Chakra Dharanam (Concentration Practice)

A Chakra Dharanam concentration practice with affirmations and sounds of Koshi chimes and singing bowls. Come to sit with energy, park the body, and then journey through the energy centres as visualise the colours and tune into the elements and qualities of each chakra.

Transcript

Welcome, My name is Nicky from True Equanimity Yoga. Today I'd like to share with you a chakra meditation. So come to sit comfortably, Seated in a chair or on the floor. You might like to stretch the body, Feel grounded, Begin to park the body, You might even tense the body a little bit on the in-breath and on the out-breath, Soften. Maybe doing that again, Tensing the body about 50% of the effort. And on the out-breath, Let the legs relax, The arms relax. One last time on the in-breath, Tensing about 20% of the effort, Slight tensing. And then as you breathe out, Letting go into the safety of the surface that you're sitting on. You might like to close the eyes if that feels comfortable or soften the gaze down to your lap. See if you can let the eyes soften into the head. And then I invite you to consider these three acceptances as we come to prepare to sit in stillness. The first one is to accept your environment, Accept the sounds, The sensations around you. And then accepting your body, The sensations that might arise, An itch, An urge to move as your body comes to be still. Of course if you're uncomfortable, Shift to a more comfortable position. Otherwise see if you can accept the body. Then coming to accept your mind, The distractions, The thoughts, Feelings that will arise. Observing all of these with a sense of acceptance. Then bringing the awareness back to the physical body, Become a witness to the physical body. You might feel the feet on the floor if you're sitting on a chair. You might feel the connection to the surface that you're sitting on. And out breath once again, See if you can let go of any holding into the safety of the surface below. And as we ground the body, Bring your awareness to your breath now. Notice your inhale, Notice your exhale. You might begin that breath awareness noticing the cool air as it comes in through the nose and then the slightly warm air as you exhale through the nose. With each in-breath let your breath awareness come a little deeper down into the body, Maybe down into the throat this time. Then back out through the nose. On your next breath in, Maybe taking that breath awareness down to the lungs as they fill, The ribs expand. And breathing out through the lungs, Out through the nose. Next time you breathe in you might let that breath awareness come down to the diaphragm, Feeling the belly expand and soften on the out-breath. And then maybe seeing with the next in-breath can you let the breath flow all the way to the base of the spine, The surface that you're sitting on. Feeling that connection to the surface below and the earth below that. And then breathing back up out through the body, Out through the nose. Breathing down to the earth if you can take your breath awareness down there. And breathing back out through the earth, Through the body, Out through the nose. Almost as if your in-breath could become the in-breath of the earth and your out-breath could become the out-breath of the earth. Feeling your physical body become part of the earth, Very still, Safe and secure. And then the next time you breathe in let your breath awareness come up the spine, All the way to the crown of the head. You might like to visualise a gentle golden light, Like a sphere or ball of light just above the head. And as you breathe in next imagine that light flowing back down through your body. Coming back down past the brow, Past the throat. Flowing down through the heart, The chest, Down through the torso. Flowing like a river of light all the way back down to the base of the spine. So letting your awareness rest at the base of the spine, The base chakra, Muladhara. Imagining the colour red and the qualities of the earth. You might like to silently affirm to yourself, I am safe. Then on an in-breath allow your awareness to rise a little higher into the pelvic area, The sacral chakra. And let the colour change to a vibrant orange. Imagining the qualities of the element of water. You might like to silently affirm to yourself, I am creative. Then on an in-breath allowing your awareness to rise up to the solar plexus, That area around the navel. Let the colour change to a golden yellow. Qualities of the element of fire here. You just silently affirm to yourself, I am strong. And then on your next in-breath allowing the awareness to rise up to the heart. Let the colour change to a beautiful green. Thinking of the qualities of air, The element of air here. Affirming to yourself, I am loved. And on an inhale allowing the awareness to rise up to the throat area. Let the colour change to a beautiful blue, The blue of the sky, The blue of the ocean. The qualities of space here. You might affirm to yourself, I am expressive. And on an inhale allowing the awareness to rise to between the brow. Let the colour change to indigo, Colour of the night sky. You might silently affirm to yourself here, I am insightful. And on your next inhale awareness rises to just above the crown of your head. Let the colour change to violet. You might like to affirm to yourself, I am a being of light. You might like your awareness to expand into the space above the crown of the head. And imagine this violet light is flecked with specks of gold, Like a halo surrounding your head. Feel this gold light beginning to spread down through the whole of your body. Streaming down through the head, The shoulders, Down the spine, Down the arms, All the way to the fingertips. All the way down the spine to the base. All the way down the legs to the toes. Your whole being, From the crown of the head to the tips of the toes, Becomes a river of gold. As you feel into the coolness, Calmness and serenity of this light. You might like to take your awareness back to the heart centre. As you rest in stillness there, Imagine that you can even breathe in and out from the heart centre. Feeling the heart on the in-breath, Letting it soften on the out-breath. I'll leave you to rest in stillness, Awareness at the heart, For a couple of minutes. And then you'll hear the singing bowl and the sound of my voice. Let the sound of the crown chakra singing bowl begin to reawaken the mind, The body, The spirit. You might choose to become aware of your body as it sits here in this place of meditation. Being aware of your head and drawing your awareness into its centre. Be aware of your chest, Abdomen and draw your awareness into the centre. Be aware of your spine, Tall and strong. Be aware of your arms and legs and draw your attention into all the limbs. Maybe beginning to bring a gentle bit of movement in the fingers, The toes. Being aware of your breath rising and falling. Being aware of the surroundings around you, The sounds, The sensations. Welcoming them all back in. I'd like to take a couple of refreshing breaths, Opening the eyes and then invite you to bring both hands, Palms touching at the heart in Jali Mudra or Prayer Mudra. Bowing your wise mind to your compassionate heart. The divine light in me honours the divine light in you. Namaste.