Note: This article is part one of a series focused on chakras in yoga. Below is a summarization of concepts, which I have stickied to each article. If you’re familiar with chakras, or have already read the intro, feel free to jump below the pic to skip straight to the Crown Chakra!
The concept of chakras can be traced back to the early (ca. 1500 BCE) Vedic texts of Hinduism, and there are believed to be over 100 in each of our spiritual energy fields. According to modern yogic philosophy, there are 7 chakras located in our body; they are in ascending order: root, sacral, solar plexus, heart, throat, third eye, and crown. Each chakra is thought to support us physically and energetically as we navigate our lives.
It’s worth mentioning that the location of each chakra in our body corresponds to part of the endocrine system, which is pretty cool when you consider how much time spanned between the conceptualization of chakras and the discovery of glands/organs. The endocrine system is responsible for regulating our hormones via a complex system of messaging and feedback loops, and is comprised of (in corresponding order as above): gonads, pancreas, adrenal glands, thymus, thyroid, pituitary, and pineal.
Chakras are thought to be spinning energy discs within the subtle (metaphysical) body, which overlaps with our physical bodies. Much like our breath can link our minds and bodies, or our endocrine system links our organs and brain, the chakras link our energetic self to our physical self.
When we work on our chakras, we are thought to be manipulating our prana, or life force energy. Often times, chakras are said to be “blocked;” when we talk about opening our chakras, we are aiming to allow unrestricted flow of prana within our subtle body, in other words, “aligning our chakras.”
Chakras can be worked on in a number of ways, including meditation, mantra, diet, reiki, and of course yoga! Other modalities for chakra work include tapping, aromatherapy, and color therapy. I will do my best in this series to touch on as many of these approaches as possible for each chakra.
Chakra meditation is really very beginner friendly once you know the basics, and can be a really fun way to add mind-body work to a busy routine. It doesn’t need to be complicated!
Color therapy: a desert rose which greets me at my front door
Crown Chakra
- Sanskrit: Sahasrara
- Bija mantra (“seed sound”): OHM
- Color: violet-white
- Essential oils: frankincense, rose, lavender
- Symbol: thousand-petaled lotus
- Element: thought
- Endocrine analogue: pineal gland
- Pranayama: Nadi Shodhana
- Mudra: padma mudra
As it governs our highest sense of spirituality both within ourselves and toward the outer world, a blocked crown chakra can manifest in many ways. Some might feel a sense of disconnection or confusion; this impairment may pertain to their inner workings, both mental and physical, or to their external interactions. Emotional stress and lack of physical coordination are other signs that sahasrara may be in need of balance.
Opening the crown chakra promotes mental and physical relaxation, a sense of connection to the spiritual world, and a sense of mental focus. Balancing sahasrara brings about the sense of understanding one’s place in the world. This can be accomplished in many ways, including breathwork, mudra, mantra, asana and meditation. As usual, I recommend whatever combination speaks to you personally. There are no wrong answers when you listen to your inner voice!
An easy and simple flow for balancing sahasrara could be: standing back bend, tree (both sides please!), mountain pose, standing forward fold, easy sit, supine bound angle pose, corpse pose. Hold each pose for 3 to 5 deep breaths, or longer.
If you tried the above flow, you might be in a great spot (chavasana) to try a quick crown chakra meditation. Feel free to bend and knock the knees, support them with a pillow or bolster, or bring the soles of the feet together for a butterfly variation. Alternatively, any position that is comfortable is perfect.
Incorporating some essential oils can be a great way to engage your sense of smell to help with mental focus and provide some aromatherapy. You can try my chakra-themed lotion bars for a dose of self-care!
Taking a mudra, such as padma mudra, can add an extra bit of depth to your meditation practice. Chanting OHM, the seed sound of sahasrara, will generate literal “good vibes” internally, but other mantras are always valid.
Some mantras for sahasrara include:
-I honor the divinity within myself
-Om shanti (“peace”)
-I let go of all attachments
-I trust the flow of energy throughout my life
If desired, working shades of violet into the meditation space can incorporate color therapy. Ultimately, as with the other chakras, whichever elements speak to the yogi as pertains spirituality, connection to the outer world, and intellectual connection of any sort will create a lovely meditation practice for balancing sahasrara.
To put this all together in a meditation, you can start in your chosen position, taking a mudra like padma mudra, and using 3-5+ rounds of pranayama such as nadi shodhana to center your focus. Add any desired aromatherapy. Visualizing a purple object, or a spinning disc just above the crown of the head, can help to access sahasrara. Alternatively, you can place violet or white objects in your meditation space.
After the breathwork is complete, take easy breath and begin to repeat your chosen mantra, out loud or internally. Continue your visualization technique
An aside for my skeptical hearts: if you’ve never done this kind of work, you may be thinking “I don’t think that there’s a spinning disco puck in my head, dictating the quality of my connection to the physical realm, that needs to be fed lavender oil or it’ll give me anxiety.” To which I say, “Completely fair.”
But what if I told you that the crown chakra is an idea; the idea of being spiritually connected to all surrounding you, and that all of this asana and meditation is a ritual to tell our senses and nervous system “your light is a small but powerful part of a greater light”? In this sense, balancing the crown chakra is simply self-care for your higher level spiritual and mental needs.
In fact, I view the entire chakra column as a choose your own adventure of mind-body work that can be utilized at any time to bring your awareness and focus to a specific idea or emotion. Conditioning your nervous system to relax through breathwork while centering your awareness on something you would like to improve in your life can be a powerful exercise for skeptics and practitioners alike.
Did you try a crown chakra meditation? Let me know in the comments!
Love and light,
Erin