An angel in the Basilica in Buffalo.Today's Bliss: The hummingbird who came to visit our fuchsia zinnias. Last night, it was the geese flying overhead -- "practicing their V" as we like to say, as they prepare to leave (many of them but not all) for the winter.
Five years ago, I would have said that you could have cut off my body and my head wouldn't have noticed.
I was stuck in my head, barely noticing I had a body. Too afraid to notice I had a body, that place where things like emotions and creativity lived.
I didn't even know when I had to pee. I would go all day without realizing that I was holding it so much it hurt. I would forget to eat if I were alone. I had stopped dancing years before. I had stopped listening to music.
Stopped listening to music! This blisschick who can't go a day without listening to something new. This blisschick who scours the internet and iTunes for just the perfect piece of something to accompany her writing. This blisschick who listened to the same CD over and over, never tiring of it, as she wrote 500 pages of a novel.
Now I notice immediately when I have to pee. Food is a central concern of my day -- good, wonderful, yummy, whole, healthy foods. Discovering wines that play on my palate. We silly dance throughout the day here and are constantly making up songs.
I have learned that I am not just a brain or mind but also a body. I have come to know and appreciate my own sensuality -- my own need for sensing.
I am unstuck.
My primary work in Kundalini yoga has been and will continue to be grounding myself. Those lower chakras need my constant attention. And the point of that work is to get the energy moving from my roots so that it can work through my heart and connect to those upper regions.
My heart center is the connection point. My heart bridges the lower and the upper. It is because of the heart center that I am a spiritual being having a human experience and I am a human capable of knowing my spiritual self.
That is what this heart center is really all about: connection. Whether the connections be external in relationship to other or internal in relationship to self and the larger universe, spirit, god, goddess, big Cat in the sky...whatever you want to call it -- it is relationship of part to whole.
The heart chakra in Sanskrit is Anahata, meaning unstuck note or sound vibration, alluding to the fact that we are all a part of the larger harmony of Om, the sound of infinity.
The color of this chakra is green, the color of life and vibrancy.
The element is air, illustrating the connection concept. We all breathe the same air; the air around us connects us in an ocean of our shared breath.
Here are some things to consider regarding the heart chakra:
Do you have a broken heart? What does this mean to you? How does one mend a broken heart?Is your heart open? Do you instinctively protect your heart? What are you protecting it from?Are your emotions a roller coaster ride for yourself and those around you?Is there something your heart is trying to communicate to you? Are you listening?Do you believe your heart has as much to say as your mind? Do you prioritize your mind over your heart?Do you think of yourself as a compassionate person? Are there areas in which you could expand your compassion?Are you compassionate toward yourself?Are you in rhythm with your own music? Do you ignore the music of your heart?Do you know that worry and fear and other negative, unproductive emotions are a choice?Do you express gratitude every day for your life or are there requirements that must be met for you to feel grateful? Do you incorporate gratitude rituals into your life?Do you express your creativity every day or do you save it for when you have time?Is love your religion or are you devoted to something that is not of your heart? Look to your everyday activities and in them you will see where your devotion is. Is it where you want it?Take some time this week and spend it with your heart. Ask it what you could do to create fullness of the heart. Look deep within your heart and see what you are missing.
2 comments:
Another beautiful chakra post!
I have been dedicating much of my practice to opening my heart for over and year now. Still...much word to be done! :)
This is more good inspiration to continue.
Oh my god, how this one resonates with me. I was such a big head. I used to say, if only I could get out of this body - as if it was dragging me down instead of giving me time on this gorgeous earth.
When I was younger, every single month my period would surprise me. My husband was like - uh, isn't this a regular occurence? I'd finish one period, think, thank god that's over, as if it would never happen again!
Then I made friends with a real earthy woman, and from there I learned more and more to honor the body.
I too spend alot of time grounding AND trying to be more heart centered and open - it's a continual challenge for me. Thanks for the reminder and the great ideas.
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