The chakras are beautiful flowers that blossom through all dimensions of our lives. Their petals, colors, contours and fragrances lend vibrancy, vitality and authenticity to everything we do and are. Cultivating and showcasing this resplendent bouquet is what all yoga systems seek to accomplish. When the chakras are in bloom our life energies can flow and we can truly be sun-kissed beings.
In Kundalini yoga, there are a wide array of exercises and meditations to balance, stimulate, unblock, unlock and develop our chakra system. It’s one of the reasons why we leave each Kundalini yoga class in such a buzzed state of energy, buoyancy and joy. Our worlds completely rocked, yet heads and souls clear and calm at the same time.
Everything exists in relation to its opposite. In this sense, no one chakra is an island unto itself. Each chakra has its polarity. The quality and depth of our lives, our character and consciousness are determined by the interplay of the chakras. Think of a long-time married couple dealing with the same issues year after year. For the long-term success of their union, they need to embrace cooperation, mutual respect and a merger of strengths.
When the chakras are working together and supporting each other, we can more easily be healthy, happy and successful.
The first polarity is earth and ether, exemplified by the first and seventh chakras. A first chakra imbalance makes us like a stick in the mud: stubborn, set in our ways, one dimensional, and very reactive and defensive. A seventh chakra imbalance engenders a head-in-the-clouds way of being. We’re abstracted, too idealistic and not willing to deal with reality as it is.
The answer: next time our deep buttons get pressed, rise above. Sense the big picture, the wider view. Next time action is called for, don’t procrastinate, meander, dither or philosophize. Be in the body with feet on the ground, and be willing to do the tough/unpleasant but very necessary thing.
The next pairing is sex and sixth sense, represented by the second and sixth chakras. A second chakra imbalance renders us too puritanical in relation to our sexuality or, conversely, too promiscuous. We also hesitate to flare our flair, which means joyfully expressing our style and individuality. A sixth chakra imbalance makes it almost impossible to make a decision. Our mind takes us forever in circles. We’re not in touch with our intuition or subtle sense.
The answer: So, next time we find ourselves deconstructed by desire, harness that taking that energy and directing it creatively. Sex is a good and true thing, but only when the conditions are right. Those who have mastered the art of higher desire are the great geniuses of this world. The same energy and passion with which you would create a baby can immediately augur creative leaps and breathtaking breakthroughs. Be willing to chip away at mental encrustation until only a diamond remains. And the next time a whirlwind of cogitation occurs, use the creativity to look at things from a different angle.
Now we’ve arrived at the plateau of love and will and the dance between the third and fourth chakras. A third chakra imbalance incites us to see everything in terms of gain and loss which, inevitably, means our gain and everyone else’s loss. A fourth chakra imbalance could mean that we give and give and give, and forget to create our own life to live.
The answer: So next time the tendency is to be a shark, help a goldfish get back its gold. Instead of giving our power away next time, offer it to ourselves.
Our final chakra couple is the fifth and eighth chakras, or “known” and “unknown”. A fifth chakra imbalance causes us to swallow our words and bury our feelings. Also, we may have great ideas, but there is a tendency to not be able to manifest them. An eighth chakra imbalance makes us feel like the invisible woman or man. Our radiance isn’t radiating.
The answer: practice being direct, speaking up and sparking up. We may not feel like the life of the party, but be willing to practice the greatest life chakra exercise of them all: “fake it ‘til you make it.”