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Reclaiming Mind, Body & Spirit Through The Chakras
The Crossing Press 1993 ISBN #0-89594-574-6 The Sevenfold Journey is based on classes taught by Anodea Judith and Selene Vega. It is an internal journey, through the chakra system, that opens any and all doors that the practitioner allows it to. This is a workbook for better living - if the principles found here are applied, transformation will occur! Here you will find the map to better mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health - to a better understanding of yourself, and how you interact with your environment. The tools presented here are accessible to anyone who wishes to work with them, and act as the "magick" needed to build a stable life foundation. (I know how many times I have thought that my life was going "just fine", only to have it fall out from under me! With a better foundation, a better understanding of myself and the energies that make up "me", that did not need to have happened.) The Sevenfold Journey grew out of class work that the authors were teaching regarding the chakra system, how to understand it and how to bring it into balance. What began as a relatively short course grew into a nine month journey of exploration for the authors and their students. Many different tools were worked with along the way, opening doors to new worlds for everyone involved. Each of the seven major chakras are given their own chapter, and are addressed in a manner specific to the energies being worked with. In the introduction, the concept of chakras as the channels of energy for the body is discussed, as well as chakra associations. There is a wonderful chart presented that is well worth placing in a personal journal for study. Each chakra has the following associations listed: Sanskrit Name, Meaning, Location, Element, Main Issue, Goals, Malfunction, Color, Celestial Body, Foods, Right, Stones, Animals, Operating Principle, Yoga Path and Archetypes. (I loved the Archetypes, as both psychology and Tarot are major interests for me.) One of the first exercises presented is called Hand Chakra Opening. I am going to present it here so that you can experience the same thing that I did:
One of the easiest ways to experience what a chakra feels like is through opening the hand chakras. 1. Extend both arms out in front of you, parallel to the floor with elbows straight. Turn one hand up, and one hand down. 2. Now quickly open and close your hands twenty times or so. Turn your palms the opposite way and repeat. This opens the hand chakras. 3. To feel them, open your hands and slowly bring your palms together, starting about two feet apart and moving slowly to a distance of a few inches. When your hands are about four inches apart you should be able to feel a subtle ball of energy, like a magnetic field, floating between your palms. Of you tune in closely, you may even be able to feel t he chakras spinning. After a few moments, the sensation will decrease, but you can create it again by repeating the steps above. The energy you feel between your hands in this exercise also runs through your arms, legs, torso and organs at all times. With practice, you can learn to feel the other chakras. (pgs 11-12) Energy comes up through the earth, through all seven chakras and moves skyward. Conversely, energy also comes from above, through the crown chakra and goes through the seven chakras and out through the soles of our feet into the earth. With intent, we can run energy up through the bottom three chakras and down through the top three chakras at the same time. They meet int he middle, at the heart chakra, where they combine and expand out into the universe. One of the first concepts in relation to the chakras presented in this book is that of "right" - that each chakra carries an inherent "right" for every individual. These rights are defined as follows: Chakra One - The right to have; Chakra Two: The right to feel; Chakra Three: The right to act; Chakra Four: The right to love and be loved; Chakra FIve: The right to speak and hear truth; Chakra Six: The right to see; Chakra Seven: The right to know. Along with these rights is presented the concept of the flow of energy - how the chakras can be blocked to a greater or a lesser extent, due to excessive or deficient energies, and how a blockage in one chakra can affect one or more of the other chakras. Until recently, I understood the concept of a blocked chakra, but did not see the size of the chakra field as changing. I saw the blockage as within a pipe, where there can be buildup on the inside of the pipe, restricting the flow of material through it. Here Judith and Vega actually show graphs of how one or more chakras can literally shrink or balloon out, depending on the energy moving through them. This makes a big difference in how I see the energy in my body, and will be a great help in recognizing problem areas. Each chapter on the chakras is presented in the following manner: Where are you now? : This is a list of key concepts associated with the respective chakra. The student is asked to jot down their responses to how each keyword appears in their life. Alter Arrangement: Each chakra is worked with for a specific time period. An alter is set up for meditation purposes during that time that reflects the nature of the chakra. Correspondences: The following correspondences are listed for the specific chakra: Sanskrit Name, Meaning, Location, Element, Main Issue, Goals, Malfunction, Color, Celestial Body, Foods, Right, Stones, Animals, Operating Principle, Yoga Path and Archetypes. Sharing the experience: Students that have gone through this class share their experiences here. In this way, the reader does not feel so alone with their chakra issues when they work on a specific chakra. Understanding the concept: Here the authors discuss the life and health areas that each chakra is associated with. The body: How each chakra functions within our body. (This heading will change from chakra to chakra.) Home and finance: How these issues are affected by the first chakra. (Each chakra will have a different heading here.) Excess and Deficiency: How too much or too little energy going through a specific chakra affects us. Working with movement: Here specific exercises are given that will move the energy through each specific chakra. This is a great section, and the exercises are something that everyone can do on their own! The Dance: This is a unique and marvelous concept - to create dance movement that is specific to each chakra. Bioenergetic movement: These are specific movements and poses that will work with the energy of each specific chakra. Putting It Into Practice: Here are real life ways that we can pay attention to how we are treating the energy of each chakra in our everyday living. Journaling Exercises: General journaling, as well as working with specifc questions/concepts is encouraged here. Entering Sacred Space: This is a specific meditation tailored for each chakra. Group Ritual: Instructions are set out here for doing ritual in group to honor each chakra. Resources: Here the resources for books and music are listed for each chapter. I found this book to be a great gift, in that the tools that it presented were tools that were usable by me, working on my own, in my own space and in my own time. Each person will get out of this book what they choose to put into it. I highly recommend it for everyone that is on a person spiritual journey. Your transformation will be profound!
Bonnie Cehovet
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