Tag: healing

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What is Chakradance? Sacral chakra

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What is Chakradance?

Starting at the Base Chakra, we use sound and movement to connect in with our subtle energy or chakras, releasing stuck energy, activating and cleansing our vital life force energy for vitality and wellbeing.

The sacral chakra is the centre of our emotions and sensuality. In it’s full expression it enables us to live creatively and full of joy in the sensual experience of being alive.

Here’s a little video I made to show you a taste of the sacral Chakradance. Why not try it for yourself… ❤

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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

ॐ

Upcoming events at Raw Mojo Chakradance

Base Chakra Freedom Summer Series

Chakradance – Rhythm for your soul

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The dance of the spiritual warrior


As the days become longer and the sun returns to our skies, what better time to ignite your inner sun.

This week we journey through the solar plexus chakra, our centre of personal power and will. Energetically, it is the fire that fuels our metabolism, and when activated it increases our energy, drive, and sense of purpose.

And really, who couldn’t use some of that?

The solar plexus chakra is where we experience our gut instinct, that inner knowing. Here we tap into the intelligence of the spirit.

From the energy of this chakra emerges the ego, our sense of self-identity. Concerned with assertiveness and personal power, it is easy to see where this chakra can be out of balance. Either in excess feeling a desire for material power and control over people, or deficient in allowing ourselves to be dominated by others.

When the solar plexus chakra is inactive we may feel lethargic, afraid, anxious, or withdrawn. There is a fear of taking risks, confronting people or issues, taking charge, and a lack of energy. An overactive solar plexus may cause us to be overly controlling, domineering, or even a bully.


To dance the solar plexus chakra is to call on the ancient dances of the warrior. In Chakradance, fast, dynamic and vigorous movements of the arms and legs, activate our core and ignite the fire in our belly, fuelling our dance with energy and strength.

Reining all this fiery energy in, movements then become strong, purposeful and clearly defined as our inner warrior emerges triumphant, brave and strong.

The solar plexus Chakradance is an inner journey with the Warrior archetype. What does being a ‘warrior’ mean in our world? Integrity? Standing up for ourselves?

The archetype of the warrior – standing strong in their power – is the vision of the healthy solar plexus chakra. It is not aggressive, but it will not diminish itself either. Pema Chodron talks of the tender-hearted bravery of the spiritual warrior. This warrior has the courage to face themselves in whatever they experience, no matter how afraid or uncomfortable they feel. 

Our fiery natures can get dampened by an excessive need for social conformity and a focus on relating to others. The epidemic of depression and anxiety in modern cultures could reflect a loss of connection to the vital core of spiritual power in the solar plexus chakra.


This chakra is known as Manipura in Sanskrit, which means lustrous gem. Many cultures associate this solar plexus energy with our life force.

Manipura regulates our pranic – or life force – energy throughout our body, controlling our energy balance, vitality and strength. It governs our digestive fires and heat regulation in the body.

Krishnamacharya says that it is the prana that ‘connects everything in and of this universe.’ 

The ‘prana vayus’ are the ‘currents’ or ‘winds’ of the great prana (life force) within us. They are located in different regions of the body according to the direction of flow of that vayu. 

When prana enters the body it is the movement of the vayus that carry it to the different areas of the body so that the energy can be used to maintain the vitality and health of the body.

Prana vayu and apana vayu are like two opposite forces – the in and out breath, respiration and elimination – and it is said that these two forces alone rule the body. 

Samana vayu – is also known as the ‘middle’ breath and balances the energy of prana and apana. Samana governs digestion and the absorption of nutrients, bringing vitality to the pancreas, liver and digestive tract. Samana is the pause between the ‘in’ and ‘out’ breath and resides at the solar plexus.

Samana holds the flame that burns off the toxic residue of bodily functions. Samana has the ability to conjoin prana and apana and push the energy up through sushumna nadi (the central energy channel from which the chakras flow) which increases our pranic capacity and raises our consciousness.

Physically activating the solar plexus chakra promotes these vayus, allowing them to energise and revitalise our bodily systems.


The dance of Manipura begins with a flame, and as the music intensifies, and the fire increased, I found myself dancing like wildfire. I became one with the fire, I was fire, flickering and wild. It felt incredibly liberating and powerful. 

The fire burns away all that is no longer needed, and fuels us energetically to face life with purpose, passion and empowered will.

Dancing the solar plexus chakra was the catalyst for allowing myself to release all the ways I had been disempowered in life. And to step into my authentic power.

Without realising it, we may unconsciously give away our power all the time, in our choice of lifestyle, where we spend our money, the kinds of relationships we are in, what we choose to do with our time.

A balanced solar plexus chakra enables us to move through life with genuine confidence, inner strength and self-esteem.

Our inner warrior emerges when we create space for autonomy, instead of constantly worrying about others, we follow our own inner guidance. In this way, we are more likely to find our true purpose and direction in life and have the courage to pursue our goals.

If we don’t tend to our spirit, and to our life’s passion, if we don’t ignite and tend to our inner fire, part of our self is diminished, we have abandoned ourselves, and the lustrous gem we hold within. 

“Begin by visualising your solar plexus as a beautiful golden jewel, like a yellow diamond shining out.” Natalie Southgate

Join me for the Dance of the Spiritual Warrior – Solar Plexus Chakradance journey this Sunday at Raw Mojo.

Namaste,

Christina at Raw Mojo 

ॐ
 

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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

ॐ

Try Chakradance – Rhythm for your soul