Ground yourself

4 Healing Practices to Ground Your Base Chakra & Thrive in Uncertain Times

Whether it’s the global pandemic, racial injustice, or personal challenges you’re dealing with, fear can seep into your energetic system and wreak havoc.

With all that we’re experiencing, around the world and especially in the US right now, it’s hard to know what’s coming next — and that uncertainty can feel like walking blindfolded toward the edge of a cliff. Many people are struggling financially too.

If you know about your first chakra — also called the base chakra or the root chakra — you know that it’s the power center that deals with security and survival…

What you might not know is that the Earth has a chakra system too, and her base chakra is deeply off balance in all this upheaval.

People are feeling this profound disruption in themselves and the Earth whether they know it or not. Feelings of anxiety and being on edge are easy to blame on the nearest little thing, but in fact you’re absorbing the energy of everyone and everything on the planet, and everyone in every country is deeply anxious right now.

From jobs and health to finances, family, and groups we care about — these are all base chakra survival issues. So are disruptions in the Earth — tropical storms, wildfires, you name it.

The good news — and we REALLY need good news, right? — is that you can release fear and anxiety from your base chakra and replace it with useful energy… and stop fear from taking hold in your power centers and energy field.

You can also send healing energy right into Mother Earth. And when you do this, the positive effects reverberate, which can help ease the tumult that’s running rampant on our planet.

A quick word about fear: To some degree, fear is necessary to life on this physical plane. Fear can keep you safe from threats — whether it’s heights, snakes, water, or any kind of injury. Your ancestors relied on fright as a warning system to protect them from falling off a cliff, getting bitten by a poisonous reptile, drowning in a river, or being hurt by someone or something. Your brain continues to use thousands of years of programmed fear to shield your body from harm.

But what happens when you live in fear every day? All day? Fear of a world seeming to fall apart, fear of loneliness, fear of failure — these fears can burrow into your psyche and prevent you from helping to advance humanity or live a meaningful life full of positive relationships and experiences. These fears can damage your chances — and humanity’s chances, and the planet’s chances — of living in light and love, so let’s get some relief! It’s long past due.

The power of your base chakra for releasing unproductive fear.

Fear’s primal place to live is in your first chakra. This base chakra is located at the base of your spine and it’s connected to your security and survival. It’s your foundation, and it has the power to ground and connect you to the physical world. But when it’s unbalanced, you might not feel safe in your body or your place in the world. You might not feel grounded or present. You might find yourself stressed, to say the least.

Childhood traumas can stay stuck in your base chakra until you discover strategies to release them. Fear of illness, global calamity, brutality — the things we’re seeing in our world today — combined with personal fears about safety, security, and stability can disrupt or distort the free flow of energy in your base chakra.

Here are 4 Healing Practices to Help You Clear Blocks in Your Base Chakra — and the Earth’s Base Chakra:

  1. Do a Grounding Meditation
    When you’re ungrounded, you’re vulnerable to fear’s draining energy and you can get blocked. Fear walks right through those open doors of stress and strain and settles in your mind and body. Meditation is one of the best ways to ground yourself so you can keep those doors closed to fear and open to love.Meditate every day, and your fears — along with those fear-in-disguise feelings like anxiety and hopelessness — will start to subside.

    Start by sitting with your eyes closed — either in the traditional lotus position on the floor, or with your feet planted on the ground as you recline in a chair. Keep your hands on your knees — this in itself is very grounding.

    Focus on your base chakra, right at the base of your spine, and see a red cord from it planting itself firmly in the ground.

    As your cord drops down, visualize the energy of the Earth’s base chakra radiating in every direction and spinning rhythmically as it glows with ruby-red light. This base chakra of the Earth is usually thought to be located at Mount Shasta in Northern California, which Native American tribes considered to be a geyser of upward energy.

    Watch its radiating energy spread up through your grounding cord and into your physical body. Breathe deeply as you absorb the strength that the Earth always holds for you. Like the most resourced mother, the Earth always has the capacity to hold and nourish you — as she replenishes herself with infinite love and a profound connection to the whole of the universe.

    It’s now time to visualize this energy saturating the entire planet and flooding your own base chakra with life. As you visualize this vibrant red energy,, observe how its healing flow flushes away fear, old systems and ways of life that need to be released, negative thoughts and patterns, and stale energy. Watch stuckness release from your body and the Earth’s body — into a vacuum of light, where it’s being transmuted into golden love.

    Now visualize the Earth’s base chakra as a red flower. Watch that flower bloom. Visualize its radiant energy travelling up your grounding cord until your own red flower blossoms at the base of your spine. Try to spend about 5 minutes visualizing the flowers spinning and radiating stability, comfort, and safety. Watch fear, negativity, and everything you and we don’t need fall away.

    After a few minutes, rest your hands on your heart chakra and feel the corners of your mouth raise as you smile with a sense of security that you and the Earth are well.

  2. Work with affirmations
    Affirmations are powerful chakra-balancing tools. Consciously repeating positive declarations while focusing on your base chakra helps you cement its natural power to ground you and make you safe..Affirmations also have the added benefit of rewiring your brain. Chronic negative thoughts (“This world is insane — we’ll never have equality,” “The virus is still rampant — it’ll never go away,” etc.) are not only symptoms of an unbalanced base chakra, they can also add to stress and blockages. Productive affirmations help you more easily replace fear-focused thoughts with love-focused thoughts.

    To use the following affirmation, meditate on your base chakra, and either out loud or in your mind, repeat the words:

    I am safe, secure, and deeply rooted to the world. I belong here.

    Repeating this affirmation throughout the day will help you feel protected and secure. Write it down and post it on your mirror, refrigerator, or dashboard. Another idea is to set reminders on your phone to repeat the affirmation every couple hours. You can even write it down on a slip of paper you tuck under your pillow at night. Let its power seep into your sleep and dreams. After all, your sleep connects you to Spirit, which, like the Earth, is always there to nourish you.

  3. Play With Color
    A simple way to restore your base chakra’s balance is to use color. Red is the color of your first chakra, so wear more red. Incorporate ruby hues into your home environment — get a red lampshade, pull out that red blanket for a cozy nap, or paint your living room a warm, deep red. Wear a garnet ring, a coral necklace, write with a burgundy pen. Sprinkle rose petals in your bath water, paint your nails the color of red wine, try a bright red lipstick, trade in your yellow tea kettle for a red one. The important thing is to consciously work with the red items you choose, linking them with your base chakra. To do this, just repeat the affirmation to seal the connection.
  4. Eat Healing Base-Chakra Foods
    Since your base chakra is all about grounding you to the Earth, adding root vegetables to your diet can help strengthen your connection to the physical world. For an easy, delicious grounding meal, try roasting any of the following with salt and olive oil: beets, rutabagas, potatoes, garlic, ginger, turnips, onions, parsnips.If you eat meat, earthy stews and bone broths can be very nourishing for your base chakra. Don’t forget about grains like oats, mineral drops from the Great Salt Lake or elsewhere, red fruits like berries, or spices like paprika for extra flavor and rich, red goodness.

    Again, think of sending nourishment to your base chakra as you eat the healing foods. Perhaps include the affirmation in your prayers, thanking Mother Earth for sustenance. This will infuse the foods even more with nurturance for your base, filling you with a greater ability to thrive even in these times of tremendous transformation.

Feeling Rooted, Firm, and Secure in the World Is Your Birthright.

Always remember that it’s natural for your base chakra and ALL your chakras to be in a state of balance. It can take a short time or a while to restore that natural balance — depending on a lot of factors. No matter what, you deserve to experience the safety, security, vitality, and JOY that comes from practicing these exercises. As you spend more time grounding yourself in your base chakra and that of the Earth, you’ll begin to develop a deeper feeling of security on this beautiful planet that’s been troubled for a long time, but is rife with potential.

8th chakra

Access the Wisdom of Your ‘Soul Star’ & Higher Chakras

8th chakra

When I started meditating back in the day, I had two pretty good size physical problems: I had cancer as well as chronic insomnia, and the latter did not help the former.

I was taught to meditate twice a day, 20 minutes each time, with a mantra, just as I now teach you that same format today. Some time later, I learned the sutras, which I now teach you. With the addition of the sutras to my core meditation practice, I began to access the higher chakras. This was incredibly powerful and transformational for me.

The seven main chakras are tied to your development here on Earth — and in becoming one with your earth home. They are also connected to higher guidance, but less so than the chakras above your head.

The higher chakras — starting with chakras 8 through 12 — exponentially expand your ability to merge with your Higher Self and the universe…

From these higher points of energy, you are able to access higher levels of consciousness.

You begin to shift your focus upward and outward, remaining anchored in your physical self and your physical world, yet moving toward the ever-expanding horizons and possibilities available to you…

Keep in mind, you are much, much larger than your physical body. Your energy body extends many feet above, below, and around you. And you actually have even more than 12 chakras above, below, and around you.

Each of your ascending higher chakras opens you to another doorway into the vast realm of Source — with each chakra activating another level of knowledge, growth and expansion for you.

The spiritual energy that is released as you access these higher levels, vibrates through your entire chakra system (above and below) and supports you in accessing and embodying your Soul’s plan for you.

In this 9-minute video, I am going to lead you through the powerful energy centers of your upper chakras.

In this enlightening journey, we’ll begin with the eighth chakra, which is called your Soul Star.

Your eighth chakra sits about two feet above your crown chakra. It functions as the epicenter of the entire chakra system — protecting your physical, emotional, and spiritual body.

It also acts as the root of the Divine energy that floods your energy system, which you can open to consciously receive anytime you want to feel rejuvenated, replenished, and return to a deep connection to your Soul.

Accessing the wisdom of your eighth chakra stimulates creative expansion and empowers you to draw on information beyond your “thinking” mind.

Through your eight chakra, you can connect with your higher guidance, and access symbols, colors, sounds — messages from your Soul to give you inspiration toward answers to your most pressing questions.

Now, get comfortable and join me for this magical exploration of your upper chakras… watch above.

To learn more about your entire energy system — including all of the chakras — and how to access higher levels of consciousness in the universal field around you, checkout my signature LifeForce Energy Healing® training.

Plus, I just opened my exclusive LifeForce Energy Healing® IV training for my most passionate students.

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How to Heal From Heartbreak

Heartbreak is universal. There is not a person on this planet who has not experienced loss in some way. Be it through rejection, betrayal, abandonment, or death, the pain of losing love, or never having love in the first place, can literally break your heart.

A broken heart has deeper effects than overwhelming sadness. Emotionally, your heart shuts down and blocks your ability to give or receive love, which affects your ability to love yourself and all your relationships. Energetically, your heart chakra closes and blocks the flow of nourishing energy from the unified field. If the energetic blocks aren’t cleared, you can develop physical problems like lung cancer or even heart attack.

Mending the Cracks

Heartbreak is very real, but it doesn’t have to be forever. Believe me, I know. When I was very young I sensed that my mother didn’t love me. I tried not to believe it—what mother doesn’t love her own child?—and after years of her icy glares of resentment and cold-hearted lack of affection, I built a wall around my heart and vowed never to let that pain inside. Perhaps you made a similar vow at some point in your life, and now it’s become the way you live. It may seem safer, but I know how lonely it can be.

By the time I was an adult, my heart chakra had been closed off for so many years, it wasn’t just broken, it was shattered. I didn’t trust in love, and didn’t know how to love myself since I’d never been properly loved by anyone else. With energy healing, I was able to mend the cracks and fissures in my heart, heal my heart chakra, and learn to love in a healthy way. I’ve seen energy medicine heal the hearts of thousands of students, too, and I know it can do the same for you if you let it.

The Key to Healing

In energy healing, chakras are the key to your emotional, spiritual, mental, and physical health. Basically, chakras open you to all the wisdom you need to live a healthy, happy, fulfilling life, but they can become dysfunctional by unprocessed trauma or repressed emotion. If a chakra becomes distorted or imbalanced, the areas of your live governed by that chakra become distorted or imbalanced, wreaking havoc in your life.

Dysfunction in your heart chakra, which corresponds to your thymus, ribs, back, lungs, and of course, your heart, can lead to circulatory problems, lung disorders, breast cancer and heart attack. Heart chakra imbalance can also cause depression, a lack of empathy, and an inability to give and receive love. One of the most essential questions to ask yourself when determining the health of your heart chakra is, “Do I give and receive love easily and without fear?” If the answer isn’t yes, chances are that your heart hasn’t fully healed from a break somewhere in your past.

The Common Response to Heartbreak

Take a minute to think about what loss or lack of love you may have experienced. So many of my students come to my healing courses and workshops with heart chakra blockages that were initially formed as defense mechanisms against a pain that seemed unbearable. The death of a loved one or the death of a relationship, a hateful rather than loving parent, the rejection of a first love, an unfaithful partner, and many more situations where love is revoked or betrayed all cause heartbreak, and the common response to the crushing ache of heartbreak is to shut down the heart’s ability to feel.

The problem is that when you close your heart from the bad feelings, you also shut out the good feelings. But there is always hope! With energy medicine, there is no statute of limitations on releasing pent up emotions from any form of trauma, and it is never too late to begin working with a spiritual teacher or energy healer to get your heart chakra cleared and functioning properly. With a charged and balanced heart chakra, you can enjoy love in your life and create healthy relationships.

Unhurt, Unstruck, Unbeaten

In Sanskrit, the heart chakra is called anahata, which means “unhurt, unstruck, or unbeaten.” No matter what happened to break your heart, it can be healed and “unhurt.”

Here are a few ways to begin the process:

1. Grieve and then let go.

Grief is a heavy burden to carry, and it sits on your heart, weighing you down and keeping your heart chakra closed. You have to open your heart chakra and feel the pain of your grief, even though it hurts, in order to move past it and feel the love that’s waiting for you beyond the grief. Cry, journal, talk to someone you trust, scream if you have to, but let that grief out and let it go.

2. Love a pet.

Basking in the unconditional love of a pet is one of the best ways to begin opening a closed heart chakra. Dogs, cats, horses, even birds have fully expanded hearts that just want to love and be loved in return, and they are not shy about asking for attention and love when they want it. Pets show you what happiness can be found in simple, small gestures of love like a pat on the back or a snuggle. Spending time with these furry beacons of love can help you begin to trust love again.

3. Be nicer to yourself.

Heartbreak can steal your self-esteem, stripping you of the ability to see how lovable and deserving of love you really are. Part of the process of healing your heart is to learn how to love yourself, which not only makes you internally happier, but will improve your relationships with others as well. Try making a list of the qualities you love about yourself. What are you proud of? How are you unique? Do something nice for yourself every day until you really believe you are worthy of that self-love, because you are.

If you would like to learn more about how to clear, balance, and charge your heart chakra, come check out my chakra wisdom online video course where I go deeply into all the chakras.  

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Why You Need to Awaken Your Soul

What do you know about the higher chakras? Though they are less known than the seven bodily chakras, these powerful energy centers are the links between your Earth-bound personality and your eternal soul, as well as your connection to the vastness of the greater universe. When activated, the higher chakras increase your spiritual awareness, unleash and improve psychic gifts, and give you access to higher beings and your higher self for valuable knowledge and guidance that can keep you on your true soul path.

With clear, charged, and expanded higher chakras, you’ll experience a profound spiritual awakening that will reverberate to your core and change your life forever.

You Are Bigger Than Your Body

When I began teaching energy healing courses years ago, chakras were a hard sell—no one knew what they were! But now, chakras are relatively mainstream due to the popularity of other practices rooted in eastern cultures like yoga and meditation, and I’m getting more and more questions about what are now the lesser-known chakras, 8 through 12. Higher chakras can be difficult to explain, as they are more experiential than intellectual, but I have found through my years as an energy healer and spiritual teacher that the first step in beginning to open your higher chakras is simply to be aware of them.

The first thing to understand is that you are so much bigger than your body! Your energy field surrounds you, both above and around your physical form, and your higher chakras are lined up above your crown chakra at the top of your head, roughly following the path of your spine down which your seven bodily chakras are located. There are many spiritual chakras above the seventh, and as you rise to those levels, it begins to be a little disorienting to be so far beyond your body. A skilled spiritual teacher can safely carry you into these higher realms.

Prepare for Your Soul Awakening

For now, you can begin your journey to the higher chakras by activating your eighth chakra, which sits about two feet above your crown chakra. The eighth chakra, sometimes also called the “soul star,” is the first of these chakras, and the doorway through which your soul must pass in order to move into the rest of the higher chakras.

Clearing and activating the eighth chakra opens up your world, and carries your spirit higher than you’ve ever been before. You need to do the personal work required to clear, charge, and balance the seven bodily chakras through meditation, journaling, and other energy medicine techniques before you are ready to tackle the higher chakras. But once you are ready, here is what you can expect from your soul awakening:

  1. Connect directly to your higher self.

When your eighth and higher chakras are open, you will be able to interact with your higher self. Your higher self is you—the perfect version of you that you came here to become—and it has answers to all your questions. Your higher self has access to your Akashic records, which contain all knowledge in existence, past, present, and future, so the guidance you receive from this chakra is equal to no other.

Meeting with your higher self will also allow you to see your soul’s contract, which is stored in the eighth chakra. Your soul contract is what your spirit came to this earth to accomplish, your life purpose. So once you’ve opened your eighth chakra, you may feel a tugging at your psyche, a nagging resolution that it’s time to follow your true path and complete whatever task your soul set up for your life. Listen to that voice that tells you what your higher calling is; trust that higher plane understanding that you’ve received by activating your eighth chakra and awakening your spirit.

  1. Unlock your spiritual gifts.

With the magnified awareness of an open eighth chakra, you may discover new abilities developing within you. As you internalize and fully accept the truth that you are not only part of the greater universe, but that you are tapped into its power, psychic talents are likely to unlock. For example, with access to more information through the Akashic records, you will probably find your intuitive powers growing. There is also the potential for an activated eighth chakra to sprout the seeds of any dormant spiritual gifts and you might uncover such capabilities as astral travel, clairvoyance, telepathy, and energy healing! After all, these skills are in your collective unconscious; you need this soul awakening through your higher chakras to help bring them to light again.

  1. Rid yourself of karmic residue.

The eighth chakra acts as the bridge to the expanded universe, so it’s the last chakra that carries human information and physical plane baggage that must be discarded before you can move on. This means this chakra is where all your karmic residue gets stuck—the lingering karmic energy leftover from lifetimes of adhering to habitual patterns of behavior. These old and worn out patterns of energy are keeping you attached to the planet, unable to evolve until you learn the lessons you’re supposed to learn. When you open the eighth chakra, it allows you to start shedding the familiar-but-no-longer-needed patterns of behavior that keep you rooted to the physical plane. Activating the eight chakra frees you from those sticky karmic leftovers, so you can advance on your spiritual path into higher realms.

Traveling through the veil that separates your physical self from your immortal soul will open your eyes to the vast space and knowledge beyond our physical plane boundaries. As your higher chakras expand, you can integrate the understanding that you are a soul in a body temporarily here on Earth, which allows you to see the vast and interconnected community of souls on this planet, each doing their best to get back to the divine, just like you. This sense of oneness opens you up to the experience of unconditional love, and in turn, divine love, which is truly a soul awakening experience.

To learn about how to clear, charge and balance your chakras and experience a spiritual awakening, take a look at my Chakra Wisdom video course

Successful Relationship

8 Essential Questions for a Successful Relationship

It may be cold outside, but you could be enjoying the warmth of the fire of love this Valentine’s Day. If you are in a relationship, the more spiritually expanded you are, the better your intimacy will be. If you are seeking a relationship, your expansive, radiant self will attract the right person to you.

In the West, we believe in romantic love—that starry-eyed encounter between two people who come together with passion. You hope for “happily ever after,” although divorce rates are still around 50% for first marriages and even higher for subsequent marriages. FYI almost 70% of divorces are initiated by the woman.

You rejoice when love comes calling, or sigh over the failure of that knight on a white horse to materialize in your life. The highs and lows of romantic love, the gauzy world of bridal magazines and the terror of fatal attraction, are the movie plots we love to watch.

In the East, however, romantic love is just one of many different types of love. Language shows what’s important to us: the Eskimos have over 30 words for snow—a life-and-death matter for them. Sanskrit has 96 words for love; ancient Persian has 80. English has only one—one little four-letter word has to express everything from the love of ice cream to the love of country, from erotic love to motherly love to the love of the Divine. English plays down the importance of feelings and concentrates on action verbs; in the West, we think that what we do is more important than our ability to be with our feelings.

Because romantic love is only one of many types of love, what’s been more important than initial attraction in the East is compatibility. Over 5,000 years ago, the Vedic sages realized that Jyotish, Vedic astrology, could predict if two people were sufficiently compatible to establish a long-lasting relationship and guarantee, as much as possible, the stability of the family unit. These enlightened sages understood human nature, and they put far more importance on factors like emotional compatibility, basic temperament, mutual interests, and friendship, than on sexual attraction.

Even today, when “love matches” are more and more acceptable in the East, many still rely on astrological marriage charts to see if they’re making the right long-term choice.

When Vedic astrologers look at the charts of two people to see if their union would be a good idea or not, the first crucial aspect they look at is whether or not that couple will respect each other. Then they check on 36 different “wavelength” characteristics. (These all come from an ancient Jyotish text, the Prashna Marga.)

These “wavelengths” are based on eight criteria, in descending order of importance. As you read through these criteria, think of your own intimate relationship and imagine you and your partner’s chart are being compared.

  1. Are you sensitive to each other’s emotional needs?
  2. Are your basic natures compatible (values)? Is there an affinity between your temperaments?
  3. Do you have the ability to have a friendship based on mutual interests, likes and dislikes?
  4. Are you compatible in terms of attractiveness?
  5. Is the man’s presence comforting or threatening to the woman?
  6. Is there mutual affection?
  7. Are you sexually attracted to each other?
  8. Do you tend to help each other improve?

The ancient vedic astrologers skipped a few aspects of relationship that are important in today’s world, but were unknown in their day: do either want children, do they have political affinity, are they similar in socio-economic background, etc. These were factors that were unknown 5000 years ago when your prospective mate was always someone of your economic status and of the same religion.

The astrologer will also note the possibility of a harmful aspect of the planet Mars in the chart, which can make one partner far more assertive than the other. A modern Vedic astrologer looked at the unhappy marriage of the poet Sylvia Plath to Ted Hughes, which eventually led to Plath’s suicide at the age of 30. The most noticeable factor was that Ted measured five times more assertive than Sylvia based on the Mars aspect. He would have been far more powerful, and a Vedic astrologer would have told them to avoid marriage. It wouldn’t even have worked as a friendship.

Of course, marriages arranged through astrology seem archaic to most of us, who believe in “love marriages,” although most devout Hindus and many orthodox Jews still rely on arranged marriages. Some traditional African societies, royal families, and some Muslims have their own practices of arranged marriages. And who’s to say it’s wrong? Over half the marriages worldwide are arranged. And in India, where almost 90 percent of marriages are still arranged (often in a modern way that includes more choice), the divorce rate is only 1 percent.

I’m not advocating for arranged marriages. There are plenty of problems inherent in that practice, as in marriages for love. But it is interesting to examine how compatible you are with someone before you get involved in a serious relationship. Or if you’re having problems in your relationship, it could be helpful to look at the Vedic criteria to see what aspects are causing the trouble.

These days, more people are foregoing marriage than ever before. In 2017, 57.5 percent of Americans over the age of 18 were married, down from 72 percent in 1960. That means over forty percent of Americans are single. You think you’d at least be able to find a date!

Even if you’re dating steadily, you may not have found the one you want. And even then…

Here’s a teaching story from the Sufi tradition:

Mullah Nasrudin was sitting in a tea shop with his friend, who was excited because he was getting married soon. He asked Mullah, “Have you ever thought of marriage yourself?”

Nasrudin replied, “I did think of getting married. In my youth, in fact, I very much wanted to do so. I waited to find for myself the perfect wife. I traveled looking for her, first to Damascus. There I met a beautiful woman who was gracious, kind, and deeply spiritual, but she had no worldly knowledge. I traveled further and went to Isphahan. There I met a woman who was both spiritual and worldly, beautiful in many ways, but we did not communicate well. Finally I went to Cairo and there, after much searching, I found her. She was spiritually deep, graceful, and beautiful in every respect, at home in the world and at home in the realms beyond it. I felt I had found the perfect wife.”

His friend asked, “Then did you not marry her, Mullah?”

“Alas,” said Nasrudin. “She was, unfortunately, waiting for the perfect husband.”

So what can you do if you’re single and looking to find your perfect love? To help in your search for “the one,” you can simply open to love, especially love for yourself. The love you carry within, the love of your Higher Self that is connected to Source, is what attracts others to you. Lit from within, glowing with openness, compassion, and empathy, you can send a beacon of love out into the universe. And the one you are waiting for will hear your call.

You are a Vital Part of the Universe

You Are a Vital Part of the Universe

There are still a few days left in the seasonal opening that occurs around the winter solstice, a time period running from December 12 through January 12, for deep spiritual exploration.

So I want you to do something. Even though it’s cold, step outside on a clear night and look up at the great vault of the heavens at the vast number of stars. Those tiny pinpoints of light are actually large celestial bodies, all moving through space in the stately dance of our solar system. And our solar system is only one among many.

Send your awareness out, out beyond our planet; out beyond our solar system with its orbiting planets, moons, asteroids, and comets; out beyond the multiple suns in our Milky Way galaxy; and further out beyond the billions of distant galaxies that make up our universe. There is no stopping point, no boundary, no end.

You are as vast as the universe

As you look out into the enormity of space, do you feel small? Insignificant? Powerless? Do you feel like “you” stops at your skin? While it’s true that your physical body, one of 7.7 billion on our planet, is infinitesimally tiny when compared to the universe, you are made from the same stardust as the huge celestial orbs of multiple galaxies.

You are as vast as the universe. You hold within yourself the infinity of cosmic creation, the birthing of stars, the mystery of life. As Walt Whitman wrote in “Song of Myself”: “I am large, I contain multitudes.”

When you allow yourself to expand into the boundless and limitless universe, you connect to your own immensity. Yes, you are the child of Mother Earth and Father Sky, an amalgam of dark and light, conflict and harmony, imperfections and stunning abilities. You contain multitudes. And the universe recognizes your unique existence, just as it acknowledges every spark of life in each plant, animal, and human on earth, each seeking its own merging with the light into the unity of universal unconditional love.

Outer and inner space

One of my students visited the Kennedy Space Center over the holidays and told us how impressed she was by the enormous size of the Saturn V rocket that blasted the Apollo astronauts to the moon, and the courage it took for those early space travelers to sit atop that monstrous rocket about to be hurled into the unknown with the force of 7.5 million pounds of thrust. And yet going to the moon is but a baby step in the exploration of outer space.

“Inner” space also seeks to be known. As many questions as scientists have about outer space and the planets and stars of our solar system and beyond, so do you have questions about the unknowns of your own inner space. What is my purpose here? Who am I? What is my path to happiness? The rocketship that launches you into this type of discovery is meditation and other contemplative practices—ones that make you look inside.

One of the seven principles of Hermes Trismegistus, written in the Hermetic sacred texts, is: As within, so without; as above, so below. This interconnectedness of all things is one of the great secrets of life. What you think and feel inside yourself is expressed or reflected in the outer world. It means there needs to be harmony between your inner spiritual realm and the physical world you inhabit (including your body) in order to grow in consciousness and expand into the furthest reaches of inner and outer space.

All the great spiritual teachers have expounded on the same lesson. Plato called self-knowledge the “very essence of knowledge.” Confucius instructed the Chinese emperor to deal honestly within himself as well as dealing honestly with all in his empire. Muhammad put it like this: “That which perceives this world is sight, while that which perceives the World of the Unseen is insight.”

In the Vedic Upanishads, it is said:

“Thus we look to the world

Without and see not the Self within us.

A sage withdrew his senses from the world

Of change and, seeking immortality,

Looked within and beheld the deathless Self.”

As you stand outside on a cold winter’s night, gazing up at the endless firmament, the vast dome of the heavens, breathe as one with the universe. Your breath is the breath of the universe. Your eyes are its eyes. Its pulsing heart is the beat of your heart. You are as immeasurable as the stars, which shine with your reflected light.

In these next few days, feel how expansive you and your chakras really are. Know that you, a tiny dot of physicality on the third planet around a single sun, are a vital part of the universe. And as you awaken, so does the cosmos.

Happy energetic group

Your energy matters

Have you ever noticed the power of your smile? How different does it feel when you walk onto a crowded elevator with a smile instead of a look of irritation? Your smile is evidence of positive energy shining forth—sending waves of peace, tolerance, hope, and comfort into the world. Does it really matter whether you cultivate positive energy and project it forth? Nothing could be more important. Our world’s wellness depends on the kind of energy you contribute.

Energy Matters

In an energy-driven universe, we are givers and receivers. We are conduits of energy and we can decide what kind of energy we take in and give out. The news tells us the world is hurting. Too much hatred, anger, fear, greed, mistrust, incivility, rudeness, and selfishness have been going unchecked. And the greatest of these is fear—fear of not being enough, not having enough, fear that there isn’t enough.The good news is that individually and together we can use our positive energy to counter this absence of love.

I think of Rumi’s call to action: “Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder.” Ask yourself what energy you are you sending forth into the world. Do you bring light? Do you focus on love and unity? How do you present yourself to the world—your face, your body language, your words? What are your rules of engagement—-kindness, courtesy, laughter, openness, curiosity, respect, love?

You have the power to heal the world with your energy. You can change your energy, grow it, cleanse it, clear it! Here are five essential healing energies you can work with:

Compassionate Energy

The power to love and care for one another may seem to come naturally, but actually it is a learned behavior that is modeled for us. We love because we are loved and we know how love feels. Each day you can model compassion by consciously sending loving energy to the people you meet.

Creative Energy

Did you know you are a creative genius? The power to dream, imagine, invent, and build is part of who you are. With our creative gifts, we humans can envision a hopeful, sustainable future and travel there together. You bring joy to the world each day that you work, play, dance, sing, play music, write, paint, design, have fun, or teach someone else to do the same.

Courageous Energy

Every day that you spend living in faith rather than wringing your hands in fear is a great day for the world. Believing in a benevolent universe and a positive future takes courage. Being a role model for faith in the ever-present goodness can help heal the world. Be one of those who appreciates the good, who smells the rose, pets the dog, and shares a laugh at every opportunity.

Cooperative Energy

Can you imagine a world where cooperation—not competition—is the rule of the day? There is too much emphasis on who wins and who loses. Cooperation allows everyone to bring their gifts to the table. We can begin by choosing cooperation over competition at every opportunity.

Connective Energy

Quantum physics has confirmed what traditional wisdom has always told us. We are one unified energy field. When a tree falls in the forest, not only is there a sound but the air quality on the other side of the globe is diminished. We are connected and what affects one, affects us all. Unity is our foundation. Whatever you can do to strengthen your connection—to Source, to the natural world, to your fellow humans—do it today. Smiling at those people in the elevator blesses us all!

Chakra Health

Power Up Your Chakras!

As the daily news continues giving us reasons to be nervous and worried, anxious and afraid, angry and confused, how are you doing in this struggle between fear and love? We know what fear looks like, and we know we have to rise above life-destroying fear and seek life-affirming love. Each of us has the power to choose and use the unlimited energy of love available from our Divine Source. Take a look within. Is your connection to your loving Source clear and open? Is the energy of your love at the ready, flowing and powering your mind, body, and spirit? For the challenges we face, taking good care of your personal energy centers, your chakras, can help you fight fear.

Your Chakra Power

As invisible but vital energy centers, your chakras are designed to move energy between your personal field and the universal field. Your wellbeing depends on the energy you bring in, and your life of joy, fulfillment, and service depends on the energy you give out. Love can’t reign when fear is blocking the channels. When clear and balanced, your chakras are the means by which you replenish your energy and maintain your health. Without the healthy flow of energy through your chakras, you might feel empty, depressed, and powerless. Each chakra represents an aspect of higher consciousness that is essential to your life. As a system, the seven basic chakras integrate your mind, body, and spirit; and each has a physical, emotional, creative, and spiritual component.

Your Chakra Gifts

Each of your chakra centers is important because each one allows you to call forth different skills and strengths and bring them into the world. Keeping your chakras clear and balanced allows you to access your highest gifts and talents—those powerful energies that are your contribution to the world! Here are some of the ways your chakras affect your life:

First Chakra – This foundational chakra located at the base of your spine keeps you grounded and rooted, firm and secure in the world. However, fear of destructive events like those we are experiencing in our world today combined with personal fears about safety, security, and stability can disrupt or distort the free flow of energy in the first chakra. Taking a walk in the beauty of nature, actually touching the earth with your bare feet, can bring you back to the foundation of your being, make you feel present and safe, and strengthen your first chakra.

Second Chakra – Located about half way between the base of your spine and your navel, the second or sexual chakra is the center of your emotions and desires, and your interactions with other people. In the work of moving away from fear and toward love, a balanced second chakra is vital to helping you enjoy healthy intimate relationships and overcome feelings of guilt and shame that may interfere. Bathing in the ocean or a bath of sea salt and baking soda strengthens your second chakra as it restores you to the purity of your true nature.

Third Chakra – Located at the solar plexus and the center of your body’s metabolic fire, the third chakra is the seat of personal power. This primary power center is the source of will, purpose, and action—that which “moves” you in the world. If managing your energy in a healthy way to reach your goals and fulfill your purpose is a challenge, you may need to devote some loving attention to your third chakra. Physical activities such as gardening, sports, T’ai Chi, Yoga, and Pilates can awaken and recharge this energy center, especially if performed outside in the early morning sun.

Fourth Chakra – The fourth or heart chakra is the bridge between the three lower chakras that connect you to the earth and the three upper chakras that connect you to the Infinite. When the heart center is in balance, you are content, caring, compassionate and forgiving. Heart chakra balance gives you the courage to give and receive love even when fear and anger threaten to close you down. How precious is an open and compassionate heart in today’s world! One of the best ways to boost your heart chakra is by giving and receiving love with a pet. Animals are great role models for the unconditional love that heals us.

Fifth Chakra – When fifth or throat chakra energy is free-flowing and balanced, you are free to speak your truth. You are empowered to express who you are, what you feel, and what you believe. Speaking for your beliefs and your truth is essential for you to express the love that can overcome fear in the world today. Writing down your feelings with total honesty can help clear and charge your fifth chakra. Take time to use your “voice” to write, sing, read aloud, and communicate your true feelings.

Sixth Chakra – The sixth chakra or “third eye,” located between the eyebrows, is the source of intuition. When balanced, this chakra helps you keep an open-mind and have faith in your inner guidance. It supports your sense of the interconnection of all humanity and helps you seek the truth in any situation. When this chakra is out of balance, you may feel out of touch with your intuition and struggle with fear-based negative thinking and narrow-mindedness. Daily meditation helps you awaken this chakra and lets you increase your inner wisdom and your ability to “see” clearly.

Seventh Chakra – The seventh energy center or “crown chakra” is located at the top of the head. This is your connection with spirit, your higher power, and the universe. Opening outward and upward, this chakra draws light energy in from above and fills you with an experience of transcendence. Meditation, prayer, and communion with nature are powerful tools for boosting the seventh chakra. Keeping this connection free-flowing, balanced, and clear is your key to bringing all-powerful love into our world.

Working to take care of your chakra energy centers is simply making sure that you have access to all the powers, the gifts, the talents, the energy and the light that is you. Get ready to share your gifts, to move forward in love, to inspire and encourage others, and to live a life of love and joy.

You can learn more about the health of your personal energy centers and how to supercharge them here in the Secrets of Chakra Wisdom Course.

How to heal your chakras with food

Chakra Foods for Healing & Health

Energy is the basis for everything on this planet, and if you’ll recall from your high school physics class, energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can only be transformed. So when you need fuel, you need to eat. But did you know that you can choose foods that have specific vibrations that correspond to some chakras, thereby helping to raise the chakra’s vibration and recharging it? With this knowledge, you can eat for bodily fuel and eat to support your chakras.

Nourishing Energy

Chakras are spinning “wheels of light” or energy centers in the body that start at the root chakra at the base of the spine, and travel up to the crown chakra at the top of your head, stopping at five other points along the way. When your chakras are open and operating at their fullest, they draw fresh energy in from the unified field that replenishes and nourishes your personal energy field and keeps you healthy.

The Cost of Imbalanced Chakras

Each chakra rules over a different part of your body and different areas of your life, so if a chakra is out of whack, the body parts and life arenas it rules will also become imbalanced. For example, the heart chakra is connected to the lungs, the circulatory system, and your heart, and rules relationships and your ability to give and receive love. If your heart chakra is distorted, you may have trouble maintaining healthy relationships and find it difficult to allow love into your life. If the fourth chakra remains imbalanced for long enough, you could develop physical symptoms like breathing problems or asthma, or even suffer a heart attack or breast cancer.

The Rainbow Diet: Food for Energy Healing

The good news is that you can clear, charge, and balance your chakras to heal them before physical symptoms ever develop. That is one of the best things about energy medicine—you can address issues in your field before they manifest in your body. Working with a spiritual teacher or energy healer can help you determine which of your chakras needs balancing—and most people have several—and then you can target your efforts toward the energy center that needs the most help. Making your food choices for the health of your chakras is another way to get started healing your chakras, and your life.

A colorful rainbow diet will do more than just keep your body healthy — it will also keep your chakras balanced. Whether you want to lose weight or increase your energy levels, incorporating foods from all the colors of the rainbow will help you achieve balance, so you look and feel your best.

Root Chakra Foods

Root Chakra Foods

Your first chakra is located at the base of your spine and is connected to your security and survival. As your foundation, your root chakra connects you to the physical world. When your root chakra is unbalanced you may not feel safe in your body or find yourself stressed.

Since this chakra is all about grounding you to the earth, adding root vegetables to your diet can help strengthen your connection to the physical world.

Vegetables

Can help heal your root chakra include beets, rutabagas, garlic, ginger, turnips, potatoes, onions, and parsnips. Try them roasted with salt and olive oil for an easy grounding meal that is also delicious!

Protein

Especially red meat, is also grounding (think: earthly mineral stews and bone broths). If you’re a vegetarian or vegan, red beans and lentils are a great protein source for your root chakra, as are eggs, tofu, and peanut butter.

Hearty harvest grains

Grains such as bulgar, buckwheat and whole oats, provide your body with complex carbohydrates and are a valuable source of fiber. When buying grains at the grocery store, always opt for whole-grains that are made cereal grains that include the whole kernel. When you’re shopping for whole-grain products, look at the ingredients and make sure the whole grain is at or near the top of the list.

Red fruits

Such as red apples, watermelon, pomegranates, and berries — can help to recharge your root chakra.

Spices

Spices like chives, paprika, and pepper can be added to root chakra foods for an added boost of healing.

If you are a tea drinker, enjoy a cup of rooibos and hibiscus tea (hot or iced) to help heal your root chakra.

Sacral chakra foods

Just below your navel sits your second chakra. As the foundation of your emotional body and the center of the pleasure principle, your sacral chakra allows you to feel your emotions, to be open and friendly with other people, and to be in touch with your sexuality and sensuality.

In the sacral chakra, you move from standing on the solid ground of your first chakra to the fluid world of your second chakra. This chakra is the essence of life as seen in bodily fluids like blood and tears and lymph. There is no life on earth without water. While the first chakra challenges you to create structure and hold your ground, the second wants you to let go so your creativity can flow.

A healthy sacral chakra aids in control and balance in your life.

Pure water

It is the best thing you can ingest as a sacral chakra healing food.

Clear liquids

Such broth or tea, will also help to clear and balance your second chakra. If you are looking for some spices for your tea, cinnamon and vanilla are good choices – and you can even add a bit of honey to keep your sacral chakra fluid and flowing.

Vegetables

That help heal your sacral chakra include carrots, peppers, and squashes. When cooking sacral chakra vegetables, try adding spices like turmeric, ginger, or cumin for an extra dose of healing power.

Orange sweet fruits

Such as melons, mangos, tangerines, and oranges — will all help charge your sacral chakra. In addition to their color, these orange chakra fruits also have a high water content which will help keep this energy center open and flowing.

Sacral Chakra Foods
Solar Plexus Chakra Foods for Healing and Health

Solar plexus chakra foods

The third chakra is located halfway between your navel and sternum and is the source of your ego and self-esteem. As the furnace of your personal power, your solar plexus chakra is home to your authenticity and sense of self. When it comes to foods for your solar plexus chakra, you should focus on foods that help transform the energy from your first two chakras and send it up to your fourth chakra.

A healthy and balanced third chakra seeks to balance self-esteem issues and intuition.

Sunny yellow fruits and vegetables

Help to clear and balance your solar plexus chakra. Think yellow peppers, corn, lemons, and bananas.

Complex carbohydrates and whole grains

Will provide your third chakra with the slow-burning power it needs to convert energy. Avoid foods that the body absorbs quickly, such as sugar, white flour, and refined and processed foods. Whole grain cereals and brown rice are good options. You can also add in flax seeds and sunflower seeds for healthy fats.

Digestive-friendly foods

Such as kefir, kombucha, and yogurt. will replenish the good bacteria in your gut and help keep the energy in your solar plexus chakra moving.

Chamomile and herbal teas

Herbal teas (especially mint and ginger) have a soothing healing effect on the solar plexus chakra.

Heart chakra foods

Your fourth chakra is located by your heart and is the center of love and compassion — both for yourself and others. As the bridge between your lower three chakras and upper three chakras, the heart chakra is all about balance — coming into balance within yourself as well as with your relationships and whatever is happening in your environment.

Vibrant green nutrient-rich vegetables

Especially leafy and cruciferous ones like kale, lettuces, spinach, chard, bok choy, collard greens, and broccoli, will really ramp up the energy of your heart chakra and help to heal it. The fourth chakra is also about balance, and green veggies are neither yin nor yang in Chinese medicine, so they maintain the equilibrium that is essential to the health of this chakra.

Green water-based alkalizing fruits

Such as limes, green apples, and avocados, will also help balance your heart chakra so that you can become more contemplative and more conscious.

Green beans

Think: lima beans and mung beans. These are also healing foods for the heart chakra.

Green tea

Will help keep your heart chakra healthy.

Spices

Such as basil, thyme, and cilantro will help charge your heart chakra.

Heart Chakra Foods for Healing and Health
Throat Chakra Foods

Throat chakra foods

The fifth chakra is located in the center of your throat, and it connects the feelings in your heart center with the thoughts in your brow chakra, allowing you to express your emotions and thoughts. Being the first of the spiritual chakras, the fifth chakra is the portal through which you bring spirit into the physical realm, where you connect with your true essence.

Representing will power and responsibility, and unhealthy throat chakra can manifest as a cold or sore throat due to an inability to express oneself. Speaking your truth is the best food you can feed your throat chakra.

Liquids

Like water, fresh 100% fruit juices (with no added sugars), and herbal teas will help to keep your throat chakra healthy.

Blue foods

That occur naturally are rare. However, blueberries are one type of throat chakra healing food that is widely available.

Fruits that grow on trees

Like apples, peaches, pears, apricots, and plums, also work to balance the throat chakra.

Third eye chakra foods

The sixth chakra, called the brow chakra or the third eye, is where your master mind plugs into a new type of wisdom from beyond this realm, providing amazing insights that will allow you to solve any problem.

The sixth chakra is located just above your eyebrows in the center of your forehead. Because the sixth chakra is located in your head rather than in your torso like the first five chakras, it has a slightly different nature and is the control center for some very powerful gifts: thinking, wisdom, psychic gifts, and intuition. It’s a stunning indigo color, which indicates peace and tranquility. It’s all about your intuition, your ability to plan, forecast, sense, and know.

Nuts, seeds, and legumes 

Especially raw walnuts, sprouted almonds, and poppy seeds — are nutrient-dense and packed with antioxidants that will help heal your third eye chakra.

Water

Metal detoxers from the ground

Such as harvest grains and mushrooms, work to remove heavy metals that are in your body as a result of your environment and everyday life activities.

Purple fruits

Like goji berries, acai, concord grapes, and blackberries all supply a megadose of nutrients, optimizing the functionality of your third eye chakra.

Third Eye Chakra Foods for Healing and Health
Crown Chakra Foods for Healing and Health

Crown chakra foods

The seventh chakra is home to your radiant spiritual center and connection to Source. Your crown chakra is more spirit than earth, so its nourishment really comes from sources other than food, including love and a strong connection to the Divine.

Located on the topmost part of your head, eating light meals while engaging in a spirit-boosting activity like meditation can energize your crown chakra.

Incense and smudging herbs like sage, copal, myrrh, frankincense, and juniper, can help awaken your crown chakra to the highest form of spiritual communication.

If you are interested in learning more about your chakras, enroll in my Secrets of Chakra Wisdom online video course. In this course I’ll teach you how to deepen and broaden your connection to your personal energy field so you can achieve powerful initiations and continue your spiritual journey.

Download your printable Chakra Wisdom Chart PDF today

(it’s free!)

Interested in learning more about your 7 chakras?

chakra food chart pdf

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heart chakra healing

Open Your Heart Chakra

The heart is the central organ in the body, the life giver. A heart that is closed to minimize pain can become the catalyst for illness. Many people who show up in my workshops with angina, arteriosclerosis, or other conditions related to the fourth chakra have unknowingly shut down their hearts to protect themselves. They may not remember when or how their heart chakra shut down,  but the price they pay is high.

As I slowly healed from an upbringing that wrenched my heart and almost destroyed my ability to love, I realized that I had to develop a new capacity. I began to test and explore the strength of my heart by unabashedly exposing it to the changes and growth playing out in my life. I regularly “took inventory” of my heart chakra to stay conscious about remaining open to loving and being loved.

If you are not attracting love into your life, you might ask yourself if your heart is truly open to love or if you are harboring and feeding old hurts. Taking personal inventory is a powerful way to see if your heart chakra is open or closed.

Heart chakra healing questions:

  • What am I feeling?
  • Where am I hurting?
  • How am I holding love back?
  • Why am I withholding love?
  • Could I be more loving to others and myself?
  • Do I think I need to be perfect to be loved?
  • How could I love myself just as I am?
  • What does self-acceptance look like to me?
  • Have I isolated myself from others?
  • Do I lack empathy or am I afraid of intimacy?
  • Am I excessively drawn to others, in need of their approval and their love?
  • Am I co-dependent, giving too much attention to the needs of others and not enough to my own?
  • Am I enough now? If not, when will I be enough?

These explorations can help us evaluate imbalances in the fourth energy center. As we come to know ourselves better, the answers to these questions can help us know when, where, and how our hearts need healing.

Real love is an emotion of truth. Love has the power to heal all the wounds we may have suffered—if we allow it to flow.

Chakra Chart (Free!)

Sign up to get your free printable chakra chart pdf and start learning about your 7 chakras — including your heart chakra — today!

Your FREE Chakra Chart (printable PDF) is a convenient reference guide that you can use to learn more your seven chakras, including your heart chakra.

Delivered directly to your inbox, use your free Chakra Chart to evaluate physical problems, such as a heart chakra blockage, and get insights on what you can do (and why it works) to resolve any heart chakra symptoms you are experiencing.

Heart Chakra Chart
American Indian beliefs earth

We Are the Land

One of the concepts central to Native American beliefs is the principle that “we are the land.” Woven tightly into many aspects of Native American life and spirituality, this fundamental idea goes beyond being close to nature or seeing the world through an environmental lens. The American Indian dogma of “we are the land” centers around the belief that the Earth is the mind of the people and the people are the mind of the earth. It is impossible to separate the two and our destiny can’t be isolated because the Earth is a part of our being and a reflection of ourselves.

“We are the land” is not a romantic analogy meant to convey that one is a “nature lover” or “close to nature;” rather, it means that we are literally the same being, composed of the same connections and consciousness that ties the roots of the Earth to the roots of human bodies and minds. Just like the base chakra, if these roots are not grounded, it is impossible to create connections with the world around you. Because we are one and the same, everything is sacred and must be honored, loved, and respected. From mountains and oceans to honeybees and flowers, all living things are made up of the same five elements: earth, water, fire, air, and space.

Wakan Tanka

Native American Indians see nothing standing between them and Wakan Tanka, which can be loosely translated as the “Big Holy.” Wakan Tanka is not a god of punishment, but the ruling power of Good.

At the time of creation, the Creator to the Native People gave these sacred instructions:

  • Do nothing to pollute our Mother, rise up with wisdom to defend her.
  • Show deep respect for the mineral world, the plant world, and the animal world.
  • Treat the earth and all of her aspects as your mother.
  • Take full responsibility for your actions.
  • Be truthful and honest at all times.
  • Dedicate a share of your efforts to the greater good.
  • Look after the well being of mind and body.
  • Do what you know to be right.
  • Give assistance and kindness wherever needed.
  • Work together for the benefit of all Mankind.
  • Show great respect for your fellow beings.
  • Remain close to the Great Spirit.
  • Treat the Earth and all that dwell thereon with respect.

 

Everything is a part of us, and we are a part of everything – complete unity. Indigenous oral traditions passed down through generations preach the need to be humble in the face of Mother Nature, a wise mindset indeed. In fact, it would do “modern” society good to take a page out of the “we are the land” guidebook; by completely ignoring its directives, we continue to treat the Earth as an owned asset in a capitalist race to the bank. So far, we have polluted the air with harmful industrial emissions, poisoned the land with pesticides, and contaminated the water with chemicals. We have unleashed the destructive power of uranium by mining it and making bombs that are capable of complete annihilation.

By living close to the land, the First People understood the natural laws that govern the elements and knew it was wrong to dig up powerful substances buried deep within the Earth. Today, we live in a state of constant disconnect – from the Earth, our bodies, the beating heart of the All – and are finally being forced to face the consequences of years of disrespect to the laws of nature: massive superstorms and extreme climate changes unleash wind, fire, and flooding on an unprecedented scale.

Possibly the most important lesson we can learn from Native elders is the idea of harmony, that is, living in relation to the earth, the sky, the animals, the spirits. When you are dedicated to maintaining harmony – both within yourself and in your outside world – you are walking on what the Native traditions call the “path of beauty.”

To walk the Earth in harmony, in balance both within yourself and externally in the environment, requires purification to correct any discordance or “dis-ease.” You need to heal wherever you have not followed the natural order of life on Earth.

The Navajo “blessingway” teachings lay out this natural order in the four cardinal directions:

  1. East is the sunrise, the season of spring and new growth, when a child learns spiritual and moral standards.
  2. South is noon, the season of summer, when a youth receives an education and starts to work.
  3. West is sunset, the season of autumn and harvest, when the parent maintains the family and home, and becomes the storyteller and conducts ceremonies.
  4. North is midnight, the season of winter and endings, when the grandparent reflects on the Self, and teaches reverence for the natural order and how to restore resources and maintain the right relationship to the elements.

In the Center of the natural order is the hearth, informing all the directions through the central position of spirit and love.

Our modern tradition is radically different, comprised of competition, plunder, and despair. When you walk in harmony with all of the creation, you feel your connection to everything and everyone around you. You don’t plunder the resources of Earth or rape her for your own pleasure. You don’t strive to be or have more than anyone else. You live in the love of harmony and community, not the despair of failure, separation, isolation.

Walking in Beauty is the closing prayer from the Navajo Blessingway Ceremony, the main healing ceremony that is designed to bring forth positive blessings and prevent bad things from happening.

Walking in Beauty

With beauty before me I walk
With beauty behind me I walk
With beauty above me I walk
With beauty around me I walk
It has become beauty again
Today I will walk out, today everything negative will leave me
I will be as I was before, I will have a cool breeze over my body.
I will have a light body, I will be happy forever, nothing will hinder me.
I walk with beauty before me. I walk with beauty behind me.
I walk with beauty below me. I walk with beauty above me.
I walk with beauty around me. My words will be beautiful.
In beauty all day long may I walk.
Through the returning seasons, may I walk.
On the trail marked with pollen may I walk.
With dew about my feet, may I walk.
With beauty before me may I walk.
With beauty behind me may I walk.
With beauty below me may I walk.
With beauty above me may I walk.
With beauty all around me may I walk.
In old age wandering on a trail of beauty, lively, may I walk.
In old age wandering on a trail of beauty, living again, may I walk.
My words will be beautiful…

Heal and Live in Harmony

Today we fail to invoke the sacred. We seem to be counting on technology to fix the problems we have created: a machine to collect all of the plastic littering our oceans; better detection systems to warn when hurricanes, fires, tornadoes, and tsunamis are approaching; slightly less harmful pesticides and herbicides; a way to inject the CO2 we have emitted into the atmosphere back into the ground. Compare these short-term solutions to what the elders are trying to teach us: new scientific discoveries will not necessarily be the change that leads to the betterment of all living beings.

What is needed is a change in attitude – a change in awareness.

It is only when we understand and live the true meaning of unity that we will bring our inner lives into harmony and heal our “dis-ease.” When we learn humility and stop treating our Mother Earth like a personal treasure chest to fund our every whim and desire, will we recognize a change in attitude. Coming into balance with all living beings and respecting their right to be here as much as our own will reflect a change in awareness. When we stop thinking we are safe and secure from the consequences of our own actions, then, and only then, will we be getting down to the root cause rather than simply treating the symptoms. Then, and only then, will we too walk in beauty.

earth root chakra

Take a Knee Together for Mother Earth

Okay, I admit I’m not a fan of football but I tip my metaphorical hat to the NFL players and team owners who are kneeling, locking arms, or not going out on the field during the National Anthem, the traditional start of the game. There’s a political protest behind that decision, but that’s not what I’m interested in at the moment. It’s the fact that the players are not allowing themselves to be divided—by race, by fear of consequences, by anything. They are firmly stating: we are a team, we support each other, we are united in our actions. It’s a powerful message for us all, without regard to political stance.

You can feel the solidarity, the sheer strength in forming a unit. Books standing shoulder to shoulder on a bookcase shelf have an intrinsic stability, rather than having the same books scattered chaotically over the floor. When you feel like you are stable and supported, the energy center at the base of your spine—known as the root chakra—is open and your energy flows easily throughout your body. The root chakra is the energetic foundation of your life. When it is in balance, you feel grounded, safe, secure. Your basic needs are being met. You are comfortable in your body. You will survive and flourish. It’s like a tree, which stands tall because its root system deep in the earth supports and balances its height that towers above.

When your root chakra is not in balance, you’re just trying to survive. You’re not grounded—physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually. You may be tripping over things, wondering how you’ll pay the rent, or stuck in an eating disorder or on anxiety meds or sleeping pills. Your feet, knees, or legs may hurt and you can’t seem to get rid of that ever-present cold. It’s no fun.

All living things have chakras, places where the energy coalesces in certain basic ways and forms vortices of energy. Just like the energy in you travels up the spine from the base chakra to the seventh chakra at the top of the head (and into higher dimensions), so too does the earth rotate energy throughout the planet. When the earth’s root chakra is out of alignment, like it is at the present time, Mother Nature herself gets unhinged. Major hurricanes destroy whole islands; earthquakes topple buildings; fires roar through forests and threaten homes while the smoke infiltrates the lungs of all in its path; volcanoes erupt, floods sweep away houses, cars, and people. The earth protests our indignities against it with an explosive ring of fire. We are currently witnessing the earth coming unhinged at its base chakra, apparently readying to throw itself (and us) into space.

For you to balance your own root chakra, you can get more grounded by shutting off your phone and computer and going outside. You can sit under a tree, like the Buddha did while getting enlightened, or do a physical practice like Pilates, yoga, or tai chi to connect to your body. You can do a meditation practice to keep yourself stress-free and in balance. Most importantly, you can change your response to change.

What do I mean by that? Well, think of what happens when you’re faced with a major change in your life—the breakdown of your family, the loss of a loved one, the end of a job, loss of faith in a functional government, or a stable and sustainable earth? You get scared, and fear, more than anything else, is what throws your base chakra out of balance. You have to decide to stop seeing change as an enemy to be feared or somehow controlled. Fear is the most destabilizing force there is. Internal fear turns into fear of the “other”—those from different cultures, different religions, different skin tones. You know, those immigrants, those white supremacists, those bleeding heart liberals, those terrorists.

So what can restore balance to our beautiful blue planet, where millions of people live in fear and that fear has infiltrated the earth itself? When whole populations are terrified of losing everything they hold dear—whether through fierce storms, unhinged shooters, or political upheaval—the fear is palpable. That’s when we need every single one of us to connect with a strong and stable base chakra and spread a ripple of calm energy out to help heal our surroundings—hearts open, emanating love to Earth and her inhabitants. Kneeling for peace, in peace, is surely a win for all.

So you can be part of the solution, rather than adding to the fear in the world, you need to stabilize your root chakra. To find out what shape your own base chakra is in, take my free chakra quiz on Facebook.

Seven Chakras

Improve Your Mood Instantly with Chakra Cleansing

Taking time to recharge and reset your body, mind, and Spirit is essential to overall health and wellness. Everyone has different methods for releasing the negative energy that naturally accumulates throughout the day: some enjoy taking a hot bath with lavender salts before bedtime while others detail their hopes and aspirations in a journal so they can stay on-track to reach their healing goals.

If you find that your healing rituals are becoming less effective, you may need to spend some time cleansing your chakras so you can get your entire being back on track.

We have seven primary energy centers in our bodies called chakras. Since each chakra correlates to a body part, there are specific ailments and dysfunctions that result if it is blocked. Any time that we have a physical issue, it weakens us emotionally. By cleansing your chakras and releasing stale energy from the body, you breathe new energy into the area of your body that is struggling for air.

And just as each chakra corresponds to a physical body part, they also have a powerful influence over our mental and emotional well-being. The clearing of energies past their prime will help you work through fears and emotions that can safely be freed.

Cleanse your chakras and improve your mood

You can learn to cleanse your own chakras in a quick and effective chakra cleansing meditation.

A grounding meditation practice

Focus on your root chakra and planting it firmly in the ground. Feel the energy of the Earth as your physical body and Spirit connect to Mother Earth. Suddenly, you’ll feel energy radiate up through your body and your mind.

Focus on opening your chakras

After completing your grounding meditation, you can begin opening each of your chakras, one by one. You’ll want to start with the root chakra.

To do this, visualize each one opening. Since each of the seven chakras has a specific color associated with it, a calming way to focus on each opening think about each as your favorite flower in one of the seven colors.

As you focus your energy on a particular chakra, imagine that flower — in its corresponding color — blooming.

Beginning with the root chakra, think about a red infant flower bud that is tightly bound, protecting its delicate petals from the harsh world on the outside. As you look at the young flower, you can tell that there are hundreds of petals on the inside that are ready to break free from the confines of the shell. Suddenly, you notice movement and the flower opens up into full bloom, radiating beauty and life into everything surrounding it.

Once your root chakra has opened, you can move onto the next. As you work through each chakra up to the crown, imagine each one blooming in their corresponding color.

Root chakra (red)

Sacral chakra (orange)

Solar plexus chakra (yellow)

Heart chakra (green)

Throat chakra (blue)

Third eye chakra (violet)

Crown chakra (gold)

If you aren’t a flower or plant enthusiast, you can visualize doors opening or clouds parting. This entire opening meditation should take you approximately 28-42 minutes, spending 4-6 minutes to open each chakra.

Breathe energy into each chakra

Going back to the start of your grounding meditation, refocus on the energy that you pulled from Mother Earth. It is now time to use this energy to flood each of your chakras with life, like water racing downstream in a river. As you visualize the water running through your root chakra, observe how it flushes away impurities and stale energies.

Move onto your sacral chakra after you feel your root chakra has been cleansed. At the end, you will have seven streams of energy flowing through each of your seven chakras.

Return the energy source to Mother Earth

When you feel that your chakras as cleansed and feel it is time to turn off the energy flow, start to pull back on the energy streams. Just like you would turn off a running faucet or unplug a lamp, the energy will fall back into the Earth quickly.

Return each of your chakras to their resting state

After the flow of energy has been returned to Earth, it’s time to close each of your chakras. While we aren’t closing chakras entirely — completely closed chakras are not healthy or sustainable for anyone and completely open chakras will drain your own energy — it is important to dial down the energy on each.

Just like you would turn down the volume on a radio or adjust the thermostat in your home, adjust the energy level on each chakra. You will start with at the crown chakra and move your way down to the root. Adjust the level until you feel comfortable: too low and you may feel a sensation of heaviness; too high and you may feel nervous or anxious suddenly.

This process of adjusting your chakras is unique to each individual. There is no wrong or right way to cleanse your chakras. What feels right to you may feel wrong to someone else. Each person is different.

To find out what feels “right,” pay close attention to your emotions, feelings, and physical state as you move through the cleansing process. Over time, you will observe things that repeat and sense subtle energies. There’s a reason why it’s called “meditation practice” — practice makes perfect.

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Three Ways to Find (and Keep) Your Soulmate

They say love makes the world go round, and there’s no time like February to bring that loving feeling into sharp focus. From love songs and love poems to romantic books and movies, tales of true love are bound to color your world this month and bring up some soul-searching questions.  Have you been seeking love without success? Do you worry that love is all about luck?  Do you believe a soulmate is waiting for you? And if so, how do you go about finding that elusive person? It may be time to re-examine your beliefs about love.

Does it fall like rain from heaven into your waiting arms as the songs suggest? Or is there some work you can do to bring love home and keep it burning bright?

Most people admit that finding and maintaining a healthy and lasting love relationship is their most difficult task in life. I believe that finding a loving life partner becomes easier when you know something about energy healing. In my work as a spiritual teacher and energy healer, I’ve helped many people with the healing they needed to accomplish before the love they hoped for could enter their lives. Whenever two people interact on any level, whether they are having a friendly chat or communicating with glances and body language, there is an exchange of energy between them. Learning how this energy works can help you attract more loving and positive relationships.

Your healthy love life begins with a balanced second chakra energy center. A healthy second chakra is a fertile place—an engine of creative possibility that allows inspiration to flow through the body. As the seat of the inner child and emotions, this center also hosts your creative and generative impulse. These aspects of the second chakra reflect the wholeness of the individual, which is why they are so important to forming happy relationships with others. Energy healing can make sure your second chakra is clear and balanced and thus the energy you bring to any relationship is positive.

Check out these 3 ways I suggest to make sure you are ready to begin or to nurture a healthy and happy love relationship:

1. If You Want to Attract Love, Be More Loving

In energy medicine you learn that what you put out into the world will be reflected back to you. Light attracts light, so if you want more love, or stronger love, you need to love more. This doesn’t mean being more needy or clingy. True love is never restrictive, but allows for change and growth. To be more loving means to be more accepting and open, loving your partner, your friend, your mother, for who they are, rather than who you think they should be.  Being more loving can also include opening yourself up more. Allow your fourth chakra, your heart center, to open a little wider and let your love shine forth. While it’s true that opening yourself up to love does make you more vulnerable, the rewards are worth any risks. Being more loving and open with other people also paves the way for you to be able to experience Divine love, which is the purest love in the universe.

2. Build a Strong Foundation, Learn to Love Yourself First

You’ve heard this truth many times before, which is why you might be overlooking the most obvious factor in bringing new love into your life. Loving yourself is a precursor to being able to love or be loved by someone else. Forgive yourself for your mistakes, know that you are worthy of love, and that you are indeed enough with or without a romantic partner. In order to believe that someone else will love you, you must first love the magnificent human being that you are. No matter what self-doubt, low self-esteem or insecurity you may have suffered from in the past, the time has come to make a fresh start. Being open to love begins with a firm base of self-awareness and self-knowledge. Know, accept, and love who you are so that you can offer the same welcoming acceptance to others. It’s the secret to all good relationships. If you love yourself and feel worthy of being loved, you will break down the walls to your heart.

3. Step Out into the World with Love

What would your soulmate be doing right now? How would that person be interacting with the world? Would they be volunteering at the animal shelter? Would they be coaching kids’ basketball at the community center? Would they be driving seniors to the neighborhood health clinic? Is that your way of being in the world, too? Giving back and serving others is the way to be a loving person yourself and to meet people who have the love quotient you are seeking. Be the love you want to find. To attract love you will need to project love into the world. Because creating relationships takes energy and work, you can turn the focus of your love outward into the world by taking action and doing things you love. These activities will fuel you with positive energy and help you shine as you use your unique gifts. This radiant new you will begin attracting all kinds of new loving relationships.

“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” –Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Have you moved closer to becoming the most loving, accepting, and giving person you can be? Is your energy positive and focused now that you know you are ready to experience love on every level? The more love you can give, the more you can receive, and the more enjoyment you will experience.

Finding and keeping a soulmate depends on being the very kind of open-hearted, loving person you are seeking.  Be a beacon of love for yourself and others and you’ll soon find the joy those love songs are talking about!

If you’re ready to open and expand your chakras and finally receive the love and wisdom you deserve, my Secrets of Chakra Wisdom Course could be just what you need. Click here to discover more >>>

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Using a Pendulum to Tune-Up Your Chakras

One of the most remarkable tools of energy healing is the pendulum. If you think of a pendulum as the hypnotist’s pocket watch swinging back and forth or the driving mechanism of a grandfather clock, you have part of the picture. A pendulum is simply a weight suspended from a fixed point so it can move freely—back and forth or around and around.

In energy healing, this small, symmetrical object hanging by a cord can be used to increase your sensitivity to energy flow by acting as an amplifier, helping you access the unified field, as well as your higher self. A pendulum can help you find the location of a chakra energy center and check its healthy activity level.

When you’re first learning to use a pendulum, I recommend one made of wood (preferably beechwood) with a conical shape. This will be best for giving you the information you’re looking for from chakras without distortions. Carry your new pendulum around with you for a few days in a little pouch or your pocket so it begins to resonate with your energy. The first step in using your pendulum is to bless it. You’ll want to do this before each use. For example, you

might ask for your higher self and all the higher beings that are prepared to assist you to influence the movement of the pendulum as you work. It is the movement of the pendulum that will guide you to the information you seek, so you will want to be sure you are open and available to assistance both from your own higher self and your spirit guides.

When you’re ready, your pendulum can provide valuable feedback for good health when you use it to check chakras, which are focal points of energy in the human energy field. The pendulum amplifies energy and can help you locate and gain information about the chakra’s functioning. Here’s where the chakras are located:

  • First Chakra – at the base of the spine
  • Second Chakra – halfway between the first chakra and the waist
  • Third Chakra – halfway between the navel and the breastbone
  • Fourth Chakra – in the center of the chest
  • Fifth Chakra – in the middle of the throat
  • Sixth Chakra – between the eyebrows
  • Seventh Chakra – at the top of the head

 

Begin by having your subject lie down on her back, on a surface at the best height for you to stand in a straight and comfortable posture beside her. Kitchen counters are ideal! With your posture straight and your arm extended a little forward from your body, suspend the pendulum over each energy center, about four inches above the chakras. As the pendulum starts to move, note the direction of its movement. Is it clockwise, counterclockwise, elliptical (irregular), or not moving at all? Write this down, and then move up to the next chakra.

Here are a few ways to interpret the meaning of the pendulum’s movements:

  1. Clockwise movement indicates that the chakra is open and the feelings governed by it are well balanced and full.
  2. Counterclockwise movement indicates possible blocked energy or negative experiences with the feelings related to that chakra. Whether the circle is larger or smaller also tells you whether the energy is flowing nicely or restricted.
  3. An elliptical swing indicates a right- or left-side imbalance of energy flow in the body, perhaps due to overusing either the right masculine side or the left nurturing side.

But what if there is no movement at all? This might indicate that you’re holding the pendulum above the wrong place on the body. If you try again and are sure you are in the correct location, it can indicate that blockage is present.

The size of the chakra is not the size of the circle that the pendulum makes; rather, the size of the pendulum’s circle is a function of your energy field combined with both that of the pendulum and the subject.

It’s important to remember that the health of your own energy field has a direct impact on your effectiveness in reading the other person’s energy centers. Don’t be discouraged when you first begin, if you find that you can’t even figure out where the chakras are. Practice, practice, practice. It won’t be long before you’ll start to see results.

To learn more about your chakra energy centers, join Deborah on an 8-week journey to explore the Secrets of Chakra Wisdom. And if you’re ready for pendulum work, you can get a beautifully balanced, beechwood pendulum right here.