Healthy chakras seven energy fuels our spiritual life and our connection to metaphysical realms. An overview with advuce to nurture personal power.
Do you move through your days calmly, serene in the knowledge that all is as it should be? Are prayer and meditation a normal, natural part of your routine? Can you tune in easily to your intuition? Have you experienced a "dark night of the soul" and come through it with a new awareness of your purpose on earth? Is your spiritual loyalty more to a personally chosen belief system than to a religious doctrine formed by others?
If you answered yes, you have a healthy seventh chakra. This energy center, physically located at the top of the head where the fontanels join (the baby's "soft spot") or slightly above it, relates to our higher consciousness and our spiritual life. It is with seventh chakra energy that we gain perspective in a broad sense, the ability to see beyond the day to day patterns of our lives, and a willingness to use our personal skills (or gifts) to benefit others. Using this energy, we set the patterns for our relationship to the Divine and for how we use this relationship in our life.
This chakra is the collection point for energy coming from sources beyond the material, earth bound ones. It fuels our prayer life and allows spirituality to become a central part of the way we live. It generates devotion, mystical connections, and faith in the constant presence of the Divine.
Unlike the grounding, earth-centered energy of the first chakra, or the fluid connecting of the second chakra, this center helps us to separate from people and things around us and move into a spiritual life that is uniquely our own. Then, when we choose to express our spiritual nature within a group, we add dimension and depth to the group as a whole; we are drawing on our own spiritual power.
People with healthy seventh chakra energy trust their intuition in ways that might appear beyond the human "norm." Oftentimes, they have insights with no conscious clue to where they came from. They have an open pipeline to Universal Intelligence--that wisdom that moves the human race forward in its development, access to truly inspired ideas and ways of solving problems that have never been tried before. They are seen as the saints that walk among us. They trust Divine Guidance to lead them through their lives in ways that might make no sense to other people or, even to themselves. These are the humans who do small things in great ways and benefit all humankind.
The Dalai Lama, Mother Theresa, and Peace Pilgrim are among this century's spiritual leaders that have chosen simple, divinely inspired lives and impacted millions of others with their example. They express no embarrassment or shame about praying, meditating or doing God's will with whatever gifts they have been given.
This is not a lethargic energy, or a "whatever" kind of attitude. Rather, seventh chakra energy allows a person to align themselves with their highest calling. It requires a willingness to be and to do whatever is necessary for the Highest Good.
This willingness also opens up some of the deepest fears of humans: the fear of abandonment by God, facing the need to let previous parts of our lives "die" after they have run their course or served their purpose; releasing regrets about what we may or may not have done. It calls us to retrieve the pieces of our soul that have gotten "stuck" in the coulda, woulda, shoulda corners of our past so that we can live in our present moment and look to our spiritual future.
Persons with an over-developed seventh chakra energy that is not balanced by the other, more physical connections that we humans require for healthy functioning, might exhibit a kind of spiritual dominance, a "holier than thou" attitude of one who has "seen the Light" and decided that all others must see the same Light in the same way. They may have an oppressively superior attitude in all things spiritual. Or, the ungrounded energy might show up as a frequent "spacing out" or becoming detached or disassociated from daily routine.
Persons who are functioning with an under-developed seventh chakra sometimes have difficulty thinking for themselves, especially in spiritual matters. They will depend on others to set the patterns for their religious practices, or continue following a rigid belief system even after they consciously know it makes no sense to their own needs.
We suppress development of this spiritual power by expressing an attitude of "I'd rather not know," and choosing to remain ignorant rather than learning from our experiences or seeking new knowledge and insight. We can also damage its influence in our lives by regarding spirituality as weird, unimportant, or belonging only inside a particular religion.
A true spiritual awakening calls for a separation from the protection of the "tribe" of family, community, and belongings for the duration. The power of the spiritual energy and knowledge of the seventh chakra requires that it be "grounded," like a lightning rod needs to be sunk into earth to direct its force. We can nurture both the power and it's grounding by regular prayer and meditation, by tuning in to what our bodies are "saying" with their reactions to ideas and people we come across -- like having an "aha" moment or experiencing an internal chill.
We can begin to be more in tune with our personal spiritual energy by taking steps on the mental, physical, emotional, or spiritual planes. Pick a beginning place that is easy for you as a starting point--developing any one aspect will automatically enhance the others.
Here are some common associations with seventh chakra energy and some ways to use them in everyday life:
ELEMENT: Thought. Study your thoughts. Pick one that passes through your mind, ask yourself where it came from, who else in your life thinks that, whether it adds or detracts from your life.
SOUND: Silence. Spend an hour, or a day, in complete silence and tune in to what nature has to offer you. Explore how comfortable or uneasy you are without external sound--no television or radio pulling you outside yourself. -OR- Full orchestral music. Listen to recordings of classical music, turned full volume, and pay attention to the physical responses your body has to the music.
COLOR: Violet. Use pale purples in your clothing or in your home decorating while you focus on your prayer life.
FOODS: None. (fasting) Do this only with the guidance of a health care professional or a spiritual counselor!
INCENSE: Lotus
GEMSTONES: Diamonds, clear quartz crystal
EXERCISES: Hatha yoga. Meditation. Stillness.
QUESTIONS FOR JOURNALING:
Do you meditate? Have you started a meditation practice, then stopped? Why?
Do you have strong spiritual practices?
Are you consciously aware of your thoughts, actions, motives?
What guidance have you requested during prayer or meditation?
What answers do you fear the most?
Are you committed to a particular spiritual path?
What spiritual truths do you know but not live by?
Are you afraid of a spiritual life because of changes it might require from you?
