Balancing the Chakras

I promised Volcaniclastic that I would explain in more detail, the chakra part of my week-long 'repaganisation' plan, that I do whenever I feel like I have drifted away from my spiritual life a little. However, I realised that there is probably too much information to reply to her thread, so decided to blog it. This way, people could comment and add to the information, and I have the option of editing the blog to add details, which isn't possible in a forum post. I'll include the elements I associate each day with, but must point out that I don't associate the chakas with these elements necessarily, and I won't go into detail about what I do concerning the elements, because that's not the part V asked about. I have also left out the foods I eat (I follow a herbal eating plan, that includes wine and chocolate while I do this week ^^) and the meditation technique and visualisations I do too.

Okay, lets go.



Day one: Base Chakra

First of all, I need to decide if my base is too open (over active) or too closed (under active). I do this with the help of a nice chart.. or you could use the online test that Corvus posted in the forums, which seems surprisingly accurate. http://www.paganforum.com/showthread...hlight=chakras and see if the behaviours below match the results.

Over active: Bullying, materialistic, reckless, self-centred, over-confidant, dissatisfied, rude, domineering and crude.

Under active: Fearful, difficulty achieving goals, over-cautious, needy, insecure, inert, vulnerable, fantasy prone, obsessive compulsive.

Balanced: Caring, grounded, focused, secure in self, self-confident, comfortable, strong, happy and balanced.


Antidotes

If your base is too open, you will need an antidote to curb its energy. The simplest way to do this, is to use the opposite colour to the one you associate with it. If you follow the conventional system, so that the base is red, then wearing green, or using green stones such as jade, if you're into stones, would probably help.

The yoga asana I like for calming this chakra is the 'head to knee' pose. This works by putting pressure on the area of the base chakra, thus restricting the flow of energy there.



I once had a crystal healing done at work and at the time I was trying to stimulate my base chakra by wearing a haematite around my neck. The therapist told me this was actually drawing the energy upwards and thus worsening the problems I was having. So, I suppose then, that this would be a possible antidote too, although if the other lower chakras are balanced or under active, it's probably not a great idea. She told me that if I am using stones to treat the base or sacral chakras, I am better off carrying them in my jeans pocket!


Stimulants

To activate a sluggish base chakra, which is my most common issue, the use of this chakra's colour (traditionally red) is recommended. Red clothing or stones can be used.

The yoga asana I like to use to open up the base chakra is the wheel. I have also written locust in my BOS, but I never really got the hang of this asana, so I tend to do the wheel. I like the wheel because I did it as a kid in the playground and I also associate the root chakra with childhood.



I dedicate this day to the Earth element, which I associate with the sense of touch. I know Volcaniclastic isn't so interested in the elemental aspects, but I have noticed that touch is also conveniently associated with the base chakra. I spend the day trying to focus on how the world around me feels. This is also often associated with the sense of smell because of the connection with pheromones, but because of my strong wiccan background, I like to work with elements and the base chakra just doesn't feel very air-like to me, so I prefer to stick to Earth. Although I don't want to go into such things, those who associate the chakras with the tree of life, will also conclude that this must be an Earth-element chakra.


Day Two: Sacral Chakra

Overactive: Insensitive, manipulative, sexually predatory, sexually aggressive, opinionated, fantasist, attention seeking, hedonist, domineering

Under active: Over-sensitive, guilt complex, impotent, low sex drive, self-critical, inexpressive, pessimistic, martyr

Balanced: Emotionally balanced, trusting, passionate, sensual, sexually open, expressive, creative, sociable, friendly


Stimulants and antidotes

I consider the colour of this chakra to be orange, so I support it with orange colours or remedy it with blue.

The yoga asanas I use to open a sluggish sacral are the fish pose and the cobra.



I calm it with the triangle, or the head to knee pose.



Classically, this chakra is associated with the sense of taste, which I consider a water elemental sense, because saliva is involved in the chewing process along with the taste buds. So today, I work with the element of water and explore the world through taste.


Day Three: Solar Plexus

Overactive: over-emotional, irrational, manipulative, sarcastic, controlling, angry, workaholic, judgemental, dissatisfied

Under active: Easily distracted, lethargic, insecure, lacking humour, subservient, lazy, miserable, doesn't see tasks though to the end

Balanced: centred, connected, gentle, good humour, respectful, pragmatic, considerate, cheerful.


Treatments

An over active solar plexus can be treated with calming purple, while an under active one is woken up with lots of bright yellow.

Balancing poses like the tree are helpful in both activating and calming this chakra, as it forces you to find your centre and bring your body into balance. Pranayama (breathing) exercises are also affective in bringing this chakra to the correct vibration.



This chakra is sometimes associated with the sense of taste, but more usually seems to be linked with sight, Sight is a clever trick our eyes and brain do by utilising light waves, and as all of our natural light comes from the sun, this is a day of getting to know the fire element and it's various roles in my life.


Day Four: Heart chakra

Overactive: Impulsive, manic, possessive, conditional, inconsiderate, controlling, jealous

Under active: no drive, melancholic, feeling of worthlessness, fear or rejection, felf-pity, over dependant on others, feels unloved or unworthy of love.

Balanced: Liberated, happy, compassionate, unconditional, nurturing, considerate, loving, independent


Remedies

The colour green activates this chakra and the colour red calms it.

To open the chakra, the asana I use is the crescent moon or the camel. The crescent moon is good as it also helps you to find balance so helps the solar plexus too, in fact, balancing asanas like this, bring all systems into harmony, so are good all rounders.



If it is too open, I use child's pose to bring it back into balance.



The heart chakra is linked with the sense of smell, which is carried on the air and so I associate this chakra and therefore day 4, with the element of air. However, I have heard of people preferring to consider this more of an earth element chakra because of the whole Mother Nature, love the Earth thing. I'm happy to leave all of that until my mid-life crises though, so for now, I'll stick to what seems logical to me.

Smell is the most intangible of the senses. We tend to be less able to pin-point what we are smelling than what we might see, or feel. We also lack in vocabulary to clearly describe smells without comparing a smell to something else, but even saying, 'it smells like apples' only gives us a rough idea, and is meaningless to someone who has no experience of what an apple smells like. At the same time, maybe even because of this, smell is very closely linked to memory and emotion. A single scent can transport you instantly back to a point in your past and bring back all kinds of feelings. Scent, as mysterious as love, is the winner in my mind, for connecting with the heart chakra. Today is therefore a good day to play around with essential oils or home made incense.


That's all I can fit for now.