I have a thousand brilliant lies for the question: What is God? If you think that the Truth can be known from words, if you think that the Sun and the Ocean can pass through that tiny opening called the mouth, oh someone should start laughing! Someone should start wildly laughing—Now!”- Hafiz
The Seventh Chakra
The Seventh Chakra is the Crown Chakra. It is located at the crown of your head- right where you had a “soft spot” as a little baby that eventually closed off when you were a toddler, as the hard bone of your skull pieces grew together. Many people believe that little babies communicate directly with divine realms because their crown chakras are so open and strong. The crown chakra deals with your connection to the divine within you and all around you, and it is weakened by all forms of earthly attachments.
Physically, it supports your central nervous system and deep brain functions (your automated life support systems of your brain stem and your emotional and memory centers of the middle brain).
See if any of these signs of weakness describe your experience, and if so, experiment with some or all of the five things below to help you open and strengthen your seventh chakra.
Five Signs Your Seventh Chakra Is Weak
1. You feel disconnected to the divine in you and around you. You only believe what you can sense with your five physical senses to be real. You have a condescending skepticism towards the spiritual and metaphysical.
2. You have an “everyone for themselves” attitude toward life. You see everything and everyone as separate and distinct from you; as people or things to be controlled, managed, led, tolerated or attacked and defended against. You don’t really feel connected at a deeper level to other people or to the planet.
3. You often feel a sense of abandonment by any higher power and anger for all the injustices you perceive in the world. The opposite extreme can also show up as “self-righteousness” where you place people into distinct us vs. them groups where the us group is right and the them group is wrong.
4. You have a strong attachment to possessions and relationships, and define yourself by what you have and who you are in a relationship with. By attachment I mean that your sense of purpose and well being is attached to your property and your relationships with others. So long as they are where you want them, you feel OK, but are always afraid you are going to lose them. To the extent you do not have the possessions and relationships you desire you believe that their lack is the cause of your unhappiness.
5. You experience any of the following physical symptoms on a frequent or chronic basis: anxiety, depression, migraines, amnesia, ADD, dyslexia, and in the most extreme cases cognitive delusions and mental illness.
Five Things You Can Do To Strengthen Your Seventh Chakra
1. Reflection
Adopt this phrase as your mantra: “I see myself in all others and all others in myself.” Reflect on how this is true in your experiences today. Consider the co-worker that you are annoyed by or the person who cuts you off in traffic. How does what drives their actions also exist in you? How does the other person also have what you think is best about you?
Consider the person you really admire for something. How do you also have what you admire in them? How might they also have insecurities that you only see in yourself? This attitude allows you to let all people and all things that you experience today, be your teacher; the child, the homeless person, the tree, the river, the celebrity on TV, even the weather, all of them become your teacher. From this perspective, it becomes silly to judge and condemn others or yourself and greater compassion for yourself and for others becomes natural.
2. Laughing
Heartfelt laughing is one of the best chakra strengtheners there is. If you are blessed to be around little children, spend time playing with them, being silly and laughing with them. If you don’t have little children as a catalyst, you can create a powerful laughing experience all on your own. Don’t wait until you feel like laughing. Just start laughing. Fake it completely at first, but do it from the belly and out loud and do it for one full minute (time yourself). Pretty soon it won’t feel so fake and you’ll actually be laughing naturally and because you feel like it.
Pay attention to the feeling at the crown of your head. See if you notice a feeling of openness and a tingling sensation. This is a well known exercise for Tibetan monks. The master monk strikes a gong and the student monks are to sit and laugh until the master strikes the gong again. At first it feels fake and tenuous, but after a while it becomes genuine and hearty. When the second gong is struck it is hard for the monks to stop laughing. The master then says “You do not laugh because you are happy. You are happy because you laugh. ”
3. Sound Vibration
Intone the “ong” sound using the word “song” and feel the vibration in your seventh chakra as you hold out the “ng” sound. Imagine a violet light radiating from your seventh chakra and sending healing and balancing energy to your entire brain. From there, send it to your entire body, cascading down like a fountain of water from the crown of your head to the base of your spine and back up your spine to the crown of your head.
Experiment intoning with your ears unplugged and with them plugged by your fingers. The word song also has meaning related to the seventh chakra. Think of everything in your life being orchestrated divinely as a beautiful song- some parts are sad and longing, others parts are suspenseful and intriguing, other parts are joyful and full of peace.
4. Chakra Breath
Do the “Heaven and Earth Breath.” This breath is more about the intention and attention you bring to it than any specific breathing technique. Breathe in slowly through your nose (if you can) and imagine that you are breathing in a purple/white light from above, through the crown of your head and saturating your whole body. As you breathe out, imagine you are sending this divine energy down through the soles of your feet and into the earth where it is gratefully accepted. Repeat for as many cycles as you want, feeling the flow of energy from the crown of your head through the soles of your feet.
John E. Groberg is the creator of Spiral Up Yoga and the author of the book Spiral Up Yoga which teaches a simple daily self-care practice for body, mind and soul that is chakra-based and can be done at home by anyone, anywhere in just five minutes per day. Seven chakras. Seven days. One rule: Do something today for five minutes to strengthen todays chakra. To learn more and see free instructional videos of all 49 asanas taught in the book, go to www.spiralupyoga.com.
John E. Groberg is the creator of Spiral Up Yoga and the author of the book Spiral Up Yoga which teaches a simple daily self-care practice for body, mind and soul that is chakra-based and can be done at home by anyone, anywhere in just five minutes per day. Seven chakras. Seven days. One rule: Do something today for five minutes to strengthen todays chakra. To learn more and see free instructional videos of all 49 asanas taught in the book, go to www.spiralupyoga.com.
