The crown chakra was the focus for this week's classes. This energetic centre is very much about finding your perfection, finding your truth, and finding your connection within and with yourself. My ongoing journey has very much been about coming back to a connection with myself. I will forever be grateful and indebted to my teacher David Goulet and my training at Pyramid Yoga. This is where it truly began for me and where it was emphasized that there is no guru greater than the guru within. David was there to give us the information, show us the techniques and have us experience what had worked for him, but if we discovered, through experience, that it wasn't right for us . . . . it wasn't our way . . . then we needed to let it go. It was one of the first times I experienced a teacher and teaching that didn't expect me to blindly follow their way and their system. I was taught and continue to follow the idea that things need to be experienced before I can determine if it is right for me or not.
Ajna, or the third eye chakra, was the energy centre that we worked with in classes this week. As you can see from the symbol for this centre, there are two sides. In our dualistic world, there are often two sides to everything we experience - night & day, cold & hot, woman & man, two sides to a story. We concentrated on the dualistic nature of the body and mind. The left side of the body is controlled by the right hemisphere of the brain which is the imaginative, creative, intuitive, feeling side. On the opposite extreme is the right side of the body controlled by the left hemisphere of the brain which is the logical, analytical, fact based, thinking side. Two very different ways of perceiving and experiencing the world, but both sides are equally valuable and equally needed.
The throat chakra or Vishuddha was the focus for classes this week. We tried to let go of all other distractions in order to focus on the sound that we know is truly and purely our own . . . . the sound of our breath. With all of the noise around us, the opinions that are constantly thrown at us (from society, the news, politicians, Facebook, etc.), and people trying to influence us both consciously and unconsciously, it's sometimes hard to sort through the sounds, thoughts and voices in our head and know which one is truly our own. Yes, conscious breathing helps to calm and centre us, but it also helps to connect us to ourself and our own unique vibration. This sound that we produce is just waiting to be shared and wants to be heard.
This week in classes, we worked with the heart chakra, also known as Anahata in Sanskrit. I love working with this energy centre as it is soft and gentle which is how I perceive myself to be, so it feels natural to be in this centre. It is also the midway point in the chakra system, so it is as concerned on the physical lower three chakras as it is with the three higher less tangible centres. This concept of balance is something I constantly try to achieve and one that shows up in my teaching often.We worked with the concept of Mettā which is loving kindness. So we focused on sending out love and kindness not only to other people, but also to the person who deserves it from us the most . . . ourselves! The Yoga Nidra for this week is focused on this concept of Mettā.
Who's excited about the coming spring equinox? After a long, harsh winter that seems to keep returning, I am getting anxious for some sun, some heat and some time outside without a bunch of ridiculous layers! This week's classes focused on the light. Not so much the light outside that we will start to get more of starting on Monday, but the light within that is always shining even when the darkness descends outside us. This is the centre of Manipura, as it is known in Sanskrit, or the solar plexus chakra. This energy centre is our inner power, our personal drive and our motivation. It is a very active and dynamic centre and is represented by the element of fire. The yoga nidra this week focuses on helping us gain access to and recognize this spark of light that is within all of us.
This week in classes we did some work with the sacral chakra, also known as Swadhistana in Sanskrit. This energy centre is where we work on dealing with and feeling our emotions . . . . . ALL emotions . . . in order to help us let them go and get those energies moving. Working with the emotional body and really feeling our postures physically, as well as emotionally, was the focus for the majority of my classes this week. To learn more about Swadhistana, there are a number of past posts that introduce various aspects of this energy centre. This week's yoga nidra practice focuses on bringing up, experiencing and feeling the emotion of joy. Who doesn't want more joy in their lives?
Two student requests in one post! Your wish is my command. There was one recent request for chakra series classes. Sunday night Yang/Yin Fusion classes will focus specifically on the chakras, while the rest of the week classes will be centered around a theme that is associated with these centres. This week we concentrated on the first chakra also known as the root chakra, or Muladhara in sanskrit. To learn more about this energy centre, feel free to check out earlier posts filled with an abundance of information. In general, the root chakra is where we work to get grounded. This is what we focused on within all of my classes this week.
