Kundalini Yoga
What is yoga?
Yoga is a spiritual discipline practiced by people all over the world. The practice of yoga combines breath, meditation, and various postures to unite body and mind. In fact, the word "yoga" in Sanskrit means "union." When we practice yoga, we aim to do just so.
Why practice yoga and meditation?
When you begin your journey with yoga and meditation, you will heal and balance your seven chakras. When all chakras are in balance, you will find that your life flows effortlessly and smoothly. Things will work out in your favor. You will be happier and experience a sense of bliss and connection to yourself and the world.
What are the chakras?
The seven main chakras are energy centers located along the spine. Chakra means "wheel" in Sanskrit. When your chakras are open, activated, and balanced, your body and mind should be in perfect alignment. Unfortunately, not everyone has perfect chakras! When we practice kundalini yoga, we are awakening and healing these centers.
Root Chakra
- Muladhara:
The root chakra can be compared to "our basic needs being met." Food, water, shelter, clothing. The root chakra is our foundation. When our root chakra is in balance we feel safe, loved, nourished, abundant and prosperous. Fear is not an obstacle. When our root chakra is imbalanced, we might have a "poverty consciousness," feel a lack of love and have fearful, anxious thoughts. We may feel ungrounded, like our head is always up in the clouds.
Sacral Chakra - Svadhisthana:
The sacral chakra is our source of self-creativity, pleasure, and energy. When our sacral chakra is in balance, we go with the flow of life, feel like we have unique, creative ideas, a steady, consistent supply of energy, healthy emotions, trust, and positive feelings toward intimacy. When our sacral chakra is out of balance, we may feel overly emotional, run down, controlling, fear of commitment, and an inability to express ourselves creatively.
Solar Plexus Chakra - Manipura:
The solar plexus chakra is about self-esteem and self-image. Since this chakra powers all the other chakras, it is one of the most important chakras to balance. When the solar plexus chakra is in balance, we eat healthy, organic foods, we don't consume toxins, have a healthy level of self-esteem, express confidence, feel empowered, have a passionate drive for existence. When our third chakra is out of balance, we may be critical, self-absorbed, arrogant, sluggish, unmotivated, and inferior to others.
Heart Chakra - Anahata: While the lower three chakras correspond to the self, the heart chakra is where we interact with the world. It is our center of love and compassion. When you have a healthy heart chakra, you feel unconditional love for yourself and others. You feel compassionate toward humanity. An unbalanced heart chakra will exhibit feelings of emotional distress, low self-worth, inability to love others, jealousy, selfishness.
Throat Chakra - Visuddha: The throat chakra is the fifth chakra, our center of outward communication. It is our center of giving and receiving. All choices that we make affect the throat chakra. When our throat chakra is in balance, we are sure about our life purpose, and express that outwardly. We are actively creative, clearly communicative, and willing to speak the truth at all times. An imbalanced throat chakra may be an inability to speak up, lying, and indecision.
Third Eye Chakra - Ajna: The sixth chakra, located slightly up and between the eyebrows, is the center of intuition, or "third eye." We all have a sense of perception. Ever hear your phone ring, and you immediately know who's calling? That's the sixth chakra working in action. A balanced sixth chakra contains the ability to "see the big picture" of life, have a strong intuitive guidance, and inner knowing. An imbalanced sixth chakra would be the inability to perceive, poor intuition, and fearful of the future.
Crown Chakra - Sahasrara: The crown chakra is located on the crown of the head. It is our connection to our divine guidance. Crown chakra is activated when we meditate and pray. The crown chakra charges all the other six chakras with pranayama energy. When your crown chakra is in balance, you feel connected to the universe, receive flashes of brilliance, trust life's course, and have a strong sense of faith in oneself and ones beliefs. If your crown chakra is unbalanced, you feel disconnected, experience a "dark night of the soul," inability to trust life.
