Enhance Your Well-Being With Seven Chakra Yoga
Seven chakra yoga opens and balances the chakras.When your chakras are blocked by negative thoughts and emotions such as low self-esteem and fear, you can unblock them and keep energy flowing freely using seven chakra yoga. When you practice yoga poses or asanas that correspond to each chakra, you not only release blocks and promote energy flow, but clear the path to higher consciousness.
Chakra means “wheel” in Sanskrit. The seven spinning vortexes of energy are associated with specific physical, mental and emotional functions and areas of life. Each chakra is a place that receives and distributes energy; but self-limiting beliefs, negative thought habits and long-held emotional trauma can block the chakras from doing their job. The chakra can become deficient in energy, or be full to the point of bursting with no way to release the energy. In both cases, the chakra becomes imbalanced and ineffective.
An example of an excessive chakra may be someone who is a great (but excessive) talker but a terrible listener – the throat chakra is excessive. Contrast that with someone who never speaks up and voices ideas or opinions – this person has a deficient throat chakra.
The following is a list of asanas that support and balance each chakra. You can do these asanas alone or in order from root to crown, depending on your intuitive guidance.
Muladhara Chakra (Root)
A deficiency in the root chakra can originate with the stresses of moving, travel, financial troubles and anything that makes us feel uprooted and insecure. Deficiencies in the root chakra can manifest as illness, anxiety, feeling ungrounded and feeling lost. Excess in the root chakra can manifest as hoarding (possessions or money) and weight gain in an effort to feel grounded, safe and secure.
Stretching the legs (particularly the hamstrings) is important to balance the root chakra. Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend) and Janu Sirsasana (Head-to-Knee Pose) are two good standing poses that promote calmness, and patience. Supta Baddha Konasana (Reclining Bound Angle Pose), Salamba Savasana (Supported Corpse Pose), and Salamba Balasana (Supported Child’s Pose) help settle the mind and make us feel grounded.
Svadisthana Chakra (Sacral)
The sacral chakra allows for emotional and sensual movement and flow. A deficiency in the sacral chakra can manifest as problems with intimacy, infertility, expressing emotions, fear of pleasure and fear of change. Excess in the sacral chakra can result in extremely emotional behavior, lack of boundaries, sexual addiction and addiction to emotional drama.
Spending a little time every day on sensual pleasures such as gentle yoga, stretching, listening to music, getting a massage, aromatherapy and relaxation invoke the gentle healing powers of pleasure. Yoga asanas that help open the sacral chakra: Baddha Konasana (Bound Angle Pose)Gomukhasana (Cow Face Pose), Upavistha Konasana (Open Angle Pose), Eka Pada Rajakapotasana (Pigeon Pose) and other hip/groin openers.
Manipura Chakra (Solar Plexus)
A weak third chakra can manifest as poor self-image, low self-esteem and low energy, resulting in a need for stimulants to get going and depressants to come down off that stimulant high. An excessive third chakra results in anger, desire for power and status, perfectionism, excess in possessions and a strong need for recognition.
Abdominal strengtheners like the Warrior poses, Navasana (Boat Pose), Urdhva Prasarita Padasana (Leg Lifts), Ardha Navasana (Half Boat Pose) and the Breath of Fire (Bhastrika Pranayama) revitalize a sluggish solar plexus chakra. Sensible risk-taking also helps restore your “fire.”
Specific asanas benefit each chakra.
Anahata Chakra (Heart)
The fourth chakra is the bridge between the earthly/physical lower three chakras and the upper three chakras which are related to the spirit realm. A deficient heart chakra manifests as shyness, loneliness, lack of empathy, inability to forgive and inability to form connections. Asthma and other lung diseases are common. An excess in the heart chakra often manifests as possessiveness, heart disease, high blood pressure, co-dependency and extreme jealousy.
Gomukhasana and Garudasana (Eagle Pose) and backbends are good heart chakra openers.The most powerful way to heal a deficiency or an excess in the heart chakra is through learning to love yourself; that love will then spill out to others. Love is the most powerful healing force in the universe!
Visuddha Chakra (Throat)
A deficient throat chakra manifests as neck stiffness, low thyroid, fear of speaking (fear of speaking your truth or sharing ideas or opinions), shoulder tension and throat ailments. An excessive throat chakra brings about stuttering, overactive thyroid, hearing problems, excessive talking and poor listening skills.
Proper diet, meditation, exercise and yoga opens the throat chakra. Sound is important in healing the throat chakra, as is drinking more water.
The fifth chakra can be supported with neck stretches, shoulder openers, Ustrasana (Camel Pose), Halasana (Plow Pose), Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge Pose) and Sarvangasana (Shoulderstand),
Yoga is a form of moving meditation.Ajna Chakra (Third Eye)
The Ajna Chakra, whose Sanskrit name means both “the command center” and “the perception center,” is our “spiritual eye.” A deficient third eye chakra results in poor memory, eye problems and poor visualization abilities. An excessive third eye chakra manifests as chronic headaches, nightmares, hallucinations and poor concentration.
Wearing a blindfold during yoga, forward bends and guided visualization help balance the third eye chakra.
Sahasrara Chakra (Crown)
A weak crown chakra manifests as apathy, materialism, difficulty with original thought and lack of spiritual interest or desire. An excessive crown chakra can result in being overly intellectual and/or spiritual elitist (feelings of superiority).
The most beneficial practice for balancing the seventh chakra is meditation. This can encompass moving meditation such as yoga or tai chi, or mindfulness meditation, compassion meditation or other practices.
To have a healthy chakra system, it’s important to give equal attention and care to all of them: the lower chakras that correspond to family, feelings, home and security; and the upper chakras that correspond to wisdom, creativity and spiritual awareness. Yoga is a spiritual and physical practice that beautifully integrates the energies of the chakras, promotes openness and flow, calms and focuses the mind, and simultaneously relaxes and energizes the body. Use the ancient asanas to improve your well-being!
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发表于 2016-7-17 08:57
