Jai Bhawan everybody and welcome to the Ayurvedic woman podcast.
It's so great to have you here and today we are going to do a little bit about the chakras and do a chakra yoga nidra.
I'm actually really excited for this.
So the chakras,
A lot of us have heard a lot about the chakras,
Especially those of you who are yoga teachers.
And the chakras are energetic centers that are part of the subtle body.
The word chakra means wheel and they are strong upon the sushumna nadi,
The central channel of the body,
Like lotus flowers.
And this metaphor represents the unfolding of our consciousness.
You'll often see deities with a discus in their hand representing this unfolding.
And actually in the Bhagavad Gita we read about how Krishna uses his chakra to slice through the illusion of maya in the material world to bring about a higher vibration of universal consciousness.
I love that.
In a world that is largely unconscious,
The chakras can prove to be a powerful energetic tool to tap into to bring us back and bring us closer to our true self.
In Ayurveda we are always trying to stay connected to source because we know that the primordial space of disease is when we don't have connection to source.
So we are always trying to stay connected to source,
Always in sadhana to maintain our health on all kosher levels,
All the layers of our being from the anamaya to the anandamaya.
By meditating on and with the chakras we can get back to source,
We can increase our awareness,
We can increase our health,
We can increase our consciousness.
Anadeya Judith,
And for those of you who may know her work,
She is kind of the queen of chakras in the west,
And she wrote a fantastic text in the mid 1990s called Eastern Body,
Western Mind.
And it's a classic.
She puts the energy of the chakras akin to that of a rainbow.
And she writes this piece that I wanted to share with you.
So it's a little bit long,
But I think it is incredibly worth it.
So hang on a second,
Let me get my text.
She says,
The seven colors of the rainbow represent an alternative to our binary black and white consciousness,
Offering us a world of multiple opportunities.
The rainbow expresses the diversity of light as it moves from source to manifestation.
Its seven colors represent seven vibratory modalities of human existence related to the seven chakras of Indian yogic tradition,
Energy centers that exist within each one of us.
Yoga philosophy teaches us that the serpent goddess Kundalini represents the evolutionary life force within each person.
She awakens from her slumber in the dance all the way through each chakra,
Reestablishing the rainbow as a metaphysical bridge between matter and consciousness.
Through this dance of transformation,
The rainbow becomes the axis mundi,
The central axis of the world that runs through the vertical core of each one of us.
On our journey through life,
The chakras are the wheels along this axis that take the vehicle of the self along our evolutionary quest across the rainbow bridge to reclaim our divine nature once again.
Crossing the rainbow bridge is a mythic metaphor for the evolution of consciousness.
To reclaim a myth is to put our personal work into a larger context,
A context which deepens the meaning of our individual struggle.
To restore the rainbow bridge is to reconnect to our own divinity,
Anchoring it in the world around us and healing the rifts that so plague our world.
Mythologically,
The rainbow has always been a sign of hope.
I love that.
It's always been a sign of hope.
A connection between heaven and earth,
A sign of harmony and peace.
It was once believed that deities,
Spirits,
And mortals passed along its bands of color both during life and after,
Protecting the indivisibility of sky and earth.
In Norse mythology,
The rainbow bridge connected humans to the gods and provided the link to Valhalla,
The celestial place where the gods had their dwelling.
The rainbow,
As archetypal symbol,
Appears in many mythologies throughout the world.
In Hindu mythology,
The goddess Maya created the world of seven rainbow-hued veils.
In Egyptian mythology,
It was the seven stoles of Isis.
In Christianity,
The seven veils of Salome.
For the Babylonians,
It was Ishtar's rainbow-jeweled necklace.
And for the Greeks,
The winged iris who carried the gods' messages to humans on earth.
From Celtic myth,
The pot of gold at the rainbow's end represents a kind of holy grail,
The lost vessel of spiritual renewal and fulfillment.
Carl Jung referred to gold as the symbolic end product of inner alchemical transformation.
Passage through the chakras is an alchemical process of increasing refinement that unites light and shadow,
Male and female,
Spirit and matter,
All in the crucible of the body and psyche.
The pot of gold is indeed the elusive philosopher's stone that lures us into the heroic journey of transformation.
Isn't that beautiful?
So now,
I would like for you to take the next few moments to transition into a comfortable lying down position,
Preferably on the floor,
To get ready for yoga nidra.
If the floor is not an option,
Then just find a space and position that is comfortable where you can remain absolutely still.
You may want a blanket to cover yourself as well as support under your knees and head.
So just take a few minutes to do that.
And now just take a few centering breaths,
Inhale and sigh it out.
And as you're ready,
Close your eyes and quiet your mind.
Be still.
Let go of all thoughts,
Worry and tension.
Give yourself fully to a higher power.
Relax.
Trust and let go.
Breathe in fully and exhale with a deep sigh.
And again,
Breathe in fully and exhale with a deep sigh.
Feel a deep sense of contentment and peace in your heart.
We will move our attention into the body to release trapped energy and move deeper into total relaxation.
Those with cardiac disease,
Hypertension,
Glaucoma should use caution.
If you cannot have any undue pressure in the head for any reason,
It's important that you breathe normally as you tense the body in this activity.
As you inhale,
Make fists and deliberately induce stiffness and tension throughout your shoulders,
Arms and fists,
Tighten,
Tighten even more.
Now completely let go.
Relax.
On your next exhalation,
Relax even more.
Let go.
Breathe in.
Feel the flow of energy in your arms.
This time as you inhale,
Deliberately induce stiffness and tension in the hips,
Legs and feet.
Tighten,
Tighten,
Hold,
Hold and let go.
Let go completely.
Relax.
Observe the flow of energy in your legs.
This time tighten and tense the entire body as you inhale,
Arms,
Hands,
Feet,
Shoulders,
Legs,
Face,
Buttocks,
Tighten,
Tighten,
Hold,
Hold and now let go completely.
Relax.
On your next exhalation,
Relax even more.
Observe and feel the energy extending to all the muscles,
Nerves and cells of your entire body.
Let your whole body melt into the floor.
Let it go limp like a rag doll.
Release any holding anywhere.
Feel yourself descending down into the stillness beneath the mind.
Feel yourself held in absolute stillness.
Observe yourself fully in the feeling that is present.
As we enter this next phase of yoga nidra,
Remain as motionless as possible.
If you need to move or make an adjustment,
Do so mindfully and return to stillness as soon as you are able.
Resolve to remain awake,
Staying in touch with the sound of my voice.
Allow your entire body to respond to my words directly and non-mentally.
Allow any disturbances external or internal to draw you more deeply within.
In yoga nidra,
You enter the subconscious pranic field.
Let your mind merge and melt into the energy body and go beyond the boundaries of body and mind.
Now shift from thinking and doing to feeling and being.
Do absolutely nothing from now on.
Simply relax.
Drop into the deepest state of tranquility,
Stillness and peace held within the third eye.
Your consciousness is in direct communion with your energy body.
As you breathe in through your nose,
Fill your lungs fully and completely without straining.
Now start exhaling through softly pursed lips as if you were blowing through a straw.
Let it be a prolonged steady stream of breath and empty your lungs completely.
As you inhale,
Fill your heart with joy.
Each time you exhale,
Empty your mind of all anticipations and empty your body of all tensions.
Each time you inhale,
Drop into a deeper level of silent awareness and experience the balancing and relaxing impact of the parasympathetic nervous system.
Continue to breathe with constant attention and detached awareness.
Return to your normal breathing pattern and bring your attention inward.
Bring your total undivided attention to the eyebrow center and drop into the deepest level of silent stillness,
Peace and harmony.
Let go.
Let go even more.
Enter an effortless state of being.
Notice all your attention at the root chakra,
Muladhara,
Located at the base of the spine.
Feel this area begin to glow and pulse.
Feel the earthly,
Dense quality of this chakra.
Let this grounding be a foundation for awakening into higher centers of consciousness,
Tendencies of the conditioned past moving energies down and out,
Now freed to move inward and upward toward liberation.
Energy rising through the feet,
Legs,
Perineum,
And up through the central energy channel,
Sushumna,
Nourishing and awakening higher centers of consciousness.
Now bring your attention to the second chakra,
Svaristana,
Located in the pelvis,
The area of the reproductive organs,
And the sacral nerve plexus.
Feel this area beginning to pulse and glow,
Allowing divine shakti to nourish reproductive functions and sensuality.
Notice your body filled with divine light and love.
Now bring your total attention to manipura chakra,
The third chakra,
Located at the navel,
Associated with the solar plexus of nerves that nurtures all the abdominal organs.
Feel this area beginning to pulse and glow.
Allow the primal forces of aggression and compulsion to dissolve in the light of your awareness,
And sense this being converted to clarity,
Confidence,
And strength,
Allowing you to face all challenges with equanimity and dignity.
Feel that you are now free of all limitations.
Your inner core feels vital and strong and connected to source.
You lack absolutely nothing.
Now breathe into the heart center,
Anahata chakra,
The fourth chakra.
Feel the area in the middle of the chest beginning to pulse and glow.
Experience the regenerative,
Restorative healing power activating health and the functioning of the heart,
The lungs,
And the thymus gland.
See the center of your heart transmuting the energies of the lower chakras,
And experience a deep sense of love and compassion.
Feel yourself becoming a beacon of light and love.
Now bring your attention to the fifth chakra,
Vishuddha,
The area of the throat,
The cervical nerve plexus.
Feel the throat and thyroid gland glow and pulse.
See yourself entering into the expansiveness of the throat chakra from where you can reclaim your voice of wisdom.
You are free from all inhibitions and limitations to awaken creative expression.
Now bring your attention to the sixth chakra,
Ajna,
The third eye.
Feeling the area between the eyebrows and also three inches in towards the center of the brain as it begins to glow and pulse.
Feel the pituitary and pineal glands being reactivated and rejuvenated deep inside the brain.
Receive the time-transcendent nectar of amrita that comes from the pineal gland and penetrates and spreads through every cell of your being.
Rest in awareness.
Now see a thousand-paddled lotus at the crown of your head,
Sahasrara chakra,
The seventh chakra.
Feel all the chakras spontaneously and effortlessly aligned.
Energy moving unimpeded towards the crown,
The whole body surrounded and permeated by light.
All boundaries and illusions of separateness disappearing as you dissolve and disappear into the presence.
Let your mind merge and melt into the presence and enter the sanctuary of silence.
Remain empty and free from all doing.
Feel yourself as time-transcendent presence right now.
As I focus on the spot between my eyebrows,
The healing transformative power of the pineal gland is reactivated.
I am the seer,
The witness of all that is seen,
Unaffected by all that is in perpetual change.
I am a clear channel for the free flow of divine guidance.
Establish yourself firmly in faith and trust to receive the grace,
Protection,
And guidance of the higher self within you.
The more often you go to your source,
The easier it will be to return and the longer you can stay there.
You are the emissary of light and love.
Carry it everywhere you go and to everyone you meet.
Now begin to become aware of the rising and falling of the breath.
Slowly feel yourself beginning to rise to the surface of awareness.
Notice the body resting on the floor,
The quality of the air as it touches the skin.
Gradually you can move as if you are waking from a restful sleep.
Bend your knees and pull them closer to your chest,
Gently rocking sideways.
Take your time.
There's no reason to hurry.
And when you're ready,
Turn onto your right side and curl into a fetal position.
Feel the safety,
Comfort,
And protection of the womb of existence.
Now you can gradually move and begin to sit up,
Keeping the eyes closed.
Continue to stay deep in this deep inner experience.
Regardless of what you consciously recognize that has or has not changed,
Know that something deep within has shifted to connect you to source.
Become aware of your body and bring a sense of peace and contentment with you as you bring your attention back into the body.
Notice how relaxed the body is,
How soft the breath is,
How silent the mind is,
How quiet the heartbeat is.
Be still and be grateful and know that you can easily enter this space again and again.
And when you're ready,
You can slowly open your eyes.
Good day,
Bhagwan.
And may your soul be victorious.
