Love the Life you are Living by Healing your Heart Chakra

To be physically strong, capable of giving and receiving love and to be poised to develop spiritually, our Heart Chakras must be nourished and stroked – literally paid attention to like the plaintive cry of your child or the insistent mewing of your cat.

So, just as Barry, one of the characters in The Chakra Diaries did, we can start by surrounding that person in the mirror with green light, color therapy for the Heart Chakra. Like a rags-to-riches infomercial, results may vary, but just give it a try.

Another technique to boost your feelings of self-love is to re-visit those times in your childhood when you felt most loved, appreciated and supported and transport those feelings to the present, to right now! You CAN revel in those feelings again and carry them with you regardless of which purse you are packing. Feel them pump you up when you are down. Tweak and tune them, brand them as your own.

Now that we have you started on your merry way, how about some loving first aid for the other people in your life…

When someone else in your life is sad, try this warm and fuzzy exercise. Sit next to them and caress the tips of their hands. Notice the feelings that pop into your head. Stroke the back of their hand and then the palm. Which touch does your friend or lover respond most to?

When you have reached an end, shake off any unhappy energy toward the ground and ask your friend to repeat the process with you as the recipient.

Tomorrow, we will learn about ways to feed our heart when we are alone – sorry, no chocolate involved in this one. Please visit again.
Namaste! Becca
http://amzn.to/iiD77G

Peeking Under the Covers of an Undercover Romance

Dear Soho,
My instinct is that the lumpy, small mattress and cobwebs on your love life are only the tip of the proverbial iceberg that is looming dead ahead of your relationship.

Barry, one of the participants in the chakra balancing workshop that I profiled in The Chakra Diaries, told me that a lover once told him that he was “mechanical” in bed. She really nailed his feelings to the floor when she said that she was “used to” lovers who drank deeply from her well of love, who would suck on her toes, rub her neck or kiss the small curves of her neck to get her in the mood. She confessed that sometimes these means to an OMG moment would relax her into dreamland instead of firing her booster engines and that Lover Boy would have to be alright with that too.

All this to say Soho, that without knowing Rhett, I would guess that he may have deficient second chakra. Perhaps like Barry, he is unhappy with his work or was unused to affection as a child so he does not know how to give it as an adult. Barry’s mother once told him that he walked across the graduation stage like a “plowboy,” referring to a stiff, rigid loping gait that was all the rage of the country boys she grew up with. Perhaps Rhett is similarly afflicted and his chi or life energy is effectively bottled-up and severely restricted from flowing through his strong arms, broad chest and compassionate heart. So, let’s be proactive and solve this lumpy problem once and for all.

Why not encourage Rhett to make a date to take you to the zoo with a picnic basket chock-full of your favorite foods, a bunch of flowers and chocolates to nibble on? Cuddle without shame on your blanket and kiss openly and frequently like pimply teenagers. Awaken whatever passion has been hibernating or paint broad strokes of that which is yet-to-come. End your date (at least publicly) with a drop-in to a furniture store and lie down with Rhett on the smallest mattress and tell him that this size is your favorite.

Please keep in touch.
Namaste. Becca

Love is the Heart of the Matter – Step Four – Heart Chakra

In my chakra balancing workshop profiled in The Chakra Diaries, one student’s fourth chakra was profoundly closed. He was as suspicious of others as a stray cat, resentful at life for handing him not that bowl of cherries that he felt he so richly deserved, but a crate of sour grapes and buckets of ill will filled with woe-is-me. No wonder that despite his rugged good looks and stable income he was having such a “hard time” finding a lover and soul mate. His inner peace was pockmarked and fragmented, it resembled a battlefield of negative feelings littered with remnants of squandered life force. He was in every sense of the unspoken word, a mess.

I suggested that he passively meditate at every opportunity, allowing his memories of love and relationships to surface so that they could be examined and balanced. He taped ten affirmations of self acceptance on his bathroom mirror and car dashboard to guide him in becoming more grounded and open to love and compassion.

Over the course of the workshop, I saw this delightful, yet challenging man grow into a balance of his internal and external worlds. He became more open and accepting of life and less apt to sling blame, point fingers and retreat into a fortress of self-pity. He led the group in a practice of saturation blessings and appreciations of abundance, reminding the group that blessings flow where attention goes and that all power comes from within. In the final tally, he gave to the group far more than he took and I am forever thankful that he crossed my life.

Mr. Heart, I miss you and wonder what your world has become. Please take a minute away from what I imagine to be an overflowing and abundant life and write to me soon. Namaste.

Mirror, Mirror On the Wall – Step Three – Solar Plexus Chakra

I begin my days by stretching cat-like on my futon, toenails to fingernails, arching and undulating my spine, inviting my physical body to join my consciousness in greeting a new day ripe with opportunity. Once I arise from my rainbow-drenched mat, I ball my fears into a small soft, mentally biodegradable box and give it a hefty kick into the heavens. In the evenings, I repeat this fear-banishing exercise, using it as warm milk for my soul, its soporific effect smoothly easing me into a relaxed state so that I may begin my nightly visualizations.

At some point during the morning, usually after my first cup of green tea, I affirm to the Becca in the mirror that even though I take risks in both love and life, I give myself permission to fail (or perhaps to alter my thinking or attitude so that “failures” morph into positive learning experiences.) Just yesterday, one of my chakra workshop participants was wringing her hands and likening her lack of a physical love life to that of a nun. I chuckled at her purloined quote that “Men are like parking spaces, the good ones are either taken, or are too far away.”

One of the males in the group suggested that Ms. Frustrated first take a hard, honest look in her mirror and assess (even writing down what she is offering to the world), those qualities seen and unseen that might or might not be attracting potential mates into her life. He reminded her to be realistic, but not to sell herself short and remarked that, for instance, he was attracted to her intellect and humor but often put off by her critical comments lightly veiled as wit. I urged her to practice enhancing the attributes on her “alluring” list and to discard or re-purpose the unwanted, much as I figuratively boot mine away.

Another workshop attendee who lost her lover to the thrills and spills of life, creating her own “private hell on earth,” said that simple positive thinking had helped her endure. Instead of grinding her teeth and stomping her feet at the “overwhelming” frustrations and mental plaque built up from being a modern woman, Ms. Optimism had hung a carrot on a stick in her kitchen, reminding her to concentrate on the rewards at the end of her journey, and not the countless, arduous steps in between. She ended her tale and gave our hearts wings when she said to stay tuned – that she knew meaningful, lasting love was on the horizon even though she has not yet even seen the boat it is sailing on.

If you are looking for love, a strong sense of self from a balanced solar plexus chakra will give you charisma and help you attract your soul mate. Good luck in love in the New Year.
Namaste!
Becca Chopra, author of The Chakra Diaries

Finding Love at the End of the Rainbow – Step Two – Sacral Chakra

“Sex is emotion in motion,” said Mae West and she was an expert on that subject. If stress causes blockages of energy in the body, your sex and your love life will be out of whack. Accumulated stress in the body, whether emotional or physical, erects barriers to the natural flow of our life energy. So, too much stress may equal no love or even any prospects for it. Love doctors have for centuries recognized that moving in spontaneous and free-form ways not only demands flexibility but also the ability to change focus and let go of memories, trauma and pain.

Philosopher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin has been quoted as saying that “Love is the most powerful and still the most unknown energy in the world.” In opposition to the Base Chakra’s links to fortress-like solidity and stability, the Sacral Chakra focuses on flowing movement and filling your need to sip, bathe, luxuriate or douse in the vivacious, unpredictable and dynamic stream we call love. Practicing the hypnotic hip swivels of oriental (belly) dancing or performing wu chi exercises may help you begin to experience the world of love that seems just beyond your heart’s grasp.

An imbalance of your Sacral Chakra may also manifest as an inappropriate focus on something or somebody that is inappropriate or unrealistic. Perhaps that new guy in the office does have a killer smile, great hair and a body worth giving up chocolate for, but he comes forth anointed with a ring finger wrapped in gold. We might practice the cobbler’s pose to encourage our life energy to flow throughout our sacral chakra or unleash and focus our creative spirits through painting or making music. Our skill level at this art is not an important measure but the fact that we are “doing it” and by doing so are diverting our essence around any barriers nesting in our bodies. As an expression of our joy of living, whatever we create is beautiful, skillful, breathtaking and encouraging. In becoming more sensitive and responsive to what is going on in the world around us, we also further the grounding that we fostered in our root chakra, allowing us to go boldly after what we seek in life, even a relationship that we can grow old with.

In addition to harboring pleasurable sensations, the sacral chakra can vacuum in and hold fast to pain and its attendant stress, damming up the free flow of energy and physically manifesting as infection and illness. We may be “going through the motions” in life, seeing the dust on the table and not the wondrous roses in the crystal vase. Our reactions to the world may vacillate widely from rage and aggression to breaking into tears at the slightest problem.

To aid in stress relief, esteemed authors and teachers Sue and Simon Lilly suggest placing three clear quartz crystals, points facing outward, in a triangle just below your navel. Next, place three rose quartz stones in an arc above your pubic bone and relax for 4-5 minutes. Repeat as often as is needed for optimal energy flow.

Namaste and Keep Focused on Love!
Becca Chopra, author of The Chakra Diaries

How Can I Forgive When What I really Want is Revenge?

Dear Becca,

A friend of mine, or someone I used to consider to be a very close friend, was having sex in my bed with my boyfriend when I came home from work late, a few nights ago. Yes, I tossed them out on their ears (well, maybe not literally) but now I lonely, sad, frustrated and a few other things I won’t mention on here. I want to move on with my life and to put them both in my rear-view mirror, so please help me distance my heart from the hurt that is bruised and glowing there.
Signed,
Jilted Juliet

Dear Juliet,
Heart chakra balancing can help you release your anger to let love and compassion live there. First, you have to realize that forgiveness, even of something unspeakable, is necessary for you to live a healthy, loving life. You don’t have to forget or condone an action or behavior, you just have to let go of its importance in your life. As the Buddha said, “Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one getting burned.”

Most of the characters in The Chakra Diaries had to deal with forgiveness, of themselves and others, to release the tension in their bodies and allow the healing power of love to flow. Put your present happiness first, and forgive past transgressions – drop the hot coal.
Namaste!

Lose Weight, Look More Youthful, Eliminate Pain-Use the 5 Tibetan Rites to Stimulate the Circulation of Your Essential Life Energy

Developed thousands of years ago by Tibetan monks to slow aging, increase energy, calm the mind and strengthen the body, the 5 Tibetan Rites are once-secret, ancient yoga-like poses .

The secret to the 5 Tibetan Rites was unveiled in the 1930’s when a retired British army officer discovered a remote Tibetan monastery where the monks were rumored to have discovered the legendary Fountain of Youth. The remarkably old, yet amazingly healthy monks claimed that the secret to reversing aging lay in the five special movements they performed daily. The officer learned these exercises from the monks and taught them to Peter Kelder, who documented them in the book “The Ancient Secrets of the Fountain of Youth.”

Practitioners reported improvements in strength, endurance, and energy, relief from joint pain and headaches, better memory and vision, weight loss and even a more youthful appearance.

According to Jo Caron, a certified Kripalu yoga instructor in Hawaii, the 5 Rites were meant to stimulate the energy centers of the body, the chakras, by speeding up and coordinating their spin. She recommends focusing on each chakra during a repetition of the exercises for increased benefits. Activating the chakras stimulates all the glands of the endocrine system, so the 5 Rites in effect, benefit the body’s overall functioning and aging process. The man who brought these 5 Rites to the West, stated that, “Performing the 5 Rites stimulates the circulation of essential life energy throughout the body.”

Write and tell us about your progress. Namaste, Becca Chopra, http://www.TheChakras.org