How Yoga can be experienced in a path of personal growth and structuring
The study of “Chakra” or “Cakra” (in Sanskrit), was one of the most interesting elements of my studies to becoming a Yoga teacher.
“For me, however, the one on the Chakras was not just a study path, rather it turned into a path of personal growth and practical application of many of the psychological aspects related to these energy centers dedicated and used during meditation. ”
In the first article I focus on the metamorphosis of the goals and practice of Yoga (you can find it by clicking here in case you missed it), I have reconstructed the historical overview and the path which, starting from 500 B.C. and reaching the last century, it has led to the conception of the body linked to the Chakras, which today represents one of the trends that have led to combining psychology with a physical practice.
Speaking of Chakras in the context of Hatha Yoga and remembering that the first six Chakra system was introduced with a tantric text around 1000 AD. (the Kubjikāmatatantra) where the Cakras were mental objects created by the yogi for meditation, we find today the same names identified in energy centers of the body distributed along the column. In fact, previous texts mention a different number of Chakras variously and differently located in the body.
Today I will try to accompany you on a first exploratory excursion of this world, trying to summarize the characteristics in my opinion most important related to the individual Chakras.
In the texts the Chakras are variously described and also depicted with many details. The prevailing symbol for the Chakras is that of the lotus flower, represented as seen from above and with its open and variously colored petals. The number of petals and their color varies according to the Chakra.
At the height of the perineum, we find Mūlādhāra, the first Chakra, red in color, the Root Chakra, linked to survival and awareness of existence. Stability and overcoming fear are in fact the prerequisite for being able to evolve in life. Because if we don't have stable roots, survival is the basic function to which all our skills will be dedicated. Acquiring awareness towards one's interior, identifying more with the body than with the mind, acquiring the ability to feel effective on the surrounding context, are the basic functions delegated to this center, represented by the earth element.
A little further up, at the height of the belly and genitals, we find Svādhiṣṭhāna, the second Chakra, orange in color, linked to the world of feeling. In this centre, the focus is on feeling above all one's emotions linked to the sense of identity. In order to understand our fundamental identity, the concept of pleasure is the fundamental, the pleasure of being in the here and now, being oneself, which creates subjectivity which is at the basis of the process of becoming individuals. Not the hedonistic pleasure of appearing or of success and popularity. Emotions tell us something about how we are and what we like and what we don't, but in this case we must learn to feel deeply in order to understand that process that starts from the body to find a new balance in the organism. The element is water and we are in the world of flow.
Between the navel and the solar plexus we find Maṇipūra, the third Chakra, yellow in color, where we have to make choices. Maṇipūra is energy channeled towards a purpose. In fact, what this center represents is the will, discipline and assertiveness, in the realization of clear, defined, measurable objectives that depend 100% on us. Important for pursuing goals and the basis for being able to climb is also laying the foundations for healthy self-esteem, understood as the awareness of one's abilities and limits, which combined with assertiveness, or the ability to put of borders, remain open to discussion, allowing us to be able to look ahead and open up to others. The element in this case is fire.
We have arrived at Anāhata, the fourth Chakra, at heart level, whose reference gland is the thymus. Green in color, it represents our ability to open up to others and to feel empathy. Not only that, in addition to empathy, the ability to forgive and accept even the things that have made us suffer remains fundamental for opening up and being able to evolve. Because when we move from why this happened to me, to seeing the resources that event allowed us to develop and learn, then we will have started the path towards gratitude and the ability to appreciate what we have. The fourth Chakra is also important for the concept of balance, balance in relationships, between detachment and empathy, to create, as Siegel says, integrative communication, respecting one's personal development, but also open to a we, which does not become a fusion. The element is air in this case.
With the lightness of air we begin to rise towards a less material dimension, which is Viśuddha, the fifth Chakra, of bright blue color, the center that represents the ability to express oneself, a fundamental element for being able to communicate with others. Expression that can be understood as creativity and in this case creativity is linked to one's talents, to the study and development of a profession, but also expression as silence, the silence of meditation and expression as communication. Language, in fact, is essential for building a bridge with each other. Words are important but how I say it makes the difference. We find the concepts of ecological communication, in which I respect the individual but also the community, trying not to monopolize speeches, not giving extreme judgments and trying to prepare for criticism which must be constructive, trying to explain my motivations and not attack the person but the fait accompli and the reactions it brought towards me. These are the basis to arrive at non-violent or empathic communication, where I observe without judging, I understand what feeling I felt in a discussion or in a confrontation, and I try to express my needs and understand those of others, maintaining consistency in language and body thanks to sincerity. The element is ether.
After being rooted, having learned to feel our emotions, having developed a healthy self-esteem and setting boundaries, having learned to express ourselves, we can try to access ājñā, the sixth Chakra, of indigo color, located in the space between the two eyebrows. The reference gland in this case is the pituitary, which produces hormones and which influences the functioning of other glands such as the thyroid. Fundamental for our organism ājñā is the center of command. When it is in balance the person has control of his own personality and makes decisions not guided by the ego. We begin to access the concept of awareness, understood as knowing how to look and observe our mind as well and the processes that we find in it, looking for whether we identify emotions to maintain a detachment. This could help us access a wiser self, inserting pauses between the stimuli we receive and the response, thanks also to the ability to go to work on the prefrontal cortex and the automatisms that are from our experience and from the synaptic shadows.
In some systems there is also a seventh Chakra, Sahasrā, the lotus with a thousand petals, with a color ranging from violet to white, located between the two hemispheres, below the "fontanelle", at the opening of Brahman, where the yogi's self exits at the time of his death. In this center, linked to the epiphysis, the pineal gland, there seem to be the bases of the micro and macrocosmic processes that also manifest themselves in the body such as, for example, the sleep-wake relationship linked to the dark-light cycle. Meditation is a powerful tool to access this element, where we find the true essence of being. As a completion of the previous path of ascent, at this point we are able to understand that there is a greater and more order depth that underlies things, we feel part of a whole: therefore, the individual spirit unites with the universal spirit, in the concept of transcendence.
It would take much more time to explore each individual Chakra, as well as to better understand the concepts related to them. In my personal experience, in months and years of study and in-depth study, I have tried to experience this ascent as a path of growth in search of self-improvement.
For this reason I have set up UPHILL YOGA:
a course of 10 one-to-one and live online yoga classes, during which I will try to pass you what I have acquired, combining these with a physical practice, breath control exercises and meditation.
Find out all the details of the UPHILL YOGA course below!
BIBLIOGRAPHY
-Il libro dei chakra. Il sistema dei chakra e la psicologia di Anodea Judith (Autore), Francesca Diano (Traduttore)
-Anatomia della guarigione. I sette principi della nuova medicina integrata di Erica Francesca Poli (Autore)
-Mappe per la mente. Guida alla neurobiologia interpersonale di Daniel J. Siegel (Autore), G. Tagliavini (a cura di), C. Marchetti (Traduttore)