Category: spirituality

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Detox your mind and body through the chakras

People often think the chakras are all mystical and esoteric, but the chakras have some really tangible effects in our lives.

When out of balance, they can stagnate with emotional energy from fear, shame and anxiety. What we want is to keep our energy moving and over the next few posts, I am going to talk about some ways to do that.

Do you know that your physical body stores your blocks and fragmentations? All that unresolved ‘stuff’ – held emotions, toxic beliefs about yourself, programs from childhood, they can all be stored as energy at a cellular level in your body.

Do you know that you have innate capabilities for changing your life through working with the energy portals in your body? Every aspect of your life, relationships, family, business, health, wealth.

All change that happens in your life goes through your physical structure, your body. ALL change in your life happens through your body. Unawareness of this process can cause fragmentation, dis-ease and stagnation in your life, because of the stuck energy trapped in your body.

In Chakradance, what we are doing is allowing you, gracefully and with ease, to transform these blocks so you have clear access to achieve your life goals. Whatever that may be for you, greater vitality and health, being more present and mindful in your life, success, joy. You may be unknowingly blocking yourself off from these wonderful things, because of these held energy patterns in your body.

In Chakradance we use movement and sound as a way to activate our energy centres, and move this stagnant energy, naturally shifting any stuckness or blocks as the key to freedom from what holds us back.

Movement through your body allows energy to flow, it can trigger blockages to shift and cause accumulated energies to be released or redistributed and balanced.

Movement brings you into your physicality, brings your energy down from your head into your body, allowing a real connection with not only your physical self, but the physicality of the world around us. When you become fully present in this way, great healing and transformation flows effortlessly through you.

You don’t have to know how electricity works to turn the light on, the good news is you don’t have to know how chakras work for them to work. (Like most things your body does, it’s all working away quietly in the background anyway.)

Chakras can be described as processing centres of energy and information, as well as gateways for this energy and information to flow into, out of, and through.

Linking the chakras are a series of energy channels that, in their purest and unimpeded form, constantly flow and spiral up and down the spinal column, keeping our energetic system in connectivity to both the earth and ethereal energy above, with the chakras like little hubs in between.

Note that when I refer to ‘energy’ I use the term to describe the concept used in many traditions of the vital life force energy, or also known as prana or qi. The same kind of energy used in techniques like Traditional Chinese Medicine, acupuncture and yoga. There’s a reason why these energy techniques have been around for millennia, because they work!

Chakradance is an easy way for you to shift so much stuff, so quickly and easily. Chakradance is a joyful experience, so you can enjoy the process, without the treatment table, just dancing!

Raw Mojo Chakradance gives you a safe and intimate space where you are guided to allow yourself to flow while you explore your energy body with this simple method. The room is candle-lit, you move with your eyes closed, so there’s no need to feel self-conscious. This is an inner journey.

Chakradance is a simple, safe and effective self-healing modality. Once you are familiar with the practice, you can even do it at home.

Want to try it?

I am offering the Chakradance Summer Freedom Series. You can come to all seven chakras, one each week, or just the ones that appeal to you. The series will focus on specific areas of your life, each chakra will relate to aspects of your life.

On selected Tuesday nights over Summer, journeying into a different chakra each week.

For those who have done Chakradance before, you will find the Freedom Series a little different. For one, it’s a shorter and more concise session. Starting with a white light meditation to really get your vital life force energy flowing, and then in a guided moving meditation, you will meet a spirit guide to take you into the energy of the chakra.

Over the series, you will meet seven guides to take you on a deep, inner voyage into the seven inner worlds of your subtle energy body or chakras.

We start at the base chakra, where a tribal Elder will guide you in a sacred dance journey to awaken your base chakra, through your connection with Mother Earth.

Starts Dec 19. Come to one, some or all. Bookings essential as spaces are limited.

The most important practice is the one you do in your aloneness. As you go into your own meditation, the world starts to fade, and what starts to happen in you is the celestial glow of self starts to get established. And it is of paramount importance that we really cultivate this self-practice. Take the time out. Anand Mehrotra

Hari om tat sat. Namaste. Blessings.

Christina at Raw Mojo

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Upcoming events at Raw Mojo Chakradance

Base Chakra Freedom Summer Series

Chakradance – Rhythm for your soul

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 Manifesting the divine into our lives through the Crown Chakra

This is the real secret of life – to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play. Alan Wilson Watts

Our Chakradance journey begins at the base chakra where we feel a strong connection to our bodies and relationship to Mother Earth, in the sacral chakra we explore our emotions and feelings, in the solar plexus chakra we encounter our personal power, in the heart chakra we unite our masculine and feminine energies in a sacred union, the throat chakra allows us to find our truthful expression and the third eye opens us up to higher powers of perception. 

In traditional Tantric philosophy the crown chakra is simply depicted as the thousand-petaled lotus. It has no seed sound, no element or other associations. Awakening the crown chakra it is really a consummation of our experience of all the other chakras. 

The beauty of moving up through all the chakras to our crown chakra, balancing and clearing our energy centres along the way, is that we create an open channel for this divine energy to pour in and to nourish us and our lives.

The seven chakras are embedded into our nervous system. When aligned, they form a vertical channel along our core. Within this channel, two major currents of energy move upward and downward: the currents of liberation and manifestation. Anodea Judith

While much chakra work focuses on the ascending energy flow, there is also a descending energy flow where we bring this divine cosmic energy of source down into our chakras and into our lives, this is the energetic flow of manifestation, as divine consciousness becomes denser and eventually manifests into physical form through the actions we create in our lives.

In the process of liberation, we work to clear and open each chakra by letting go of fixed patterns, blocks and imbalances. In the process of manifestation, we bring energy down from the crown, condensing and focusing it into a denser pattern. We do this by expressing ourselves through each chakra, and moving the energy downward step by step toward the earth.

As we do in Chakradance, the upward liberating current should be cleared first, as it opens the pathway that makes manifestation easier.

We are now at the gateway to the spirit whose entrance is at Sahasrara, the crown chakra. The divine spark of inspiration is awakened at the crown chakra. It aligns us to our soul purpose -what we are doing here – who we are meant to truly be. This chakra connects us to the source of all creation. Take a deep breath and surrender yourself to the oneness. Chakradance

This week, we explore the crown chakra, or Sahasrara, which means “thousandfold.” It implies the infinite nature of this chakra, which provides us with our most direct connection with the divine. It is from this connection that we can open to the divine spark of inspiration. 

The dance of sahasrara is an invitation to the soul to enter the body through the crown chakra in the top of the head. 

The crown chakra is the highest of the seven chakras. Visualised at the crown of the head as a thousand-petalled lotus flower, which according to ancient Indian Hindu-tantric tradition, represents enlightenment, wholeness and infinity.

The crown chakra opens upward, like a funnel. This chakra is our avenue to higher states of consciousness. As we develop it, we become increasingly aware of consciousness itself – the eternal part of us that is beyond ego, thought, feeling, and body. 

From a psychological perspective, Carl Jung says that it is at the crown chakra that the ego and the self unite, the self being that inner spark of perennial wisdom whether that is God, Buddha or the white light. Awakening of this chakra is said to be the last step in the evolution of human consciousness.

Developing this chakra unifies us with the Divine Source, as well as everything else in the universe. This is unimaginably blissful.

As we are opening to higher levels of consciousness, we may start to receive spiritual insights or messages. Although these experiences may be subtle, they are deeply powerful.

In our modern culture many of us get caught up in our day-to-day living and often lose contact with the deeper significance of our lives. This can leave us feeling empty and our lives can begin to feel meaningless. This is why finding this spiritual connection is so important. The more connected we are to our spiritual source, the more harmonious our lives can be. Natalie Southgate

The more connected we are to our spiritual source, the more harmonious our life can be. Many chronic issues may just drop away; answers to deep questions and problems intuitively drop in. We come to know our spiritual purpose, our reason for being. We feel a sense unconditional love and oneness with all life. We feel truly liberated, seeing how we can live a life of great clarity, meaning, and value.

This divine spark cannot enter a full mind, so the state that precedes this is emptiness. Like Kevin Costner’s character in Tin Cup, who commands before each pitch of the baseball “clear the mechanism,” it is only when we can let go of our thoughts of what is that we can be filled with inspiration for what could be.

The crown chakra represents the spark of creativity that is transformed into personal consciousness. It governs the process by which we receive inspiration, and then ask ourselves how it relates to our life purpose.

Inspiration has multiple meanings: a divine influence, a moment of creative intelligence, or the drawing in of breath.

The seventh chakra is the gateway to universal or divine consciousness. In this sense, we begin by “downloading the Divine.” Anodea Judith

Anodea Judith describes the chakras as organizational centres for the reception, assimilation, and expression of life force energy. The crown chakra is the entry point of universal spirit into the individual body. 

This chakra represents consciousness itself, in the form of thoughts, intelligence, understanding, ideas, beliefs, thinking, interpretations, and intentions.

Consciousness enters the crown chakra from the divine source, the conscious universe of matter, space, energy, time, and awareness.

We begin the manifestation process when we open to the divine, invoking through prayer, meditation, worship, and devotion. We align with spirit and with our life purpose, ask questions and set our intentions. You may feel the presence of grace, a whisper of guidance, a sudden insight or idea, or receiving information that sparks your intention to create something new. Anodea Judith

This is the wisdom of the crown chakra – focusing within, focusing on our breath, focusing on our creative vision, and setting intentions for each day to bring that vision from thought into being. 

In this way we become a vessel, a unique expression of the divine source energy expressed through our being.

There is a time for action, but first, it is a time for allowing the inspiration to come and trusting it when it does.

Affirming actions to open your crown chakra

Every day I read something insightful and inspiring.
Every flash of inspiration reminds me that my inner resources are all-knowing and all-powerful.
I accept my inner voice with reverence and respect.
I am ready to act on all inspiration that comes to me.
I ask that the work I do provide me with its own inspiration and energy.
I combine inspired thought with intelligent action.
I dare to follow my inner voice.
My inspirational signals are clear and strong.

Chakradance is sound healing, movement and meditation all rolled into one relaxing and enjoyable practice. Why not try it for yourself?

Hari om tat sat. Namaste. Blessings.

Christina at Raw Mojo

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Try Chakradance – Rhythm for your soul

Join us for the Crown Chakradance Journey on August 6

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Dancing through the dark times

The self of my dreams came the day I found out that there was gold hidden in my darkness, that there was light shining in my bad behaviour, and that there was power hidden in the traumas of my past. Debbie Ford

Chakradance is a journey within. Using the chakra system as a map to consciousness, we dance beyond the everyday, five sensory awareness into a deeper experience of ourselves. This allows us to move through the issues that may be causing us difficulties in life, and to find a sense of inner peace.

One of the less obvious influences on Chakradance, often overshadowed by the more apparent influences of the Hindu-Tantric chakra system and shamanic trance-dance practices, is Jungian psychology.

While the Chakradance facilitator is all too aware that his or her role is to ‘hold space’ for the experiences of the dancers, a very Jungian concept, as is the use of mandala art to ‘contain’ the numinous experiences and energy of the dance. These Jungian aspects are often not obvious to the dancer.

I often refer to Jungian archteypes that people may encounter in their dance journeys, these will often manifest as visions of scenes that play out as interactions between archetypes like mother and victim, warrior and servant.

The experience of Chakradance is described like a ‘waking dream’ where the dancer lets go of their conscious, thinking mind and allows the unconscious mind to communicate through images, feelings, colours and insights.

Chakradance is a way to interact with our shadow, a Jungian concept for the aspects of self that we are either unaware of or actively suppress because we are ashamed of that aspect of ourselves.

Chakradance is a journey within. Using the chakra system as a map to consciousness, we dance beyond the everyday, five sensory awareness into a deeper experience of ourselves. With our eyes closed and our imagination as a guide, during Chakradance we experience our inner world as a waking dream. Many people see visions in their mind’s eye, encounter beings, ancestors, animals, different landscapes which all tell a story about the disposition of our inner self.

In the new Chakradance cycle, called Freedom, we have a different guide for each chakra who takes us on this journey. But I have found many people intuitively find their own guides in the dance as well, be they humans, ethereal beings or animals.

After participating in a Chakradance cycle, many people are surprised at the visions and experiences, not to mention the insights and transformations in their real lives, that they encounter.

It is so astonishing to uncover this unconscious aspect of ourselves, and to realise our conscious, day to day self is like the tip of the iceberg in terms of the multitudes we all contain.

So when we immerse ourselves into the sound and movement of chakradance, what will often arise is aspects of ourselves that we have not been aware of. This can be visions, emotions or insights that are experienced in a loving and beautiful way. Sometimes we are ready to shift and release less attractive aspects of ourselves. These might be long buried memories, strong emotions, or even aspects portrayed as creatures who come out of our subconscious dark zones. 

Like a deep-water diver, encountering sharks or other prehistoric and primal creatures that we may be afraid of, our first reaction to these is often fear or repulsion.

So what is this shadow? And why do we have it. And yes, you do.

Renowned psychologist Carl Jung believed that on the journey to discover your inner secrets and mysteries, you will encounter the dark, hidden crevices within your psyche. He called this place the “shadow self.” It is also called the lower self, animal nature, the alter ego, or the inner demon – the place where the unowned side of your personality lives.

The shadow is the parts of ourselves that we may try to hide or deny. According to Carl Jung, it can be said to consist of energy patterns, known as selves or sub-personalities that were disowned — pushed down into our unconscious in childhood, as part of our coping strategies.

Jung created the Archetypes model, a concept to describe how our unconscious minds are fragmented or structured into different “selves” in an attempt to organize how we experience different things in life.

Your shadow self is the part of you that stays unknown, unexamined, and out of the light of your conscious awareness. It is the part that is denied or suppressed because it makes you uncomfortable or afraid. Whatever doesn’t fit your image of your ideal self becomes your shadow.

Jung asked, “Would you rather be good or whole?” Many people choose goodness, or more accurately ‘correctness’ as a means to belong in society, and as a result, are internally fractured. There is your persona, the part you want the world to see, and your shadow, the part that you don’t.

When I found myself at a rock bottom, crashed and burned emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually not long after my fortieth birthday, I was searching for answers.

When I stumbled upon Chakradance, something lit up inside of me. Here was the best of the New Age. A practice that combined ancient wisdom with modern psychology. It drew upon the Chakra system, shamanic dance and Jungian psychology. All practices which resonated with me. 

And best of all, it was music and dance! I had always found great freedom and liberation from my difficulties by pumping up the stereo and dancing myself silly. Chakradance gave me a framework to use this for my healing.

Any practice which takes us out of the conscious mind and engages with the unconscious, be it dance, creating art or music, meditation, immersing ourselves in nature, will help this more primal side of ourselves to emerge.

In Chakradance we dance into our unconscious, and then we create a mandala drawing so we can express all this beautiful untapped energy, and all the powerful images we encounter which help us to recognise these hidden parts of ourselves.

Because the shadow is often made up of primal instincts and urges we have repressed, as well as tribal and ancestral traits we have rebelled against, I feel that the base chakra is particularly relevant to this work.

When my shadow self seems to be bursting out causing me to act, think and feel in ways I find very overwhelming and challenging, I have this beautiful practice of Chakradance to ease me back into my body, to help me integrate all these aspects of self. 

Chakradance is gentle like that, it doesn’t force things to come up in the psyche, Jung believed that could be counter-productive. But when stuff is ready, it rises, and it feels so good to be able to dance through and integrate my shadow work.

In the base Chakradance we connect with our power animal. Dancing our power animal is one of the most powerful shamanic practices to revitalise and strengthen our spirit. Each animal brings its own strength, wisdom or medicine, and a connection to our primal, instinctual nature.

Through Chakradance, I have found peace with myself again. And beyond that, these angry and hurt ‘shadow’ parts of myself actually taught me a lesson or two about how I could be kinder and support myself better in my life.

In India, the Hindus practise Aarti, which literally means an illuminating light in the darkness. I believe by bringing the light of awareness onto our shadow we can find gold there. Don’t throw away the treasure in your cave because you’re scared of the dark – light a candle and see the gold in there.

Hari om tat sat. Namaste. Blessings.

Christina at Raw Mojo

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Try Chakradance – Rhythm for your soul

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Mantra your chakras 7 The Crown Chakra

anneliesolis

I hope you have enjoyed this series of bija chakra meditations. This week brings us to the crown chakra, located at the top of your head. 

According to the yoga tradition, the crown chakra connects your individual awareness with infinite consciousness.

Sahasrara in Sanskrit means “thousandfold,” so Sahasrara chakra literally means a thousand-petalled lotus. The thousand representing a number so big, it is infinite.

Traditionally, this lotus is visualised upside down with the stem and roots rising to the sky and the petals pointing downward. A lotus flower with its roots in heaven bringing down divine grace through the crown of our heads.

Considered to be of the highest vibrational frequency and the pinnacle of the seven major chakras, Sahasrara is regarded as a gateway to the energy of the universe itself. It is an energetic passageway that connects you to the divine.

Play the video – you many want to set a timer for 5-15 minutes as the video goes for an hour.

Divya-jyoti or Divine Light Meditation

1. Sit in a comfortable meditation pose with your legs crossed and your back straight.

2. Rest your hands in your lap, palms upward, with your left hand on top. This is the mudra (hand position) for receiving energy. Close your eyes and let your breathing become slow and even.

3. Visualize a thousand-petalled lotus at the crown of your head. Imagine its petals gently opening to reveal an intense light. Let this divine light flow down into you through your crown chakra.

4. Feel the light spiralling down your body. Enjoy the warm glow as it saturates your entire being. Feel the light slowly moving down and permeating every cell and pore of your body.

5. Focus your senses on the intensity of the light so that you not only see it, but hear, smell, taste, and touch it.

6. Feel like a pure channel for the light: allow yourself to be at one with it. In this state of oneness, intuitive thoughts and inspirations may enter your consciousness. Be thankful for this guidance. Rest in the blissful awareness for as long as you wish.

7. After 5-15 minutes, take a few deep belly breaths, wiggle your fingers and toes to ground your energy, and open your eyes.

Feel yourself connected to the source and yet grounded in this divine energy as you go into your day.

Hari om tat sat. Namaste. Blessings.

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Try Chakradance – Rhythm for your soul

Art credit: This beautiful feature image is by Annelie Solis

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Mantra your chakras 6 The Third Eye Chakra

There’s so much mystique around the idea of the third eye chakra and psychic abilities, so for me it really helped to simplify the concepts associated with this chakra into ones I can get my head around, like intellect, intuition and imagination.

Agya in Sanskrit means “centre of divine command.” This chakra is visualised at the centre of the forehead, in between the brows and just above the brow line.

Agya is the junction of the three main nadis or energy channels – ida, pingala and sushumna – that run alonside your spine. This is where all your subtle energy channels unite, making it a very powerful centre to meditate upon.

The traditional element associated with the sixth chakra is called mahat, meaning supreme, the culmination of all the elements into one. 

This element is often perceived as light, without which the third eye would be unable to ‘see’ or perceive things.

So let’s chant and meditate on our third eye. 

Play the video to begin. (Set your alarm for 5-10 minutes, or up to 20 minutes if you like.)

Sit in a comfortable cross legged position. You may also sit on a chair or lean against a wall for this meditation.

Elongate your spine upwards, lengthen your neck and subtly bring your chin back and in. This will align the spine with the back of your head.

To begin, take 5 deep, slow breaths though your nose. 

Keeping your head still, use your eyes to look up at an imaginary point in the middle of your forehead, just above the eyebrows. This eye position is called shambhavi yoga mudra. Close your eyes while holding this mudra. Do not strain excessively.

Rest your hands in any comfortable position, you can place them on your knees.

Try to remain as still as possible.

Now inhale deeply and begin to chant in a soft, slow, steady voice the manta OM (pronounced AUM). 

One chant of OM (AUM) Mantra should last for the entire exhalation. It’s a long “Oh,” followed by a semi-long “Mmmm” during each exhalation.

Once all the air has been expelled, inhale fully again and begin to chant the mantra once more. 

Visualize the OM sound coming from a point in the middle of the forehead just above the eyebrows and emanating throughout your entire body.

Continue for the duration of the meditation. If your eyes tire from shambhavi yoga mudra release the mudra but continue to chant the OM (AUM) mantra as above. Reapply the mudra again when ready.

Once you have completed the meditation, rub the palms of your hands together and then place them on your eyes as you open them slowly. This will relax and comfort your eye muscles.

Take a few minutes to ground and centre yourself. Be aware of the presence of your intuitive mind as you go about your day.

Hari om tat sat. Namaste. Blessings.

ॐ

Try Chakradance – Rhythm for your soul

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Mantra your chakras 5 The Throat Chakra

As you rise up into the energy of the throat chakra, you will begin to notice a shift in energy. Each of the four lower chakras corresponds energetically to a physical element. By the time you reach the throat, you are moving out of the physical plane and into the non-physical realm of ether.

Vissudhi, the Sanskrit word for the throat chakra, literally means purification. In the throat Chakradance, we chant and sing to cleanse the throat chakra, and enhance our ability for self-expression. 

The non-physical element associated with Vissudhi is ether, the field of subtle vibrations surrounding all things. The throat chakra, more than any other, governs our relationship with vibrations and resonance.

It is from the throat centre that you produce sound through vibration. As such it is incredibly susceptible to vibrational energy, and responsive to resonance of all kinds.

Chanting and humming, listening to vibrational sounds are among the best ways to clear and balance this chakra. 

Physiologically this chakra governs the health of the throat, nose, ears, mouth, neck and vocal cords, as well as the thyroid and parathyroid glands, which are responsible for our metabolism.

The throat chakra carries the energies of truth, integrity, honesty, and communication. It also governs the ability to listen, both to the words of others and your own internal dialogue within your body. 

The throat chakra energy is resonant with authenticity and purification. Paramount to Vissudhi, is the expression of self through speech and creativity. Finding your true voice.

The Humming Breath is a wonderful pranayama or breath practice to stimulate the throat chakra.

Sit in a comfortable position with a straight spine.

Begin by exhaling as much air as possible from your lungs before taking in a deep, slow breath through your nose, refilling your lungs.

On your next exhalation, make a soft humming sound like a bee.

When you run out of breath, take another deep inhalation, continuing the humming sound as you exhale.

Begin with a few minutes practice, working up to 10-15 minutes at a time. 

Now play the video and chant the mantra “ham” pronounced “hum” as you exhale.

When you have finished your humming breath and mantra practice, lie down and relax for a few minutes.
Let your humming throat chakra energy fuel your self-expression in your day.

Hari om tat sat. Namaste. Blessings.

ॐ

Try Chakradance – Rhythm for your soul

The beautiful art work used is Throat Chakra by Qahira Lynn

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Mantra your chakras 4 The Heart Chakra

The Sanskrit name for the heart chakra is Anahata or ‘un-struck’ – in the Indian Vedic tradition there are two kinds of sounds, and ‘unstruck’ means an inner resonance or subtle vibration that is perceived through the heart centre.

The heart is the place of the awakened self. Here we move from group consciousness, defined by family, tribe, society into a more individual, self-reflective consciousness. Here we find our own heart truths.

This chakra builds a bridge between the physical and spiritual dimensions of your self. Carl Jung described the heart chakra as the centre of thinking and feeling, the beginning of reflections, values, and ideas.

Bring your hands palm to palm, in prayer position in front of your chest, connect the base of your thumbs to your sternum – this position is called Anjali Mudra.

Breathe into your belly and lightly close your eyes. Turn your focus to your breath.

Next, rub your palms together vigorously. Bring your right palm to the centre of your chest at Anahata and place your left on top of your right.

Feel the warmth and radiance of your heart and chest. Visualize the green, radiant glowing light emanating from your heart, in all directions.

Play the video and begin to sound the mantra “yam” pronounced “yum.” (This is the seed mantra of the element air. The heart centre is associated with the cosmic element of “prana” or “air.”)

(Note: this video goes for about an hour so you may want to set a timer for a shorter period of time, say 5-10 minutes)

Release your palms to face up on your lap. Direct some of your lightness and heart energy to someone in your life in need of compassion or healing. Finally, inhale your arms overhead and exhale your arms down to connect to the Earth before completing your practice.

Carry this open and loving heart energy with you into your day. Yum.

Hari om tat sat. Namaste. Blessings.

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Try Chakradance – Rhythm for your soul

Art credit: artist unknown