In This Chapter

>- All about chakras: wheel of life force energy >- Meditations on mudras >- Chanting with mantras >- Mandala circle power

We mention chakras many times throughout this book, but in this chapter, we go into more detail about chakras: what they are, what they do, and how you can use them to optimize your physical, mental, and spiritual health.

In yogic thought, the body contains seven energy centers, called chakras (literally "wheels"), that store energy, or the life force, prana. Westerners would interpret the chakras as nerve centers, but they are much more than this. They are centers of psy-chospiritual energy that don't precisely correspond to any tangible physical structure.

While the body contains many energy centers and subenergy centers, there are seven primary chakras along the midline of the body. Different people have different names for these chakras and place them in slightly different locations, but in essence, most agree that these seven chakras begin at the base of the spine (where the kundalini energy we talked about in Chapter 7, "Can You Breathe?" lies coiled and waiting to be activated) and continue along the spinal cord, ending in the seventh chakra at the crown of the head.

Meet Your Chakras

Different traditions associate different things with each chakra: which body parts, emotions, and thoughts each chakra governs; which colors each chakra radiates; which areas of our personality each chakra represents. We (the authors) like to refer to the chakras according to their associated planets, excepting the top two chakras, whose names are descriptive.

Just about everybody who talks about chakras calls them something different. There are no pervasive Western names for the chakras; people name them after colors, mantra syllables, the elements, and so on. Yoga scholar Georg Feuerstein names chakras things like "root prop wheel," "jewel city wheel," and "wheel of the unstruck sound." None of these naming systems are arbitrary; the chakras do indeed correspond to many different energies. We find the planet-name system to be evocative but nonesoteric—and fun!

Here are the seven chakras:

>- Saturn chakra. Located just above the anus at the base of the spine, this involves elimination and the sense of smell. This is where the kundalini lies. When awakened through yoga, this energy travels up the spine through all the chakras.

>- Jupiter chakra. Located on the spine near the genitals, this involves water, sexuality, passion, the creation of life, and taste.

>- Mars chakra. Located on the spine behind the navel, this is associated with digestion or "gastric fire," your sense of self, and your actions.

>- Venus chakra. Located behind the heart, this is the center of your compassion and emotions.

>- Mercury chakra. Located in the throat, this is the center for communication.

>- Sun chakra. Located in the middle of the brow, this is also known as the third eye, or center of unclouded perception.

>- Thousand Petaled Lotus chakra. Located at the crown of the skull, this is the center of self-realization, perspective, unity, and enlightenment.

All chakras must be activated or awakened for true enlightenment, which is not an easy process. Awakening your chakras—releasing the energy that flows through your spine—can take years, perhaps lifetimes! It's hard work to lighten up (or to achieve enlightenment).

Ouch!

Feeling frazzled and unfocused? Try a pose that awakens your Saturn chakra, located at the base of your spine. Angry, hostile, or overemotional? Try a pose that stimulates your Venus chakra, located behind your heart. Having a problem communicating? Work with your Mercury chakra, located in the throat. Each Hatha Yoga posture is designed to awaken different chakras, so practicing the right poses can be the best prescription for what ails you.

Poses to Power Your Chakras

Certain yoga poses can make releasing and opening the chakras easier. This section talks about a few poses for opening your chakras, which floods them with prana, energizes them, and helps to balance your entire body/mind. Add a few chakra-releasing poses to your yoga routine and feel the power of prana!

Prana Arch

In this pose, the front of your body opens, releasing tension in your chest, neck, and abdomen. This pose is particularly effective for releasing the chakras in the chest and

throat. Breathing deeply through this pose encourages the flow of prana through the chakras.

1. Stand in the mountain pose with your arms hanging loosely at your sides.

2. Inhale as you look up and just slightly behind you. At the same time, lift your hands, palms facing forward, away from your body and out to the sides, as if preparing to give someone a big hug.

3. Contract your buttocks muscles to support your lower back. Don't lean back farther than is comfortable. Breathe deeply several times. Then on an exhale, lower your arms and head, coming back into the mountain pose.

Open Pose

This pose is great for opening the chakras in the lower half of the torso. It is also excellent for relaxation and meditation.

1. Lie down on the floor on your back with a pillow under your head.

2. Bend your knees and bring the soles of your feet together, letting your knees drop to the floor. If this is uncomfortable, or if the back over-arches, place a pillow under each knee.

3. Bring your palms together in front of your heart, in namaste. Breathe deeply several times, focusing on releasing your lower chakras. Feel the prana flowing through them.

4. If this pose brings strong feelings or emotions to the surface, let them come, feel them, then when you are ready, let them go. Keep breathing and relaxing until you feel calm, energized, and ready to move on.

Chakras do more than store energy. Each chakra controls a different system of your body as well as a different realm of your emotions. When a chakra becomes blocked, you could suffer from health problems—physical or emotional—in that area. For example, a sore throat or an inability to adequately communicate your feelings could signal a blocked Mercury chakra. Indigestion or an inability to act on your feelings could mean a blocked Mars chakra.

The following table shows you exactly what each chakra controls. Knowing what is linked to what can help you pinpoint the problem, but how do you fix it? Try the earlier chakra opening poses, or simply focus on a chakra and its associated color during shavasana or sitting meditation, to help release, activate, and empower that

The Healing Power of Chakras

Chakra-at-a-Glance

chakra.

Target Your Chakras with Yoga Poses

Depending on which chakras are blocked, certain yoga poses throughout this book can help to release and balance those chakras. For example, the triangle pose (see the following figure) can help relieve lower back pain by releasing the lower chakras and allowing prana to flow through this area.

Sometimes the power of two is greater than the power of one. If you have an interested partner, try meditating together, facing each other, legs crossed, knees touching, holding hands. Focus on each of the chakras one at a time (perhaps take turns naming each chakra, from the Saturn chakra all the way up to the Thousand Petaled Lotus chakra), or stay silent and meditate individually while connecting physically, emotionally, and energetically through the chakras (see the following illustration).

Mudra Magic

Mudra means "seal," and technically, mudras refer to a variety of yoga practices that aren't poses exactly, but techniques for sealing life-force energy inside the body in various ways to preserve it rather than let it escape. These techniques get pretty esoteric and can involve complex rituals, chanting, meditation, and some practices we Westerners might find a little odd.

The word mudra, however, is more commonly used today to refer to specific hand gestures used during meditation and pranayama to seal the fingers. Prana can escape out of the fingertips as it circulates through the body during meditation and

pranayama exercises, and hand mudras bring the fingertips together in various ways for different, subtle effects. Hand mudras, in essence, create a prana circuit. The energy moves back around and into the body again.

Namaste Mudra: A Little Respect

Namaste (pronounced nah-MAHST) mudra, or the respect gesture, puts the palms together in prayer-like fashion to honor the inner light. Place your palms together and extend your fingers upward, as if you are praying. Hold your hands to your heart. Honor and respect the light within yourself.

Om Mudra: Simply Divine

Om (pronounced AUM) mudra, or the divinity gesture, invokes divine balance. Open your palms, and with each hand, bring the tip of your thumb to the tip of your index finger to form a complete circle, which represents the complete cycle and ultimate harmony of divinity. Om.

Jnana Mudra: Be a Wise Guy/Gal

Jnana (pronounced GAH-nah) mudra, or the wisdom gesture, produces wisdom. Rest your hands, palms up, on your knees, and touch each index finger to the middle of each thumb. The wisdom gesture promotes harmonious inward expression and openness to life's beauty. This mudra produces wisdom and encourages the ego to realize that relinquishment brings wisdom. This mudra is often practiced during meditation.

Buddhi Mudra: How Enlightening!

Buddhi mudra, or enlightenment gesture, is often associated with the Buddha, and is ideal for centering and calming. Bring your thumb and index finger together, tip to tip, as in the Om mudra. Then bring both hands together, knuckles touching, and rest your hands against your lower abdomen at your Jupiter chakra. This mudra represents divinity and the oneness of self and also the joining of all energies. It quiets the mind, stills action, and enlightens the self to its inner divinity. Try this mudra when you are feeling tense or rushed.

Mantras: Beyond Om

"I'll do yoga," you say, "but I draw the line at chanting. off by a few Om stereotypes on television and in movies little bit—it's not as bad as you think, once you understand what chanting is all about.

A mantra is a sound or sounds that resonate in the body and evoke certain energies. Mantras help stimulate the chakras by soothing your mind and awakening your senses.

Okay, so you've been put . But bear with us for just a

Om is a common mantra because it's designed to invoke a universal perspective: You see your body/mind in relation to its place in the big picture. In Sanskrit, Om is spelled "aum," and each letter is a sacred symbol:

>- a represents the self in the material world.

>- u represents the psychic realm.

>- m represents indwelling spiritual light.

Chanting Om unifies your perceptions so you can sense yourself as an integral part of the universe.

Gradually, the chant helps you shed everything that separates you from the universe —all your negativity, illusions, and misperceptions of yourself and the world. Om is a great mantra for anyone. Don't be embarrassed! Give it a try!

But as we said, Om isn't the only mantra. Many Sanskrit word combinations serve as common mantras, but any sequence of words meaningful to you can be a mantra. You might find something that works for you in the following list:

>- Light (inhalation), love (exhalation). Love (inhalation), light (exhalation).

>- One is all, all is one.

>- Om namah sivaya (pronounced OHM NAH-mah SHE-vah-yah). (Note: Siva destroys and recreates. The energy that destroys the lower self builds the higher self.)

>- Amen.

> Hallelujah.

>- Om Shanti Shanti Shanti (pronounced OHM SHAHN-tee, meaning all peace, peace, peace).

>- Hari Om (pronounced HA-ree OHM, meaning removing fear, uncovering bliss).

>- Hong Sau (pronounced HONG SAW, meaning the holy breath; inhale "hong," exhale "sau").

Mandalas: Goin' 'Round in Circles

While a mantra is meant to soothe the body and mind through sound, a mandala is meant to center the mind through sight. Mandalas are beautiful, usually circular, geometric designs that draw your eye to the center. Mandala means "circle" or "center," and the designs suggest the circular patterns that exist in so many levels of life, from atoms to solar systems. Mandalas represent a pilgrimage to enlightenment. As you focus on the center of the mandala, you'll notice the outer parts shifting and changing in your peripheral vision; eventually, your focus will become clear, and the center will be all that you see.

Mandalas are a metaphor for the spiritual path of the mind and body. This well-known man-dala is built into the floor of Chartres Cathedral in France. Spiritual pilgrims literally walked through the mandala to attain spiritual insight. Get a pencil and try walking the Chartres mandala by tracing the path you would take to reach the center and then return from the center to the world again.

Using mandalas and mantras together is a wonderful way to meditate, because the combination of aural and visual stimulation awakens and clarifies your mind, body, and spirit in multiple ways. Adding color to your mandala goes even further toward stimulating the senses. (And you thought meditation would be boring!)

The Least You Need to Know

>- Chakras are energy centers in your body that govern different areas of your physical, emotional, and spiritual self.

>- Unblocking and releasing chakras through meditation and targeted yoga poses can improve your physical, emotional, and spiritual health.

>- Mantras are words or groups of words meant to resonate within the body for certain effects and are often used as an aural focus in meditation. The most well-known mantra is the Sanskrit word Om.

>- Mandalas are circular patterns meant to focus the vision and, by extension, the consciousness during meditation. Combining mantras and mandalas in meditation results in an even more powerful centering effect.