The art of meditating is actually easier to learn than you might imagine. Of course, as with anything, practice makes it easier and easier. Whether you are aware of it or not you probably actively participate in conscious relaxation during times of stress. Did you hold a pleasant thought in your mind last time you were at the dentist? At times of stress it’s only natural to seek that ‘happy, quiet place’.
How do you begin? The easiest technique is breath awareness and you begin by simple paying attention to your breath. When you shift your attention to each breath slowly and deeply drawn and released, you shift your mind into a quiet mode, releasing your mind clutter and silencing the 'monkey mind' that constantly tries to invade our thoughts and emotions. The result of this shift is peace, serenity, calmness and inspiration.
The practice of meditation is so beneficial and so easy, it’s a wonder more people haven’t developed their own practice. Through the practice of meditation not only can we eliminate stress and connect to the Divine, we can heal and balance our body, mind and spirit. By siting quietly we can quiet the ego and come to Spirit. We can ground and center casting off stress and negativity and we can draw energy to the energy centers or chakra points revitalizing each point to function to its fullest potential.
There are seven main chakras located in our body, five of which are located along the spine, the upper two on our head. Each chakra is associated with a different energy level beginning with the lowest, the root chakra which stands for the pure matter, to the highest, the crown chakra which represents the pure consciousness. Energy flows through these centers and the flow of energy affects our health. Through meditation we can balance and aligned each energy centers setting the chakras to glow and spin like bright jewels.
More on Chakras:
The word chakra is Sanskrit for wheel or disk and signifies one of seven basic energy centers in the body.
First Chakra: Color: Red The base or root chakra located at the base of the spine. Responsible for basic survival needs, groundedness, sexuality and strength.
Second Chakra: Color: Orange the Womb/Spleen or sacral chakra is located below the navel. Responsible for: creativity, intimacy and warmth.
Third Chakra: color: Yellow The Solar Plexus chakra located above the navel. Responsible for: confidence, power and learning.
Fourth Chakra: Color: Green Heart chakra located in the middle of the chest. Responsible for: love, healing, unity, empathy and service.
Fifth Chakra Color: Sky Blue Throat Chakra located at the throat. Responsible for: communication, creativity and expression.
Sixth Chakra Color: Indigo or White Third eye chakra located between the eyebrows just above the bridge of the nose. Responsible for: Psychic abilities and higher consciousness.
First Chakra: Color: Red The base or root chakra located at the base of the spine. Responsible for basic survival needs, groundedness, sexuality and strength.
Second Chakra: Color: Orange the Womb/Spleen or sacral chakra is located below the navel. Responsible for: creativity, intimacy and warmth.
Third Chakra: color: Yellow The Solar Plexus chakra located above the navel. Responsible for: confidence, power and learning.
Fourth Chakra: Color: Green Heart chakra located in the middle of the chest. Responsible for: love, healing, unity, empathy and service.
Fifth Chakra Color: Sky Blue Throat Chakra located at the throat. Responsible for: communication, creativity and expression.
Sixth Chakra Color: Indigo or White Third eye chakra located between the eyebrows just above the bridge of the nose. Responsible for: Psychic abilities and higher consciousness.
Seventh Chakra Color: Purple Crown chakra located at the top of the head. Responsible for: spirit and higher self.
The first step is learning to quiet your mind and relax. Want to ramp up your intuition? Or stimulate your psychic connectivity? Then try this relaxation exercise.
Find a comfortable place in a quiet room. You need at least 20 uninterrupted minutes. Sit with your back straight, breathe and relax. Do this by focusing your attention first on one part of your body and moving down consciously relaxing your muscles and releasing the stress as you go.
Relax, and let your shoulders drop a bit. Bring your attention to your breath. Notice as you chest rises gently with each inhalation and falls as you exhale. This is called a conscious breath. we will use this conscious breathing technique as move through the next few exercises. When you notice your attention has wandered, gently bring your attention back to the rise and fall of your chest without judgment.
So we begin. Take a deep cleansing breath, hold for 3 seconds and then breathe out the all of the tension in your body.
Feel your body begin to relax beginning with your feet. Let go of any stress you might be holding there and simply allow them to be calm and loose. Allow the relaxation to spread over your feet, and up to your ankles.
Feel the relaxation rising above your ankles, flowing up your lower legs. Let the muscles of your calves relax as the day's stress slips from them. Allow the relaxation to move up to your knees continuing up to your thighs...Allow the relaxation to continue to spread throughout your body, rising now up your spine to your hips and pelvic area allowing all the muscles in your lower back to relax.
Breathe and allow the wave of relation to flow up your spine to your stomach and over your chest and upper back....let your shoulder blades relax, allow the relaxation to flow down your arms ... feel the stress in you biceps, your elbows and wrists let go. Feel the relaxation spread down into your hands... relaxing your palms, the back of your hand and each finger and thumb.... until your hands feel pleasantly heavy and warm.
Feel your body relaxing further as your shoulders rest, the stress in you neck lets go, your jaw relaxes as all the day's stress seeps away and each and every muscles bathes in the oxygen generated from each deep breath you take. Allow the sensation to spread to the back of your head.... your cheeks and nose.... over your closed eyes....Feel your eyelids as they become heavy and relaxed....Notice your face as it relaxes, the tension releasing from your eyebrows, your ears and forehead ... Let the relaxation spread over the top of your head....
Your entire body now is relaxed and calm. You are light and comfortable as relaxation flows from the bottom of your feet to the top of your head Breathe in.... and as you breathe know that you are breathing in relaxation and healing energy in the oxygen that aids your cells and heals ...Imagine that the air you are breathing cleanses your body as it removes all of life's tension.
Allow yourself to remain here as long as you want then when you are ready to return to your usual level of wakefulness and alertness, feel your body and mind becoming more aware of your surroundings.
Grounding, chakra healing exercise
Relax, and let your shoulders drop a bit. Bring your attention to your breath. Notice as you chest rises gently with each inhalation and falls as you exhale. This is called a conscious breath. we will use this conscious breathing technique as move through the next few exercises. When you notice your attention has wandered, gently bring your attention back to the rise and fall of your chest without judgment.
So we begin. Take a deep cleansing breath, hold for 3 seconds and then breathe out the all of the tension in your body.
Feel your body begin to relax beginning with your feet. Let go of any stress you might be holding there and simply allow them to be calm and loose. Allow the relaxation to spread over your feet, and up to your ankles.
Feel the relaxation rising above your ankles, flowing up your lower legs. Let the muscles of your calves relax as the day's stress slips from them. Allow the relaxation to move up to your knees continuing up to your thighs...Allow the relaxation to continue to spread throughout your body, rising now up your spine to your hips and pelvic area allowing all the muscles in your lower back to relax.
Breathe and allow the wave of relation to flow up your spine to your stomach and over your chest and upper back....let your shoulder blades relax, allow the relaxation to flow down your arms ... feel the stress in you biceps, your elbows and wrists let go. Feel the relaxation spread down into your hands... relaxing your palms, the back of your hand and each finger and thumb.... until your hands feel pleasantly heavy and warm.
Feel your body relaxing further as your shoulders rest, the stress in you neck lets go, your jaw relaxes as all the day's stress seeps away and each and every muscles bathes in the oxygen generated from each deep breath you take. Allow the sensation to spread to the back of your head.... your cheeks and nose.... over your closed eyes....Feel your eyelids as they become heavy and relaxed....Notice your face as it relaxes, the tension releasing from your eyebrows, your ears and forehead ... Let the relaxation spread over the top of your head....
Your entire body now is relaxed and calm. You are light and comfortable as relaxation flows from the bottom of your feet to the top of your head Breathe in.... and as you breathe know that you are breathing in relaxation and healing energy in the oxygen that aids your cells and heals ...Imagine that the air you are breathing cleanses your body as it removes all of life's tension.
Allow yourself to remain here as long as you want then when you are ready to return to your usual level of wakefulness and alertness, feel your body and mind becoming more aware of your surroundings.
Grounding, chakra healing exercise
There are different elements and each has a different energy. For this exercise we will use the cool healing energy of the earth. Begin with the relaxation technique used above and when you are ready, allow yourself to connect to the energy of the earth. There are several way to do this. Some create a grounding cord that grows from the base of your spine and plunges deep into the earth but I favor a root visualization for this you simply visualize roots growing from the bottom of your feet to travel down into the earth to drink from the cool pooled energy beneath our feet.
After you have established your connection, feel the earth energy rising up through the bottom of your feet; up through your ankles and calves; earth energy rising up through your knees and thighs; up through your pelvic area; earth energy flowing up through your abdomen and lower back; rising up through your hands and arms.
After you have established your connection, feel the earth energy rising up through the bottom of your feet; up through your ankles and calves; earth energy rising up through your knees and thighs; up through your pelvic area; earth energy flowing up through your abdomen and lower back; rising up through your hands and arms.
Imagine earth energy flowing up through your chest and back; up through your shoulders and neck, chin, jaw, face; earth energy flowing up through your scalp.
This earth energy flows up and up over the top of your head and flows back down to the earth. You have a continuous flow of energy from the earth, flowing up through your body and up through all the layers and levels of energy around your body and then spilling over and flowing back down to the earth in an endless loop.
Now envision this earth energy moving up along the spine from your tail bone flowing colorfully up toward the brain, opening the chakras one by along the way until they spin like bright jewels and you aura glows with their color like a rainbow.
Here is a lovely grounding Tree meditation to heal your aura.
We ground ourselves at the base or root chakra located at the base of the spine. This is the energy center responsible for our basic survival needs, groundedness, sexuality and strength. Through this center we can ground and connect with earth energies and empower our beings.
An easy way to ground is with a Tree Meditation. “Tree” is a lovely grounding exercise that will neutralize negative energy and replace it with earth energy. It is also wonderful if you have a tendency to be "spacey". By imagining you have roots that extend down into the ground you can draw on the cool energy of the earth to release your anxieties are draw on healing energies from the earth source.
To begin find a quiet place where you will not be interrupted. Allow yourself 20 to 30 minutes for this exercise. It is best to dim the lights and sit comfortably in a chair or on the floor, keeping your spine straight.
Now visualize roots slowly extending from your feet. Slowly they travel down, down, until they meet the soil. (This is easy if you are outside. I like to do this exercise in my garden where I take off my shoes and plunge my toes into the soil. But if you are inside, imagine them traveling down throughout the layers of the building, down through the foundation and eventually into the soil.)
Imagine the feel of the cool, secure soil all around your roots, keeping you safe, taking away all negativity.
Imagine the feel of the cool, secure soil all around your roots, keeping you safe, taking away all negativity.
Breathe deep the smell of fresh, wholesome earth and imagine that you are a giant tree.
You are sturdy and confident. You are part of the earth.
Your roots go down deep into the earth and all excess nervous energy, tension, and stress flow down your roots and seep harmlessly into the soil, where the loving earth accepts and neutralizes it. In return, the earth sends back calming nutrients, stability, and ancient serenity.
Breathe deep as you draw this cool energy up your roots up past your feet. With each breath draw the cool earth energy up your trunk until you have nourished each finger tip, each strand of hair, each branch extending out into space…
You are sturdy and confident. You are part of the earth.
Your roots go down deep into the earth and all excess nervous energy, tension, and stress flow down your roots and seep harmlessly into the soil, where the loving earth accepts and neutralizes it. In return, the earth sends back calming nutrients, stability, and ancient serenity.
Breathe deep as you draw this cool energy up your roots up past your feet. With each breath draw the cool earth energy up your trunk until you have nourished each finger tip, each strand of hair, each branch extending out into space…
You are an ancient tree; your roots go deep into the ground. You think about last spring's rain and feel your life force recharge.
You breathe deep and feel how you heart is calm, your spirit revitalized, your energy centers full, and you ready for anything.
Here is wonderful charka energizing method:
In a quiet place where you will not be interrupted. Visualize a lovely white light pooling around you, enveloping you. This cool, light energy surrounds you to fill your first chakra with a red energy. This radiating ruby red energy should be spinning, swirling in a clockwise motions. If it is not, then place your hand over the area and visualize the light energy, traveling up your spine filling the chakra until the chakra is glowing with radiant ruby light and spins like a bright jewel.
Leave your hand on the area until the chakra is activated and swirling, spinning like a fan, spinning clockwise. Feel the chakra swirling with bright red light. See the white light moving through this chakra until it is bright and beautiful.
Now move up to your sacral chakra, which is located close to the area of the pubic bone. Visualize the chakra as magnificent, radiating sunset orange. If it is not spinning, then do the activation process again and watch it swirl like a spinning fan, moving clockwise.
Now bring your focus to your solar plexus chakra that is located slightly above your navel. Picture the chakra as lovely, radiating sunshine yellow. If it’s not spinning, activate the chakra and watch it swirl like a spinning fan moving clockwise. Feel it swirl with bright yellow light.
Concentrate on your heart chakra located in your chest. Imagine the chakra a dazzling, glorious emerald green. If it’s not spinning, activate the chakra and watch it swirl like a spinning fan moving clockwise. See the white light moving through this chakra energizing it to a bright green spinning jewel.
Move up to your throat chakra. Imagine the luminous sky blue energy whirling and flowing. If it’s not spinning, then activate as before until the chakra is swirling like a spinning fan moving clockwise. Feel the energy vortex swirling with bright sky-blue light. See the white light moving through this chakra.
Shift your attention to your third-eye chakra located between your eyebrows. Feel your forehead open and expand as the intense violet light energy flows in this chakra. Activate the chakra and watch as it becomes even more bright and glorious.
Lastly bring your focus up to your crown chakra. Feel the top of your head open and expand as the shining violet-white light whirls in a clockwise motion. If it’s not spinning, activate it so that it swirls in a clockwise motion. See the loop of white light moving through your chakra and spilling out the top of your head and over your aura to heal and energize it. Run the energy as long as you like.
You can experiment with other senses. The sense of sound is a powerful sensesyou can utilize and one way to do this is by incorporating drumming into your meditation. Drumming is a great way to balance and aligned each chakras. Just focus your attention on the individual chakras while drumming and visualize each energy center becoming active.
First, select a location where you will not be interrupted. It must be a quiet space, at least for the duration of the exercise. Allow yourself fifteen to thirty minutes for this exercise.
Now smudge the space and yourself with the smoke of an herb. I like using Sage. Smudging cleanses the mind and environment in preparation for spiritual or inner work. The sacred smoke dispels any stagnant or unwanted energy.
Sit comfortably in a chair or on the floor, keeping your spine straight. Calm and focus your mind by performing a simple breathing exercise. Close your eyes and focus on the breath as it enters the nose and fills your lungs, then gently exhale any tension you might feel. Continue breathing with a series of even inhalations and exhalations until you are calm and relaxed.
Once you are fully relaxed, begin drumming a slow steady rhythm keeping with your pulse or heartbeat. Take time to draw a deep breath and sustain this healing rhythm until the end of the exercise.
Focus your attention on the physical location of each chakra, one at a time, beginning with your root chakra at the base of the spine. Visualize a red disc of light spinning gathering energy until it glows. Now imagine this energy center pulsating in sync with the heartbeat of your drum. Feel the sound of the drum vibrating at the base of your spine. As the sound resonates though your root chakra, experience this energy center awakening, balancing, and aligning with the other chakras.
Hold your attention on this chakra for a minute or two, and then move up to the next.
The second chakra is located about two inches below the navel and is orange in color. Focus on the sound as it resonates though this energy center, experience this chakra glowing like an orange spinning jewel as it awakens, balances and aligns with the other chakras.
Move up to the area above the navel in your solar plexus and focus on the third chakra, which is yellow in color. Focus on this point and let the rhythm of the drum resonate though this point until it too awakens, Glowing a bright yellow, balances and aligns with the other chakras.
Move up to the center of the chest and focus on your heart chakra, hold your focus until it is spinning green jewel of energy. Awakened, balanced and aligned with the other chakras.
Focus your attention on the physical location of each chakra, one at a time, beginning with your root chakra at the base of the spine. Visualize a red disc of light spinning gathering energy until it glows. Now imagine this energy center pulsating in sync with the heartbeat of your drum. Feel the sound of the drum vibrating at the base of your spine. As the sound resonates though your root chakra, experience this energy center awakening, balancing, and aligning with the other chakras.
Hold your attention on this chakra for a minute or two, and then move up to the next.
The second chakra is located about two inches below the navel and is orange in color. Focus on the sound as it resonates though this energy center, experience this chakra glowing like an orange spinning jewel as it awakens, balances and aligns with the other chakras.
Move up to the area above the navel in your solar plexus and focus on the third chakra, which is yellow in color. Focus on this point and let the rhythm of the drum resonate though this point until it too awakens, Glowing a bright yellow, balances and aligns with the other chakras.
Move up to the center of the chest and focus on your heart chakra, hold your focus until it is spinning green jewel of energy. Awakened, balanced and aligned with the other chakras.
Move up to your throat and focus on the blue of this chakra, which is blue in color. Feel the rhythm of the drum resonate though this point until it too awakens, glowing a brilliant spinning jewel of blue and it balances and aligns with the other chakras.
Move up to the area between and slightly above the eyebrows and focus on your brow chakra, which is indigo in color. Let the beat of the drum awaken this energy center as it pulses through to balance and align it with the other spinning brilliantly glowing chakra points.
Now move up to the top of your head and focus on the crown chakra, which is violet in color. Focus on this spot letting the rhythm of the drum heal and reenergize this area.
Move up to the area between and slightly above the eyebrows and focus on your brow chakra, which is indigo in color. Let the beat of the drum awaken this energy center as it pulses through to balance and align it with the other spinning brilliantly glowing chakra points.
Now move up to the top of your head and focus on the crown chakra, which is violet in color. Focus on this spot letting the rhythm of the drum heal and reenergize this area.
End the exercise with four strong beats.
At the completion of this exercise, sit quietly for several minutes. If you feel lightheaded, take a moment to ground by visualizing roots extending downward from the base chakra deep into the Earth. When you feel grounded, open your eyes and slowly come back to this reality.
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