Aligning your chakras through Yoga

ALIGNING CHAKRAS ENERGY THROUGH YOGA
 
Yoga is a highly effective way to balance each chakra, since it creates alignment in both the physical and subtle body.  A regular yoga practice cleanses and restores the mind and body through breathing techniques and postures called asanas.  Asanas and breathing purify the chakras: yoga is not a work-out, it’s a work-in that has the power to energise, strengthen and heal the body and mind.  

We generally focus our attention outward: on the TV, on the mobile phone, on the road, on the tasks we do every day.   Yoga allows us to look inward in order to acknowledge that place where our inner self resides and shines.  The place where the subtle energy of our chakras flows and makes us feel alive. Through our yoga practice, we feel grounded and our mind gradually comes to a state of clarity, tranquillity and peace.  
Breathing techniques used in yoga are a powerful vector of healing chakras, techniques that are enhanced when combined with meditation, affirmations and visualisation. Please don’t forget that you are the creator of your own reality. You can definitely do your chakra activation practice!
 
Meditate to balance your chakras
Our brain is constantly chatting, planning, designing…it is constantly in motion.  The idea of meditation is to make it quiet, silent and attentive and in that attention find what is eternal and sacred. 
Meditation is an empowerment tool to expand our consciousness and self-awareness and to focus the mind.  It calms our nervous system and gives the body a rest that may be even deeper than sleep.  It is a great way to settle down the mind and to get in touch with your inner self.  You relax into your true nature, where you can find peace and joy.
However, meditation is not always for the purpose of moving into states of stillness. Meditation can also be used as a way to check in with ourselves and better direct our energy, such as the case of guided meditation, which allows you to be in conscious, present creation of yourself. Guided meditations, led by a trained professional, provide instruction on what to focus on, and uses guided imagery (such as imagining a healing light travelling up and down your spine, for instance), to enhance the experience.  Both unguided and guided meditation facilitate a transformative inner experience.  
Of course that healing through meditation may not be easy.  At the beginning, knowing what to do or what to expect may be a real challenge.  But meditation is not about doing anything right, it is about being in a state, finding tranquillity through relaxation of body and mind. Once your mind and body are accustomed to the process of meditation, you will get lots of positive change since it will greatly enhance your self-healing power. It will reduce your negative self-talk, strengthen your coping mechanisms, help you sleep well and connect with your highest, deepest wisdom, among many other benefits.
 
Visualisation
Visualisation is the method of picturing positive images or ideas.  It means that you can use your imagination to create the reality that you truly want: health, fulfilment, satisfying relationships, inner peace, a new home, a rewarding job, and the list goes on and on.  Your goal may be on any level, physical, emotional, spiritual.  You may picture yourself successfully managing a difficult situation,
After relaxing into a deep state of mind, visualise what you really want or need to achieve.  Try to get a feeling in yourself that that is possible, experience as if it were already happening.  If your desire and intention to make a change are clear, chances are good that you may find that change that you want.   Set your goal, create a clear idea or picture of it, focus on it as often as you can, and think about it in an encouraging, positive way.
Meditation and visualisation can become an experience of meaningful growth. First you may practise them at specific times for specific goals.  But as you get in the habit of using them and witnessing their huge benefits, you will notice that they become an integral part of your thinking process. 

 Affirmations
Affirmations are one of the most important components of visualisation.  They are positive, powerful statements that encourage, inspire, motivate and break old patterns.  If repeated often, they rewrite those patterns and direct healing to the chakras.  
There is scientific evidence showing that repeating positive affirmations is a useful way to bring about positive change in our lives. A study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania by Dr. Christopher Cascio, which was published in the Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience journal, concluded that affirmations definitely increase positive health behaviours, rewiring the brain to produce beneficial results.  When we repeat our powerful affirmations often, we foster positive energy.
It is important to highlight that we need to prepare our mind for affirmations and visualisations and that’s why they are usually combined with meditation.
We can start by taking a comfortable position and controlling the breath with full inhales and long exhales.  This calms our mind and stimulates the nervous system so we feel more relaxed. Breathing also reduces negative thinking and harmonises the brain hemispheres so our creative and logical sides are balanced.
Once we feel relaxed, we repeat the words of our affirmations slowly, remaining calm and focusing on our breathing.  If at some stage of this process you experience negative thoughts, for instance, “I will never be properly grounded”, let the thought come and go and remember it is nothing more than a thought.   In order to balance your chakras, please focus on the affirmations given in previous chapters, or create your own affirmations in relation to every vortex of energy.
Continue repeating your affirmations for as long as you wish, and when you are finished, open your eyes slowly and continue with your day, in an energised and optimistic mood.

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