Category: Uncategorized

Where is it?

The seventh and final chakra, it’s located, as the name states, at the top of the head.

Represented by the Lotus flower, the Sanskrit name for the Crown Chakra is ‘Sahasrara’, which translates as ‘thousand’ or ‘infinite’.

Colour

Violet (the colour of spirituality) and white.

Characteristics

Positivity, gratitude, compassion and acceptance.

When the Crown activates, it brings a positive outlook on life – you may find you are no longer ruled by ego and you reject all negative thoughts that may bring unhappiness or stress to your life.

It is said that your Crown Chakra is your bridge to the divine, so it stands to reason that a healthy, activated Crown will bring a new level of spiritual awareness, connection to the universe and inner wisdom. We tend to look beyond the material when our Crown is balanced. We find a deeper meaning to life and look for connection with the divine. While this sounds a bit woo-woo and full on, it’s as simple as practicing prayer or meditation – whatever floats your boat.

Empathy and self-awareness are also characteristics of a balanced and activated Crown. Recognising the value in all life – other humans, animals and plants. You may find you have an elevated level of tolerance, you stop judging people just because they don’t think/dress/conduct themselves in the way you think they should. A real ‘live and let live’ mindset.

Violet is a unifying colour that contains all the qualities of the other chakras when activated. It can bring strong emotions of letting go, of transformation and profound change.

Signs Your Crown Chakra is Blocked or Unbalanced

• Experience confusion or indecision
• Lack of inspiration
• Feel cynical, apathetic, selfish and sarcastic
• Spiritual addiction or self-destructive tendencies
• Lose the ability to look beyond the material and prioritise money and possessions above all else.
• As the Crown chakra is linked to the brain, physical symptoms can include headaches and migraines, difficulty concentrating, brain fog and issues sleeping.
• An overactive Crown can lead to a loss of a sense of balance – the neglect of physical wellbeing to chase spiritual perfection

All of this can have us feeling lost, depressed and/or anxious.

How to Heal, Open and Balance the Crown

Either blocked and underactive or overactive, here are some things to try to balance your crown:

• Physical movement
• Get into a regular sleep pattern
• Grounding or mindfulness meditations/techniques to help focus on the present
• Activities that help unblock the Root chakra (yep, being the top and the bottom, the two are indeed linked)
• Guided meditations. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plA5WW4gEx4)
• Eat plenty of natural, wholesome foods, like fruit and veggies, brown rice, brown bread and broths. Violet coloured foods like eggplant, beetroot and red grapes, herbal teas and ginger.

Sources:

www.theyoganomads.com

www.arhantayoga.org

www.chakras.info

While Reiki is growing in popularity, there is still a degree of mystery surrounding what it is and what goes down during a treatment.

(If you want to know what Reiki actually is, check out my article ‘What is Reiki (and why you are right to be skeptical)’).

So – what can you expect from a typical reiki treatment?

Typically, a Reiki treatment lasts from 45 minutes to an hour, although many practitioners offer 30 minute treatments as well.

When you arrive, we’ll have a bit of a chat just to check you’re OK, whether or not you’re a bit nervous or whether you have some specific issue you need help with.

By the way – if you’re not comfortable telling your practitioner about a specific problem, you don’t have to. They don’t need to know. The Reiki energy will find its own way to where it needs to be with very little help. It’s really smart, like that 😊

Once you’re happy, your practitioner will have you jump on their treatment table, which is typically a massage table. If it’s chilly, they may have blankets or a light doona, or nothing if it’s warmer. They will probably have an eye pillow, but won’t use it if you’re uncomfortable with that. They will probably have oils or scented candles burning, the room will be darkened or have soft lighting and music playing. This is all to relax both you and the practitioner, but if you’re uncomfortable with any of it, speak up.

Oh, and just in case you were wondering, Reiki treatments are done clothes on. This isn’t massage – we don’t need that kind of access to your muscles.

When you’re comfortable, the treatment will begin.

The practitioner will then begin by placing my hands-on different points over your body – the top of your head, your ears, shoulders, hands, knees and the soles of your feet. When energy is directed to your heart space and solar plexus (belly) they will hold their hands a couple of inches above your body.

Once hands are placed on you, they stay static for a length of time. As I said before, this isn’t massage. Muscles don’t need to be manipulated in any way.

All you need to do is lie there and chill. You may feel some tingles, you may nod off, you may feel nothing. That’s all cool. Many practitioners normally don’t speak during a treatment, but that doesn’t mean you can’t. If you are feeling uncomfortable or nervous at any stage, or if you want the treatment to stop for any reason, don’t hesitate to say so.

By the way, if you’re not comfortable being touched anywhere (some people don’t like their ears being touched) or at all, mention that. You can either be treated you while you’re under a blanket or doona, or the practitioner will hold their hands a couple of inches above you. The treatment is just as effective and remember, this is all about your relaxation and comfort.

Once the treatment is over, they’ll ask that you’re all OK. You may feel a bit groggy but that is more likely to be from being very relaxed – possibly even asleep or dozing – for an hour rather than from the Reiki itself. (Don’t feel embarrassed about nodding off – Reiki practitioners are used to clients having a doze – that’s when the best healing happens, when we get out of our heads. I’ve nodded off while receiving a Reiki healing more than once).

So, there you have it. That’s what a treatment with me looks like. Obviously, I can’t speak for all practitioners, but you’ll probably find things won’t differ too much from one to another.

As always you don’t need to be after a treatment to get in touch – there are heaps of resources out there about Reiki, but feel free to drop me an email with any questions.

Yours in Wellness, my friends.

We’ve all heard the word thrown around in ‘wellness’ circles, you have more than likely heard the term in a yoga or meditation class or session, and the term is used extensively among agents of ‘woo woo’. We’ve all seen the laminated Chakra sheets and ‘Chakra’ bracelets made from colourful beads in ‘Tree of Life’ and other hippie-type retail establishments….but how many of us are really aware of what they are, mean or do? Personally, even though I work with them a lot through Reiki and meditations,  I don’t know as much as I’d like, so I decided to delve into the world of Chakras and learn as much as possible.

What’s a Chakra?

‘Chakra’ is from the Sanskrit word ‘cakra’, meaning wheel or circle and refers to different energy centres in the body, and correspond with major organs and bundles of nerves. Although they have only become mainstream relatively recently, they have been used in meditation practices for centuries, first being mentioned in the Vedas*, ancient texts of spiritual knowledge dating from 1500 to 1000 BC.

A Brief History

No surprises that anything to do with energy healing finds its roots in Eastern rather than Western religion, the idea behind Chakra being found in the early traditions of Hinduism. Early Sanskrit texts mention them as being “meditative visualisations combining flowers and mantras and physical entities in the body”. Some yoga practices use breathing techniques and visualisations that focus on manipulating the flow of energy through the Chakras. Many Buddhist texts consistently refer to 5 Chakras, Hindu sources generally reference 6 or 7.

Charles W. Leadbeater’s book ‘The Chakras’ (1927) introduced the ‘seven rainbow colours’ for Chakras, and together with Sir John Woodroffe’s ‘The Serpent Power’ (1919), lead to the modern Chakra system we are most familiar with today.

What Does it Mean to Have a Blocked Chakra?

In my Reiki training, we were taught that there is ‘ki’ energy, or a universal life force running through us all. If this life force finds obstacles to its natural flow, it can have a knock-on effect on our physical bodies, inhibiting our natural ability to heal (picture a tree root blocking a drain). Personally, I believe our physical and energetic bodies work hand in hand. Think about a time you were particularly anxious about something. Did you feel physically ill as well, even though there was nothing physically wrong? Or ‘butterflies’ in your stomach? Or have you ever been in a situation where you have wanted to speak up, but felt a ‘lump in your throat’ when you didn’t? Those are both physical manifestations of blocked energy centres.

Emotional upheaval can, and normally does, manifest itself physically. Upsets to our energetic selves result in upsets within our physical selves.

How Many Are There?

These days, it is widely accepted that we have 7 Chakras running along our spines:

1. The Root Chakra (base of the spine)
2. The Sacral Chakra (belly, just below the navel)
3. Solar Plexus (stomach or upper abdomen
4. Heart (centre of the chest or ‘heart centre)
5. Throat (the throat – self explanatory, really)
6. Third Eye (between the eyes on the forehead)
7. Crown (very top of the head)

Each Chakra has its own colour and is associated with a specific health focus – for example, the Third Eye Chakra is Indigo, and is associated with intuition and imagination.

Over the coming days and weeks I’ll be delving into each Chakra more deeply, looking at what it means, how they effect our physicality, how to tell if they’re blocked and in turn, how to remedy that. I’m far from an expert on this subject, so I look forward to learning a lot myself.

Until next time, love, light and blessings, T

*The Vedas: The Vedas. These are the most ancient religious texts which define truth for Hindus. They got their present form between 1200-200 BCE and were introduced to India by the Aryans. Hindus believe that the texts were received by scholars direct from God and passed on to the next generations by word of mouth (source: hwww.bbc.co.au)

Let’s start at the very beginning – a very good place to start 😊

where is it?

The Root Chakra is located at the base of the spine, or the end of the tailbone. It’s the foundation of our whole energy system – if the Root Chakra is out of whack, everything else will be following suit. A strong and open Root Chakra forms a good, solid base. Like a concrete house slab. A sub-par slab will have the rest of your house falling in, no matter how well the walls have been constructed.

Other Names

Also known as ‘Muldarhara’, from the 2 Sanskrit words ‘Mula’ meaning ‘root’, and ‘Adhara’ meaning ‘support’ or ‘base’.

Meaning: Physical identity, stability, grounding

Colour: Red

Essential Oils: Anything that grows from the earth, like Cedarwood, Sandalwood, Ginger, Frankinsense, Black Pepper, Patchouli, Vetiver and Eucalyptus.

Crystals: Jasper, Garnet, Bloodstone or Black Tourmaline

Signs of a Blocked or Imbalanced Root Chakra

Emotionally, you may feel anxious or stuck, or feel an inability to take action. You may be experiencing fear or nightmares, exhaustion or lethargy. Physcially there could be colon or bladder issues, constipation or incontinence (sorry), pelvic, lower back or foot pain, or weight gain or loss.

How to Un-block or Re-balance Your Root Chakra

The word ‘Root’ refers to the foundations of trees – it’s what keeps them alive, stable and grounded. Therefore, any kind of grounding practice will help clear and re-align your Root Chakra.

• Have a professional energy healing session, either Reiki or Prana.
• Guided mediations or visualisations are always good, and they are easy to find on YouTube. Just set your intention to heal and be brave enough to deal with any old emotions or memories that may bubble up.
• According to Jissel Ravelo (Reiki Master and founder of www.vibrawellness.com), rubbing a metal spoon on the base of your foot can do the trick. I quote “the metal has a grounding property that gets your energy flowing again. “Take a metal spoon, and you rub it at the bottoms of your feet from soles all the way to your heel,” she says. “You can activate new energy to come into your root chakra.”
• Massaging essential oils into your feet or tailbone
• Meditate while placing an associated crystal on the Chakra
• Spend time in nature. This is a big one. Connecting to the earth is the best way to get your Root Chakra open, clear and spinning again the way it should. Skin to earth contact is the best – bare feet in the back yard will do. No one is suggesting you frolic bear-bummed through the park directly connecting your base chakra with nature. Having said that, there are several yoga practices specifically to open the Root Chakra and they do tend to involve deep squats and seated poses designed to connect you to the earth and cultivate a sense of grounding in your feet, legs and pelvic floor.
• Burning or diffusing oils or candles. Again, anything that comes from trees – woodsy scents like Cedarwood or Sandalwood.  Perfect Potion (https://www.perfectpotion.com.au/) is an Australian Essential Oil company. Their Balance Chakra blend contains black pepper, vetiver, sweet orange, Patchouli and Atlas cedarwood. I prefer these guys to the ‘D’ brand simply because they’re local.
• Using sound healing. The Solfeggio Frequency for the Root Chakra is 396Hz. (Google ‘Solfeggio Frequency’ or you can search for it on Spotify. Also listen to music with deep beats, like drumming.

Second Chakra

Where is it?

The Root Chakra is located at the base of the spine, or the end of the tailbone. It’s the foundation of our whole energy system – if the Root Chakra is out of whack, everything else will be following suit. A strong and open Root Chakra forms a good, solid base. Like a concrete house slab. A sub-par slab will have the rest of your house falling in, no matter how well the walls have been constructed.

Other Names

Also known as ‘Muldarhara’, from the 2 Sanskrit words ‘Mula’ meaning ‘root’, and ‘Adhara’ meaning ‘support’ or ‘base’.

Meaning: Physical identity, stability, grounding

Colour: Orange

Essential Oils: Anything that grows from the earth, like Cedarwood, Sandalwood, Ginger, Frankinsense, Black Pepper, Patchouli, Vetiver and Eucalyptus.

Crystals: Jasper, Garnet, Bloodstone or Black Tourmaline

Signs your sacral is blocked

Emotionally, you may feel anxious or stuck, or feel an inability to take action. You may be experiencing fear or nightmares, exhaustion or lethargy. Physcially there could be colon or bladder issues, constipation or incontinence (sorry), pelvic, lower back or foot pain, or weight gain or loss.

How to Unblock or Re-Balance

The word ‘Root’ refers to the foundations of trees – it’s what keeps them alive, stable and grounded. Therefore, any kind of grounding practice will help clear and re-align your Root Chakra.

• Have a professional energy healing session, either Reiki or Prana.
• Guided mediations or visualisations are always good, and they are easy to find on YouTube. Just set your intention to heal and be brave enough to deal with any old emotions or memories that may bubble up.
• According to Jissel Ravelo (Reiki Master and founder of www.vibrawellness.com), rubbing a metal spoon on the base of your foot can do the trick. I quote “the metal has a grounding property that gets your energy flowing again. “Take a metal spoon, and you rub it at the bottoms of your feet from soles all the way to your heel,” she says. “You can activate new energy to come into your root chakra.”
• Massaging essential oils into your feet or tailbone
• Meditate while placing an associated crystal on the Chakra
• Spend time in nature. This is a big one. Connecting to the earth is the best way to get your Root Chakra open, clear and spinning again the way it should. Skin to earth contact is the best – bare feet in the back yard will do. No one is suggesting you frolic bear-bummed through the park directly connecting your base chakra with nature. Having said that, there are several yoga practices specifically to open the Root Chakra and they do tend to involve deep squats and seated poses designed to connect you to the earth and cultivate a sense of grounding in your feet, legs and pelvic floor.
• Burning or diffusing oils or candles. Again, anything that comes from trees – woodsy scents like Cedarwood or Sandalwood.  Perfect Potion (https://www.perfectpotion.com.au/) is an Australian Essential Oil company. Their Balance Chakra blend contains black pepper, vetiver, sweet orange, Patchouli and Atlas cedarwood. I prefer these guys to the ‘D’ brand simply because they’re local.
• Using sound healing. The Solfeggio Frequency for the Root Chakra is 396Hz. (Google ‘Solfeggio Frequency’ or you can search for it on Spotify. Also listen to music with deep beats, like drumming.

The third Chakra.

Where is it?

Located in the upper abdomen, in the stomach area

Other Names

Manipura, meaning ‘lustrous gem’ in Sanskrit.

Meaning: Self-esteem, confidence. Said to govern all things metabolic, digestive or stomach related. This chakra is about the power of being unique while celebrating our continuing connection with all of humanity. It is also linked to the issue of personal power, or feeling in control of ones life.

Colour: Yellow

Essential Oils: Clary Sage, Juniper, Geranium, Sandalwood, Myrrh, Ylang ylang, Lemongrass, lavender, black pepper.

Crystals: Citrine, Yellow Jasper, Amber, Yellow Topaz, Tiger Eye, Yellow Tourmaline

Signs of a Blocked or Imbalanced Solar Plexus

Low self-esteem, lack of trust, weak will, poor digestion, victim mentality, can’t take responsibility. Eating, intestinal or digestive disorders, food allergies, fatigue or depression. Blockages in the third chakra are often experienced through digestive issues like ulcers, heartburn, eating disorders, and indigestion. It’s the chakra of our personal power. This means it’s related to our self-esteem and self-confidence.

How to Unblock or Re-Balance

The word ‘Root’ refers to the foundations of trees – it’s what keeps them alive, stable and grounded. Therefore, any kind of grounding practice will help clear and re-align your Root Chakra.

• Have a professional energy healing session, either Reiki or Prana.
• Guided mediations or visualisations are always good, and they are easy to find on YouTube. Just set your intention to heal and be brave enough to deal with any old emotions or memories that may bubble up.
• Burning or diffusing oils or candles. Perfect Potion (https://www.perfectpotion.com.au/) suggests oils that help build confidence and protect against negative influences, such as:
  • Aniseed
  • Atlas cedarwood
  • Roman chamomile
  • Frankincense
  • Ginger
  • Grapefruit and lemon
  • Juniper berry
  • Rosemary
  • Peppermint
  • Pine
  • Vetiver

• Using sound healing. The Solfeggio Frequency for the Root Chakra is 528Hz. (Google ‘Solfeggio Frequency’ or you can search for it on Spotify) or listening to any music that is mentally stimulating, like chimes or horns.

The fourth Chakra.

Where is it?

At your heart centre – the centre of the chest on the sternum.

Other Names

Anahata, which in Sanskrit means unhurt, unstuck and unbeaten.

Element: Air

Meaning: Passion, tenderness, inner-child issues, resentment.

Colour: Green

Essential Oils: Frankincense, Geranium, Neroli, Rose, Sandalwood and Ylang Ylang.

Crystals: Rose Quartz, Aventurine, Jade, Amazonite, Malachite.

Signs of a Blocked or Imbalanced Heart Chakra

Shyness, loneliness, depression or anxiety, difficulty forgiving or having empathy. You tend to put yourself in the role of either the saviour or the victim and have a hard time trusting others. Physically it can have an impact on circulation, possible heart and respiratory issues or high/low blood pressure (NB: these can be very serious, life-threatening issues. Please, PLEASE do not rely on crystals or meditation to fix blood pressure or respiratory or heart issues. Ring an ambulance or see your doctor).  If the Heart Chakra is over-active you may experience issues with co-dependency, jealousy, expecting too much of others or being a bit too judge-y, or a need for acceptance.  

How to Unblock or Re-Balance

Anything that brings love and joy into your life. Love is everything. Fill your heart with so much love and gratitude that fear and worry feel uncomfortable and leave.  Love is all encompassing and all powerful.

“The only thing we take when we leave this earth is the love we gave and the love we received” – James VanPraagh.

• Keep a gratitude journal. You may think you have nothing to be grateful for, but you do. Start with 3 things every day.
• Eat your greens. Green is the colour of the Heart Chakra, so get more of that good stuff into you. Leafy greens like broccoli, kale, spinach, bok choi and seaweed, and herbs like oregano, parsley, chives, coriander (unless you think it’s grown by Satan) and the Scarborough Fair 3 – sage, rosemary and thyme.
• Drink green, too. Green tea, green smoothies (chuck in some matcha powder). Other heart opening drinks are rose tea and cacao.
• Heart opening meditations. I’ll be adding a page to my website with links to meditations I find helpful. Hold one of the crystals mentioned while you meditate if you have one, but that’s not necessary, I don’t think.

Source:

www.yogajournal.com

The Chakra Bible by Patricia Mercier

www.villagerockshop.com

Practical Guide to Chakras and Aromatherapy by Salvatore Battaglia

www.moveyoga.co.uk

The fifth Chakra.

Where is it?

In your throat, between the collar bone and the larynx in the neck.

Other Names

Vishuddha, meaning ‘purification’

Element: Ether (space)

Colour: Blue

Essential Oils: Frankincense, Geranium, jasmine, lavender, eucalyptus, sandalwood, tea tree.

Crystals: Amazonite, turquoise, aquamarine, lapis lazuli, blue topaz.

Signs of a Blocked or Imbalanced Throat Chakra

Anything to do with self-expression or communication. The urge to keep your opinions to yourself,

• Being unwilling or unable to speak up for or defend yourself, express your opinion or state your choices.
• Feeling anxious about communicating
• Be fearful about expressing your personal truth or opinion for fear of ridicule
• An imbalance in the other direction could manifest itself by a tendency to talk too much or bleat on without making a clear point, interrupting and talking over people or dominating conversations, or needing to have the final word.

Physically, you may have a raspy or sore throat, mouth ulcers, thyroid issues, sinus or ear infections or tight neck and shoulder muscles

Physically you may have a sore throat, neck pain or thyroid related issues.

How to Unblock or Re-Balance

It’s important to be able to speak openly and honestly, all while doing so with care and concern for others. It’s also important to be able to speak your truth to yourself. When you can express your thoughts clearly, you will find you feel heard and understood.

• Have a professional energy healing session, either Reiki or Prana.
•  Protect your neck, particularly in cold weather or situations you feel you may be vulnerable. A light scarf will do the trick.
• Bring in the colour blue. Wear a blue stone around your neck.
• Do neck stretches. (check out https://www.healthline.com/health/throat-chakra-healing#how-to-heal for some good ones).
• Focus on your breath. A breathing technique called ‘lion’s breath’ is said to be beneficial for the throat chakra (method quoted from https://www.healthline.com/health/throat-chakra-healing#how-to-heal) –
  • Inhale through your nose
  • Open your eyes and mouth wide
  • Stick out your tongue and “roar’ your breath out audibly – the breath you exhale should be loud, like a lion’s roar.
• Good old journaling. This can be especially helpful, here. Writing down things you would like to say and hesitate to will help.
• Chant, sing or hum – anything that will (literally) cause your throat to vibrate.
• There are different yoga poses that help balance/unblock the throat chakra.

Source:

www.healthline.com

www.yogajournal.com

The Chakra Bible by Patricia Mercer

Practical Guide to Chakras and Aromatherapy by Salvatore Battaglia (www.perfectpotion.com.au

The sixth Chakra.

Where is it?

On your forehead, between the eyes slightly above the bridge of your nose.

Other Names

Also known as ‘Anja’, meaning ‘command’.

Associated with vision, intuition, perception, psychic abilities (particularly clairvoyance and clairaudience, [more blogs on the different ‘clairs’ is coming soon]), connection to wisdom, inspiration, and creativity.

Colour: Indigo, or deep blue.

Essential Oils: Anything that brings clarity, is uplifting and helps with connection to higher levels of the mind – lemon, sandalwood, clary sage, juniper, bergamot, rosemary or lavender.

Crystals: Amethyst, Blue Quartz, Lapis Lazuli, Black Obsidian, Labrodite, Kyanite, Blue Apatite

Signs of a Blocked or Imbalanced Root Chakra

• Find difficulty in being able to see the ‘big picture’ or to have a vision of your life’s purpose
• Indulge in fantasies because you feel your life lacks meaning
• Find it hard to gain clarity in your life
• Fear of looking ‘within’
• Trouble sleeping, nightmares, headaches, hormone imbalances, sinus and eye issues and feeling burnt out
• Feel insignificant or that you have no purpose, feeling stuck and unable to move forward, fear of criticism, believing your beliefs are reality, feeling like the world is out to get you or fear of change

How to Unblock or Re-Balance

• Get purple foods into you – like grapes, red cabbage, blackberries, blueberries, red onions, purple potatoes or lavender tea.
• Dark chocolate. Seriously. It has anti-oxidants and enhances mental clarity.
• Meditations on opening your third eye (solfeggio frequency 852Hz)
• Find yoga poses that help open the third eye – Downward Facing Dog, Childs Pose, Lotus, Eagle Pose
• Affirmations. Eg –
  • The answers to all my questions are within me
  • I trust my inner self to guide and protect me
  • I trust my intuition always
  • I am connected to my higher power
  • I am connected to the wisdom of the universe
• Surround yourself with the colour Indigo or Purple – wear it, carry or wear a purple crystal, like Amethyst.

Source:

www.mindbodygreen.com

www.healthline.com

www.cosmiccuts.com