emotions to take root. Cathartic release will help to cleanse your emotional and physical body which will bring about inner healing leading to greater inner well-being and peace. Engaging in things like self-love, self-care and self-acceptance will also help to heal this chakra and open you up to new, inspiring possibilities in your life.

For more info about the Sacral Chakra, check out my downloadable guide sheets on Chakra Healing. If you’d like to do a Chakra Healing, book a Reiki session with me.

Chakras

Root Chakra Healing

The Awakened Sage

The root chakra, or muladhara, is the first chakra located at the base of the spine and is associated with the physical world, survival, finances, physical exercise, routines, past life karma and the foundation of your life. The color of this chakra is red which is the color of blood, the life force. Red is a powerful, earthy and primal color which evokes feelings of passion and motivation. 

This chakra helps you to feel grounded and stable in the world and your life in general. When the root chakra is balanced, you’ll feel safe and secure with a feeling of comfort and being “provided for”. When this chakra is out of balance, you can experience feelings of instability, insecurity and not really having any real roots or grounding in the physical world. 

When you begin working with the chakras it’s important to start with the root because you’ll need a strong foundation to support you when you get to the upper chakras. The root chakra will literally “root” you to the earth when it’s balanced. 

Imbalanced Root Chakra

If you have an imbalance in your root chakra you may notice that you feel lost, ungrounded, insecure or like your life has no purpose. If you tend to struggle financially, don’t feel organized or can’t seem to figure out what you want in life, these are all signs of a blocked root chakra. An out of balance root chakra can also cause depression, anxiety, stress and feeling a lack of alignment in your life.

Balanced Root Chakra

When your root Chakra is balanced you may feel more secure in your life, supported, taken care of and provided for. You may also feel a sense of belonging and alignment with your life path. A balanced root chakra can bring about a feeling of groundedness, confidence and the ability to handle the challenges life throws at you.

Healing Your Root Chakra

Working to heal your root chakra will give you a solid foundation to build upon for the long-term. That’s not to say that you’ll never have a root chakra block again, but when you do you’ll recognize it quicker. I find that one of the best and easiest ways to start healing the root chakra is to start an exercise routine. Getting into your body and doing some kind of exercise will force you to stay present. 

This keeps you in tune with the world around you as well as what’s going on within you. It essentially creates more self-awareness and helps you release any energetic blocks in the body. Exercise also helps to relieve stress and depression. You can do any kind of exercise you prefer, and I recommend that it’s something you actually enjoy so that you stick with it.

The next thing I find beneficial in healing the Root chakra is to start working on a financial foundation for yourself. If you don’t already, get a savings account and start saving money weekly or biweekly. Even if it’s only a small amount. The point is to make it a habit so that you stick with it long-term. 

Learning to essentially provide and take care of yourself so that you achieve those “secure and stable” vibrations within is what will help to heal the root chakra. Using red crystals such as red jasper also works for removing any blocks in the root chakra. A good yoga pose for healing this chakra is tree pose.

For more info about the Root Chakra, check out my downloadable guide sheets on Chakra Healing. If you’d like to do a Chakra Healing, book a Reiki session with me.