MANAGING YOUR ENERGY

We live in very busy, even hectic times. A lot of us spend our time running from activity to activity. It's important for us to manage our energies well, so that we can fulfill our responsibilities. (We should also all back off a little from taking on too much, but that's a topic for another time.)

Previously, I've suggested two ways to get in touch with Earth energy, by grounding and by specifically connecting to wherever you are on the Earth. Now it's time to take a look at aiding your chakras in their daily activity.

A first step is to become aware of your chakras on and off through your day. Standing in line? Touch into your chakras. Sitting on a bus or a plane? Close your eyes, and touch into your chakras. A simple awareness of where each is and what state each one is currently in can be helpful.

You might also want to meditate on each. Take a few minutes, and bring your awareness to your root chakra. How does it feel to you? How does it look? (What you see and feel is real.) If it seems to need attention, bring light to it by imagining it surrounded by light and feel the richness of its attendant color. It's my bias that you should start with the root chakra and move up.

Sometimes you'll find that one in particular feels off to you. It's our American idea that the direct way is always the best. I've found that this isn't necessarily true. Bringing light to first the lower, then the higher chakra, can surround the one that feels off in light, and allows it to feel safe. Then bring light to it, as above.

Experiment, and you'll find what feels best to you. Remember, what you see and feel is real.

CONNECT TO THE EARTH

It’s critical at this time in our history as human beings for us to feel the Earth, to connect to the Earth. Regardless of what is going on in your life right now, five minutes outside breathing the air (I hesitate to say “fresh”, since many of us live in cities or in areas where the air is polluted) will help you be connected with the Earth.

Try this: go outside, wherever you are. Even if you are very busy, you can do this. If it has to be from a balcony, a loading dock, or on the sidewalk, so be it; but go outside. If you can be barefoot, that’s ideal. We work with ourselves however we are, though, so socks or shoes are fine if that’s what you can do. Don’t let the details keep you from doing this!

Stand up as straight as you can, putting your feet under your hips. Drop your shoulders, and close your eyes. Take a long, slow deep breath in, then out. Allow your consciousness to feel the air on your skin. Note the quality of the air: warm? Cool? Damp? Dry? Whatever you feel, note it.

Open your eyes. Where’s the sun? If it’s nighttime, is the moon out? Can you see stars? What season is it? What time of day is it – not from your watch, but from what you see? Is there wind? What direction is it coming from?

Just keep breathing. Just keep looking. Note the plants, if there are any; what do you see? Are there animals anywhere near you? Even in the depths of Manhattan, there are birds -- and more than one kind. It doesn’t matter if you can name the birds, the animals, or the plants; just note them.

We all know that our Earth is in trouble. And we need to get beyond the pain of environmental degradation to the daily pleasure that is being a part of the whole. A daily practice, a five minute practice, of simply noting where we are, goes a long way towards healing our relationship with the Earth. It keeps us aware of our connection.

We’re as much physical creatures as we are creatures of mind or creatures of Spirit. We are a unique blend. Connecting to the Earth is an essential part of keeping ourselves whole.



NB: It’s not my practice to post Sundays; but there’s an urgency to this today.

FOOT AND HAND CHAKRAS

The most important "secondary" chakra sites are in the feet and the hands. Since my bias is to move from the Earth upward, let's start with the feet.

The foot chakra rests between the ball of the foot and the large pad just before the toes. I've never seen a color, nor read about one, associated with this chakra. As with any other chakra, this appears as a spinning wheel and can be open, closed, collapsed inward, or pushed foreward. The foot chakra's purpose is to be a secondary grounding site; it is also a place to touch Earth energies.

The hand chakra appears in the palm of the hand. Again, there is no color attached to this chakr. The hand chakra, in some systems, is attached to the heart chakra by an energetic pathway that leads up the arm to the heart. This chakra brings energy in, and also sends energy out. In massage therapists. touch healers, and energy healers, this is the spot where healing energy leaves the body system to move into the client. When you first experience energy in your body, frequently this is where it happens. You can even feel it yourself by doing this exercise: rub your hands together until your hands feel warm. Rest your hands, palms together. Then very slowly move your hands apart. You'll feel a subtle buzzing: that's energy.




Information on these chakras specific to rock musicians can be found at: www.myspace.com/duffimac in the blog

CLEANING YOUR FIELD

It feels important at this stage to give you some ideas about keeping your energies clean. We all pick up energetic debris, as we pick up dirt as we go about our daily lives. Our bodies need washing; so, too, does our energy field.

An Epsom salt bath is a classic way to clean your field. Lay in the bath for about 20 minutes, into which two handfuls of salts have been dissolved. This is equally effective in the shower. Starting from the feet, use a handful or two and scrub your body, paying particular attention to the chakra centers. Intention is important here. If you’re in a hurry, just use a smidge on each chakra center. Rinse thoroughly; these are salts and if left to dry on your skin you’ll itch. During times of intense effort, this can be done daily. Otherwise, once a week or so is fine.

Using a sage bundle is also an option. Light the end of it, and use the resultant smoke from the bottom of your feet to the top of your head. (Yes, it smells like pot.) You can find sage bundles at most alternative bookstores. Kitchen sage is also fine, though leaf is preferable to rubbed. Light a small batch of it in a fire-safe bowl or plate, and proceed as above. Doing this in a hotel room is not recommended; you could set off a fire alarm with the smoke.

If you’re doing intense work with the public, you might consider wearing a small quartz crystal. Clear quartz is best for this purpose. The crystal will absorb a lot of negativity. Cleanse it daily by holding it under running water.

A BRIEF TUTORIAL II: CHAKRA COLORS AND FUNCTIONS

A note on language: Lower does not mean less important; higher does not mean more. It’s a mistake to think that the body is a lesser part of the human journey, and the spirit the greater. We are humans: integrated systems, with at least 3 major components: body, mind, and spirit.

There is some disagreement over the color that each healthy chakra should display. (If you want to make yourself completely nuts, know that Tibetan tradition posits 5 chakras rather than seven. There are other chakra systems, too. Everything is mutable.) There’s agreement over the 3 lower chakras; it’s as we look higher that there’s disagreement. There’s also disagreement, once you reach chakra 3, about what functions each chakra manifests. The system I present here is both my understanding from observation and where I’ve come to rest after some study of the material.

The root chakra is red, a rich clear red. It supports physical survival and connection to the Earth. (see Grounding, below.)

The second, or belly chakra, is orange, like – an orange! It serves sexuality and lower-digestive functions.

The third, or sacral chakra, is bright yellow. It is the center of Mind, and digestive functions in general, specifically upper colon, small intestine, and stomach.

The fourth, or heart chakra, is a bright green, though not a Kelly green. It is the heart! and serves as the organizer of our emotional lives, as well as the physical heart and the lungs. It is the bridge to the “higher” chakras, and is the mediator to the human body of Spirit. *

The fifth, or throat chakra, is a vivid royal blue. It is the center of our ability to communicate with ourselves, with each other, and with Spirit; as well as the physical throat.

The sixth, or third eye chakra, is a deep indigo blue. It is the center of “high” sight, the unfelt compassion of looking at things as they truly are, as well as the physical eyes.

The seventh, or crown chakra, is a very pale lavender, or bright white. (I’ve seen both; neither seems normative over a large sample of humans.) It is the entryway for spiritual communication, and our connection to our “higher” selves.




*An interesting theory: the heart brings Spirit “down” from the upper chakras. Spirit, resting in the heart, infuses blood with soul, life, Itself. An idea to play with.

A BRIEF TUTORIAL: ENERGY, CHAKRAS, THE FIELD

We are all made up of energy. In fact, according to my limited understanding of current thoughts in physics, we are more space than solid. Our energies move through our physical bodies in a variety of ways.

One of the oldest understandings of energies coalescing in the body (and beyond) comes from India: the chakra system. It is foundational to energy studies.

Each of us has, according to this system, seven major chakras in our physical bodies. Going from top to bottom, they are:

The root chakra, at the base of the spine,

The second chakra, about mid-belly,

The third chakra, about 2 inches up from the belly button;

The heart chakra, in the center of the chest;

the throat chakra,

The third eye chakra, up from between the eyebrows about an inch;

and the crown chakra at the top of the head.

These look like spinning wheels (chakra means wheel in Sanskrit). Each has its attendant color and function, which I will post tomorrow.
There are also chakras in the palms of the hands and the mid-point of the bottom of the feet.

The aura is the energy field created by the chakras, and by the intention of the individual. I call it the field since "aura" sounds really flaky, even to me!

GROUNDING

Tonight, I'll post what I had promised earlier. Now, I feel strongly that it's time to address a neglected skill: grounding.


For anyone doing trance work, meditation, performance, or public speaking (please, add your own favorite activity of this kind here!), the ability to be present in your body is very important. There are energy pathways in the body that provide for an energy connection with the ground, i.e. the Earth. For some, this is a literal, felt connection; for others, it's a connection that takes place through visualization or in the mind.


One can ground through the feet, or out the spine. It's important to know how to do both, since a leg injury may make grounding through the feet problematic for those whose connection is a felt one. There are chakras in the feet, (cf above) as well as one at the base of the spine.

To ground, stand or sit in a comfortable position. Grounding through the spine requires that you bring your attention to the base of your spine: at the entrance to the vagina in women, just above the testicles in men. Allow your attention to remain here for a moment (or longer). Then reach out through this chakra, the root chakra, and imagine a line of light going down from your spine to the Earth; yes, like a tail. Pat the Earth lightly with this energy and ask permission to enter. Then allow the line to go slowly down through the floor, the dirt, the water, the rock, until you're touching the molten core of the planet. The energy then usually rushes right back up this line to your root chakra. This is grounding. Allow this energy to fill you right up. When you're done with your activity, release this line and thank the Earth.

Grounding through the feet, natural for some, goes through the same procedure. What's important here is to allow the energy that pools in the feet to go up the legs to the root chakra and fill the field. As above, when you're done, release the lines and thank the Earth.


Now the taste of Earth is different in each locality so each time you do any of the above activities in a new place, you must ground in that new place.