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Fisrt Chakra aka Root Chakra aka  Muladhara

2/18/2013

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Picture
Posted by Jackie Gaston
First – root – chakra Muladhara

Ever wondered what the chakra system is and how it works for you?    This is the second in a series of posts in which I'll do my best to help you make sense of your chakra syste.  It's helpful to read this post first. 

I tend to think about the first chakra as the baby of your chakras.  It is the id. It is concerned with survival and security.  It is our  primal connection to the physical aspects of our beings and to the earth. 


Symbol: Four red petals, square with a down-facing triangle

Location: base of the spine in the perineum

Color: red

Musical note: C

Scent: Sandalwood, oak moss, Frankincense

Stones: hematite, garnet, red jasper

Body parts associated with: kidneys, bladder, legs, lymphatic system, skeletal system, nose, adrenal glands

Sense: smell

Foods: Proteins, minerals and , of course, root vegetables.

Asanas: Mountain pose, Bridge pose, Warrior one
http://life.gaiam.com/article/chakra-guide-root-chakra

Planet: Saturn

Astrological sign: Taurus

Element: Earth

The first chakra provides the base for all other chakras and the energy it draws moves through the others and upward toward the crown. It seeks security above all else and is the seat of the flight or fight instinct. Its affinity for the earth element leads it to also seek balance, trust, groundedness and good health. It channels earth energy and finds connection to solid ground and nature. It ideally has a balance of both masculine and feminine energy.

The astrological sign most closely associated with the first chakra is Taurus which is no surprise since Taurus is considered one of the most powerful signs in terms of money and financial well being.

The first chakra is influenced by Saturn. According to Thomas Moore, Saturn's function is one of deep contemplation and intuitive insight. Marsilio Ficino related Saturn to eternal life and called it the true home of the soul. As the first chakra is also called the root chakra, we have a tendency to relate it only to the earth and our physical security. However, its relationship to Saturn seems to indicate a connection to the larger cosmic body. We feel its pull most in young adulthood, the time when we are beginning to implement whatever plans we have for our lives, and in the later part of middle age when we are looking at how far we have come and how to spend our older years. Saturn's passage through our lives relates to feelings of control....how much control we feel that we have or don't have over things that matter to us. It rules discipline, work and duty and how we incorporate each in our lives and, more importantly how we feel about our accomplishments or lack thereof.

The sense of smell is most associated with the first chakra because it is our most primal sense. It seems to be fully present at birth and triggers the most vivid memories.

Signs of an out of balance or stuck root chakra include anxiety, the feeling of not having enough, over eating, unspecified anger and not feeling settled or secure. Other signs may be tripping, falling, bumping into things and general clumsiness. Since it is ruled by Saturn, depression may also be a sign of an unbalanced first chakra.

A person who operates from a balanced root chakra displays confidence and ease in manifesting wanted things and situations. As someone who feels at ease in his/her own skin, this person is trustworthy and attracts others who seek balance and security.

Meditations for First Chakra:

I recommend doing these meditations in a seated lotus position or as close as you can get to seated lotus with your hands palms down on your knees. If this is impossible for you, sit in a chair with your feet firmly planted on the ground.

Close your eyes and take three long deep breaths. Hold each breath for a few seconds before completely exhaling.

Relax into the pose and your breath.


Meditation one:

Repeat this mantra over and over in your mind or out loud.

“I forgive myself.”

Keep in mind that self forgiveness is a way of letting yourself off the hook for perceived short comings. After a few minutes, you will probably start to name things for which you feel the need for self forgiveness. Past mistakes, things you feel that you may have done 'wrong' to yourself or others.

You may feel sadness but it is more likely that you will start to feel relief.

Feel free to question why you feel the need for forgiveness Be open to receiving an answer.

Stay with it for as long as you feel that you need to. This may be for a just a few minutes or an extended amount of time. Just stay with it. You will know when it is time to come out of the meditative state.




Meditation Two:

Follow the same steps as in meditation one but use one or more of the following mantras:

I love all of the money that comes to me.

I appreciate every dollar in my account.

I am so happy to have my home.




Thanks for reading this article.  You can get a head start on the rest of the chakra posts by requesting my free ebook available here.







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You Are Significant

2/10/2013

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Picture
posted by Jackie Gaston

You are significant.



It's easy to feel that you don't count.

It's easy to think that you're always in the background, that no one notices you.

It's easy to feel over looked and invisible.

It's easy to think that your gifts aren't special or that you have no gifts at all.

It's easy to feel unimportant and insignificant.

We can't always be the one on the stage but that doesn't mean that we aren't making an important contribution.

I remember a night years ago when my sweetie and I went to hear some friends play at a hole in the wall venue. When we got there, two people were on the stage and three people were in the audience.

My friends on the stage kept asking others to join them up there for this song or that. Pretty soon, I was the only one left who wasn't on the stage. Of course, they asked me to come up,too. I declined saying that someone had to be the audience. That got a big laugh and three people came down to join me. After that, one of the guys who was there started signing all of his emails with “ Friends don't let friends play to empty rooms.” You see, without an audience, there is no performance.

Have you ever had a sweater that you just loved? Maybe it was a solid color and went with everything in your closet. It was soft and warm and just the right color. It put you in a good mood every time you wore it. Then one day, you brushed it against a door facing and one thread got caught on a splinter. Before knew what had happened, you had a big snag in a very noticeable place. You had never really noticed that one thread before but now it was the cause of your sweater being ruined. Now you saw its significance.

When you catch yourself feeling that you don't matter, that you don't make a difference, remember that the sweater was never the same again because of one thread and that a performance without an audience is only a rehearsal.

                                                                     You. Are. Significant.


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The Gun Issue and Our  Collective 1st Chakra

2/6/2013

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Posted by Jackie Gaston
The Gun Debate and Our Collective 1st Chakra

***I want to make it clear from the get go that I am not taking sides on the issue of gun control or lack there of with this article. There are plenty of other places where you can read about and make comments in regard to your feelings on it. I will confess right here and now that I grew up with guns and am pretty proficient at using them but that I don't own one and probably won't ever unless I'm living in a very rural, varmint ridden environment.***

It seems to me that our collective first chakra has it's panties in a pretty big wad over the whole gun issue. Our first chakra demands safety and security. Right now a lot of people in our country aren't feeling very much of either and are locked in passionate disagreement as to what to do about it. Some people think they would feel a lot safer if no one were allowed to own guns, or at least not certain types of guns. Others think they would feel safer if everyone had at least one gun. On both sides and in the middle are people who are afraid to go to the movies or send their kids to school.

There are also people who feel that guns are not the issue at all but rather a symptom of a deeper unbalance. On a very deep level, I agree with them. Feeling insecure and unsafe are signs of a blocked or unbalanced first chakra. When I am working with someone on first chakra issues, the first thing I do is offer them a way to find a feeling of security and safety. To that end, I went looking for evidence that our world is not such a scary place.

I'd like to offer a little reassurance as follows:

  1. According to the National Association of Theater Owners, there are 39,580 movie theaters in the U.S. Most of these have multiple showings on multiple screens every day. Being very conservative and saying that each of these theaters only shows 3 shows per day, that is 43,340,100 shows per year. Take into consideration that there has been a shooting at one show in recent memory, that makes movie theaters sound like pretty safe places to be.

  2. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, there are 98,817 public elementary schools and 67,140 public high schools in this country. There are 49.8 million students in these schools and 3.3 million full time teachers. This does not count part time staff and support staff other than teachers. This means that there are more than 53.1 million people in our public schools every school day. Since February 2012, 44 people have been killed with guns on school campuses. That makes schools sound pretty safe,too.

The next thing I do when working with someone is to give them some tools to help them manage any emotions that come up. In this instance, I think that it is helpful to turn off the news. We are constantly bombarded with news and arguments on this issue. As I type this, my husband is watching a news program an I'm hearing the commentator rant about it. It is so easy to get caught up in the passion and in the feeling that you're right and the ones who don't feel the way you do are nuts. This serves no one.

If, like me, you find it impossible to avoid hearing or reading about the gun issue, or any other issue for that matter, I hope you can find a way to neutralize its effect on you. One way is to recognize that although the people who are so passionate about it mean well, you, as a deliberate creator, know that it's all a story and it doesn't have to be yours. Find something else to think about. Put on some music. Dance, Sing. Take a shower.

The way to heal our collective first chakra is to heal our individual ones. Concentrating on problems with guns will create more problems with guns and I know that we can do better than that.



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