The Wild Grace Blog

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Mantra your chakras 3 The Solar Plexus Chakra

The solar plexus chakra is known as Manipura in Sanskrit, which means lustrous gem. This truly is the shining jewel of your vital life force energy.

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.

The solar plexus chakra is the seat of our 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 seed mantra for Solar Plexus Chakra is RAM. Its element is Fire. Manipura is considered the centre of dynamism, energy, willpower, and achievement (iccha shakti), which radiates prana throughout the entire body. It is also associated with the sense of sight and the action of movement. 

Through meditating on Manipura, we can turn on this inner power and release this optimal flow of prana.

Let’s begin with a breathing exercise or pranayama called the Breath of Fire. This exercise will really tune you into your inner power source and get your solar plexus chakra pumping.

Place your hands on your belly. As you breathe in through your nose, your lungs fill with air and your belly pushes out.

Feel your belly pushing into your hands. As you exhale through your nose, empty your lungs and flatten your belly. At the end of your exhalation, gently pull your navel towards your spine.

Then, breathe in gently through your nose, feeling your belly expand. Exhale through your nose as you press your navel towards your spine, gently using your abdominal muscles. 

Begin to do this quickly, almost like a dog panting, only through your nose. Feel your belly bounce. Do this rapid breath about 30 times, making sure that you breathe in and out of your nose each time. If you feel comfortable with this breathing, you can repeat the 30 breaths up to 4 times. 

Fire breathing is a powerful way of cleansing and energising your solar plexus and your whole energetic field. 

Now let’s centre ourselves for the mantra meditation. Play the video.


Begin by grounding yourself, either sitting on the floor or on a chair and feel your spine or your feet rooted to the earth.

Feel the crown of your head connected to the energy of the divine or the source.

Imagine the line of energy that extends from your crown to your root chakra, and then bring your awareness to a point on this line around your belly and diaphragm.

Now repeat the mantra RAM as you keep your attention on your solar plexus chakra. Manipura.

(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)

When you have finished. Again draw your awareness back to your root chakra and your connection to the earth.

Sit quietly for a moment before going about your day. Be aware of your energy, power and inner fire throughout the day.

Let your entire day become a chakra meditation.

Hari om tat sat. Namaste. Blessings.

ॐ

Try Chakradance – Rhythm for your soul

Art credit: the beautiful work of Sheranda Ann Kumara features in this week’s post


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Mantra your chakras 2 The Sacral Chakra

Moving from our root into our sacral chakra. Here we begin to explore how we feel, in our body, in ourselves, and in the world around us.

This is our sensory domain, translated in sanskrit as “our own inner place.” Svadhisthana. ‘Svadha’ in sanskrit also means sweetness or pleasure. This is our own sweet spot.

Water is the element associated with the sacral chakra, so play the video, either stare at the ocean there or close your eyes as I take you through a meditation adapted from one by Anodea Judith.

(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)

Begin by grounding yourself, either sitting on the floor or on a chair and feel your spine or your feet rooted to the earth.

Feel the crown of your head connected to the energy of the divine or the source.

Imagine the line of energy that extends from your crown to your root chakra, and then bring your awareness to a point on this line around your pelvis and lower belly.

Settle into your own place. Focus on your breath, feel how it moves your chest and belly. 

Notice the sensations within you and around you, notice the ‘you’ that is feeling these sensations. 

Notice the temperature in the room, are there any sounds? Tuning into your feelings, are you tired, bored, restless?

Drop your awareness down into your lower belly, hips and pelvis.

Gently pull your lower belly in towards your spine as you exhale, and expand your lower belly out on the inhale. 

If you find it hard to physically do this, just imagine it.

Imagine you are breathing in and filling up your lower belly with water. Imagine your pelvis like a bowl you can fill up. It’s your own body of water.

As you breathe in and out with your focus on this body of water in your sacral chakra, begin to chant the mantra “vam” alongside the video.

You may find yourself intuitively swaying or rocking your hips. Go with it! This is the chakra of your inner ocean, let those waves roll.

When you have finished. Again draw your awareness back to your root chakra and your connection to the earth.

Sit quietly for a moment before going about your day. Notice your sensations, sounds, tastes, feelings throughout the day.

Let your entire day become a chakra meditation.

Hari om tat sat. Namaste. Blessings.

ॐ

Try Chakradance – Rhythm for your soul

Art credit: the beautiful work of Sheranda Ann Kumara features in this week’s post

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Mantra your chakras 1 The Root Chakra

 

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I thought I would start the New Year with a series of Chakra Mantra chants.

Mantras are specific sounds which have long been used to activate the chakras by chanting the sound that resonates to the particular chakra vibration.

Sound is probably THE most powerful way to activate and balance your chakra system.

When I was in India I visited an ayurvedic doctor who prescribed mantra meditation for me.

He noticed my base/root chakra Muladhara – which literally means root support – needed activating. An underactive root chakra had left me feeling dizzy, disconnected and unsupported in life.

So let’s start at the root and practise this daily for 7 days and each week I will guide you through the next chakra meditation using freely available videos on YouTube.

Here’s the video with the mantra sound you can chant along to.

To begin, sit comfortably with your butt or feet connected to the floor. Really feel that connection to the solid earth supporting you. As you breathe in draw energy through your crown chakra at the top of your head.

Draw this energy down to your base chakra, located at the base of your spine. You may like to visualise the colour red here. Tighten your pelvic floor muscles – or Mula bandha – as you exhale chant the mantra “Lam.”

Let the sound be your exhale. Feel the sound vibrating through your base chakra. Imagine the sound pushing down through your root chakra as you connect with the earth.

If it feels like too much to focus on the breathing and the bandha and the sound, just focus on the sound and put your attention onto the base of your spine. 

I find our energy body meets us where we are, responding to the intention and the sound vibration, so you don’t need to do it perfectly. You can always fine-tune the practice as you get used to it.

Having a balanced root chakra will help you feel secure, grounded and provide ease of physical movement.

It will also provide a good foundation for your whole chakra system.

Repeat this for a few minutes each day and notice how much more present and stable you feel.

Hari Om Tat Sat. Namaste. Blessings.

ॐ

Try Chakradance – Rhythm for your soul

Art credit: the beautiful work of Sheranda Ann Kumara features in this week’s post

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Chakradance as soul work 

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People often ask me if they should keep coming to Chakradance as an ongoing practice.

Yes, you love Chakradance, you have experienced great results, but after you’ve done a chakra cycle, well, you have done it already, right?

My experience is that each time I dance in the energy of a chakra, something new emerges, it’s like peeling the layers of that proverbial onion, there’s always a new layer to explore.

Let’s ask Chakradance founder, Natalie Southgate for her thoughts on the matter.

What is the purpose of Chakradance? And, is that purpose ongoing?

Natalie describes Chakradance as “transformational soul work.”

She says that when you dance a chakra, you allow what is in that chakra to rise up to be healed. As these energies begin to move, you experience life through the lens of this chakra.

Natalie suggests “try and be in the energy of the chakra for that whole week. Take Chakradance out of the classes and into your life” and “start to heal and transform in this commitment to the practice.”

Say for example in the sacral chakra, you may experience life deeply though the lens of your senses and emotions, your sexuality and your creativity. You may find yourself very awakened to your senses, or notice your sensuality bubbling up with pleasure. Any blocks in these aspects of self, that are ready to come up, will arise to be processed and released.

As you go through the cycle, through this process with all seven chakras, you are literally moving energy around all those aspects of self, you are transforming your self. So then when you return back to the beginning, to begin the next cycle of transformation, you discover another aspect of that chakra that is ready to rise and be healed. As Natalie says “the next part is revealed to heal and integrate.”

So in answer to the second question, yes, it’s an ongoing process. It is “a commitment to practice.”

That said, after completing an 8 week cycle, many people need a resting period, a space for the healing to integrate. This will vary from person to person, some people are raring to go again, others take longer to process the changes. Once that has happened, it’s back to the soul work to experience the next level of transformation that’s waiting for you.

As someone who has practiced Chakradance regularly for two years, I can absolutely attest to the benefits of continuing to practice, and really, what a beautiful way to do soul work. Of all the methods I have tried, Chakradance is not only the most powerful, but the most pleasurable.

And because it is so enjoyable, I am happy to do it regularly, and that to me is the key to any spiritual practice.

If you’re interested in doing the 8 week Freedom cycle, the next cycle starts on Tuesday May 23 – also running on Thursdays – and you can book your place here Raw Mojo on Eventbrite

Blessings!

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Ignite the fire within!

As the days become shorter and the sun further away in our skies, what better time to ignite the inner sun.

This week we journey through the solar plexus chakra, our centre of energy, drive and will. This chakra is our inner fire, our strength, passion and confidence.

In Chakradance, fast dynamic movements 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.

To dance the solar plexus chakra is to call on the warrior dances of the Maori, ancient Morocco, Spain, Mexico, Brazil. These warrior dances were masculine, powerful, athletic and virile, as they rhythmically mimicked the art of the fight.

Chakradance is a powerful and authentic healing dance practice to promote that wonderful state of calm vitality known as well-being.

Practising Chakradance can help tune and balance your whole body/mind/spirit system using spontaneous dance, guided imagery and music that resonates deeply with each in turn of the seven major chakras.

Ignite the fire within! Save your spot here…

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Image Solar Plexus Chakra by Leanne M Williams at Fine Art America

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Chakradance – the journey within

It’s hard to believe that a year ago I was crowdfunding in order to do the Chakradance facilitator training.

Never could I have imagined how this journey has, and continues, to unfold.

Chakradance has shown me how to tap into the vast reservoir of spiritual strength, guidance, and power, that all people contain within.

Each chakra has its lessons, the physicality of the base, the sensuality of the sacral, the power of the solar plexus, the love of the heart, the expression of the throat, the vision of the third eye, and the divinity of the crown.

Each chakra has unfurled like a blossoming flower showing me previously undiscovered gifts, opportunities for healing and growth.

I encourage you to come along on this magical, mystical journey with me.

Join me for the next Chakradance class here…

Blessings!

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2015 is the year to dance your dreams alive!

Happy New Year!

I’m back from a refreshing break by the ocean and so energised and excited about dancing this year into the year my dreams come true.

How can you dance your dreams in being? You may well ask.

Traditional shamanic cultures believe that we dream all our life into being, our waking life we dream through our thoughts, intentions and actions. Even our fears and worries create our reality.

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Journeying within to our true essence allows us to tap into this creative power in an authentic and invigorating way.

Chakradance practice aligns our energy body with our physical, emotional and mental bodies, allowing the integration of all these levels of power.

 

Join me in dancing yourself into power and awakening to your dream life this year!

Chakradance Classes 2015

Bless, Christina x

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Special Offer!

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I’m so excited by the completion of the studio, and that I am FINALLY teaching Chakradance. It’s been a LOT of work, I have literally been polishing the floorboards by hand, whilst practicing the Chakradance Journeying script – so the essence of Chakradance is embedded in the walls and floors of my studio!

This Saturday is my official launch – I’d love you to come along and experience Chakradance with me.

Book online at: eventbrite.com.au/introduction-to-chakradance-discovery-session-tickets

Look forward to seeing you there 🙂

Bless!

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What’s happening at Raw Mojo this week?

It’s a beautiful day in Melbourne town. The sun is shining through azure skies. The kids are on holidays and so am I. So life takes on that leisurely pace. Time to meditate, write, and prepare the studio for painting.

I have thought long and hard about colour schemes and murals for the studio, but have decided on keeping it very simple.

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Chakradance is such a personal journey, and the studio is a sacred space I will hold for those who come to journey with me.

As such, it should be a blank canvas upon which you, the dancer, will project your visions.

So a lovely shade of white it is!

Bless!

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What’s happening at Raw Mojo this week?

The renovation of my Chakradance studio space continues.

What a privilege to have such lovely people in my life to lend a hand, encourage me and share a cup of chai while pondering on our dreams and aspirations.

I’m so looking forward to opening the studio for classes on October 7, 2014.

At this stage I’m planning to run classes on Tuesday & Thursday evenings and once a month on a Saturday afternoon.

You can book classes online.

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