Chakras - The Fundamentals

Chakra is a Sanskrit term which means wheel or circle or cycle.  From a metaphysical point of view, it is described as a spinning wheel of light.  Whereas chakras are an intricate part of tantric yoga and have been discussed in the Upanishads, it is generally believed that the Buddhist Hevrajya Tantra introduced the hierarchies.  Auras (the etheric body) were generally treated with scepticism till such time as Kirilian photography came into being.  Today, auras can be photographed with special cameras and also critically examined – there is a strong belief that illnesses can often be identified in the auric body first before the symptoms appear in the physical body.

The seven major chakras are purportedly the energy vortices through which energy flows and circulates throughout the body.  If the aura represents the etheric body outside our physical body, the chakras represent the energy centres or nodes within our physical body.  Not quite so coincidentally, the seven chakras are associated with the seven endocrine glands explained in the table below.  The seven major chakras are also identified with the seven (VIBGYOR) colours.

It is believed that to maintain good health, energy needs to flow freely throughout the body.  When the chakras get blocked, they lead to chronic illnesses.  It is therefore important to understand what each of the seven major chakras represent and what we can do to keep the energy flowing freely.  There are of course, various methods adopted including Reiki, Pranic Healing, other energy healing methods, crystals, chakra exercises, etc.  Here we only discuss what each chakra represents and elsewhere in this blog in preceding and subsequent articles, affirmations to deal with each chakra.

Ancient texts suggest that there are 108 chakras within the physical body that can be worked upon.  Only seven of these are considered to be the major chakras having a significant impact on our wellbeing and behaviour – these are enumerated in the table below.  Note that a severely blocked or afflicted chakra invariably affects the corresponding gland.

Chakra	Color	Sanskrit	English	Location	Keyword	Gland
1	Red	Mooladhara	Root	Perineum	Survival	Reproductive
2	Orange	Swadishtana	Sacral	Just above genitals	Pleasure / Materialism	Adrenals
3	Yellow	Manipura	Solar	Just below Navel	Control	Pancreas
4	Green	Anahata	Heart	Where the rib cage meets	Love and Acceptance	Thymus
www.nirmitinidra.com
5	Blue	Vishuddhi	Throat	Pit of the throat	Communication and self-esteem	Thyroid
6	Indigo	Agnya	3rd Eye	Between the eyebrows	Insight and Intuition	Pituitary
7	Violet	Sahasrara	Crown	Top of the head	Oneness and Enlightenment	Pineal

1. The Root Chakra represents our foundation and feeling of being grounded, it also represents survival.  Survival issues include financial independence, basic necessities such as food and shelter and of course life itself.  It is blocked by Fear.     

2. The Sacral Chakra is our connection and ability to perceive, acknowledge and accept other people and new experiences. It also represents pleasure and materialistic desires.  It is blocked by Guilt and Non-Acceptance of other people and experiences.

3. The Solar Chakra represents our ability to be confident and in control of our lives.  Control over ourselves, perception of being controlled by others or attempting to control others affect this chakra.  Self-confidence, perseverance, grit, determination and willpower are positive aspects of this chakra.  It is blocked by shame.

4. The Heart Chakra represents love and acceptance of and compassion towards all living beings. Joy, happiness, ability to receive love and express it freely, inner peace, etc. are positive aspects of this chakra.  The Heart Chakra is blocked by Grief, Hatred and Greed.

5. The Throat Chakra represents communication, self-expression and voicing the truth.  Art forms using the vocal chords and our ability to communicate are governed by this chakra.  Where the freedom of self-expression is taken away, or one feels stifled or constricted or unable to express oneself creatively, the chakra gets afflicted.  It is blocked by Humiliation, Lies and Untruths.

6. The Third Eye Chakra is perhaps the one that has received the maximum attention.  It represents insight, intuition, imagination, wisdom and our ability to focus on and see the big picture.  For people who meditate regularly for weeks and months, vibrations in this chakra are often the first thing to be experienced.  For those who practice Nirmiti Nidra, this chakra begins to vibrate within the first week.  My personal experience at our workshop has been several participants who sense their Agnya Chakra vibrating in the very first session. Decision making, affirmations and positive thinking are also associated with this chakra.  It is blocked by Illusion and gets charged by connecting with your Inner Self.

7. The Crown Chakra lies at the upper end of the hierarchy of chakras and represents our ability to be fully connected spiritually to the Infinite Oneness.  This is the chakra that is said to responsible for a feeling of ecstasy, enlightenment and pure bliss.   It is blocked by Ego which keeps us firmly attached to all material things and gives us a bigger-than-it-is identity.

10 Powerful Affirmations for Blood Pressure

Effective affirmations are highly personalized and often situational.  The same word can ean different things to different people.  The positive affirmation statements given below are for inspiration and not to be used directly unless they make complete sense to you.  Make sure you have read this before you proceed.  To explore techniques that go beyond mere repetition, click here.  Affirmations are not a substitute for medical diagnosis and treatment.

An affirmation practised under Nidra is a hundred times more effective than when practised consciously in normal waking state.  This article does not focus on the physiological reasons but on the mind-body connection and probable metaphysical or psychosomatic causes.

Blood pressure is greatly dependent on a balanced heart chakra.  When the heart chakra is balanced, one feels compassion for all living creatures and accepts their individuality and uniqueness.   There is kindness, empathy, understanding, caring and joy.  There is a sense of ease and comfort with oneself and the people around you. 

An imbalanced heart chakra is one where the person is ruled by emotions that are not necessarily demonstrated, i.e. happiness, sadness, grief, anger, despair, envy, greed over which there is little control.  Judgement plays a big role in dealing with oneself and with others.  A positive outlook towards life could be challenging and a feeling of being unloved, unworthy and unappreciated may manifest.  Listening could become conditional, and trusting others could become difficult. 

The physical symptoms of an imbalanced or blocked heart chakra could be high or low blood pressure, palpitations, poor circulation and other ailments of the heart.  A probable cause for low blood pressure could be lack of love or ’whats the use?, its going to be like this only’ attitude.  A probable cause for high blood pressure could be long standing emotional issues which are unresolved.

Here are 2 powerful affirmations that can help both high and low blood pressure -

• ·        I am an infinite being full of Divine Love, which I give freely and easily accept from others!
• ·        I choose to live in the now. My life is happy and full of joy.

Here are 4 powerful affirmations that can help in case of those with low blood pressure -

• ·        I am strong and healthy and love life.
• ·        I am worthy, protected and secure and nourish mysself with love.
• ·        I choose to live in the now.  My life is happy and full of joy.
• ·        I appreciate and trust the process of life. All I need is taken care of. I am safe.

Here are 4 powerful affirmations that can help in case of those with high blood pressure -

• ·        I joyously release the past. I am at peace
• I love and accept myself the way I am, understand my emotions and choose to heal mysef fully.
• I choose to decide for myself and act proactively.  No one can control my emotions.
• I am capable of doing everything that I set my mind to.

10 Powerful Affirmations for Lack of Confidence

Effective affirmations are highly personalized and often situational.  The same word can ean different things to different people.  The positive affirmation statements given below are for inspiration and not to be used directly unless they make complete sense to you.  Make sure you have read this before you proceed.  To explore techniques that go beyond mere repetition, click here.  Affirmations are not a substitute for medical diagnosis and treatment.

An affirmation practised under Nidra is a hundred times more effective than when practised consciously in normal waking state.

With every breath, I inhale confidence and exhale my fears and anxieties.

I approach people with enthusiasm, confidence and boldness.

I love, accept and approve of myself exactly as I am.

I am always safe and secure and live life courageously.

I choose to take charge of my own life and it is safe to do so.

I easily and effortlessly adapt myself to new situations.  I love change.

Every aspect of my personality exudes confidence and enthusiasm.

Every action that I take is full of courage and confidence.

I am self-reliant, creative and persistent in whatever I do.

I live joyously in the present moment and look forward to the future with courage, conviction and confidence.

10 Powerful Affirmations for Anxiety

Effective affirmations are highly personalized and often situational.  The same word can ean different things to different people.  The positive affirmation statements given below are for inspiration and not to be used directly unless they make complete sense to you.  Make sure you have read this before you proceed.  To explore techniques that go beyond mere repetition, click here.  Affirmations are not a substitute for medical diagnosis and treatment.

An affirmation practised under Nidra is a hundred times more effective than when practised consciously in normal waking state.

I am cool, calm and collected all the time.

I love myself fully, completely and unconditionally.

I accept myself fully, completely and unconditionally.

I am fully confident about resolving all that life has in store for me.

I live in peace and tranquility.

All is well in my world and I am safe.

I love, accept and approve of myself exactly as I am.

I look towards the future with faith, hope and joy.

I am always safe and secure and live life courageously.

I have complete faith in the process of life.  I trust the universe implicitly.

Affirmation Techniques that Nobody Ever Told You About

If you have been following this blog, you have by now learnt all about affirmations, started working on identifying limiting beliefs, got an insight into dealing with core beliefs and read the little known ways of adding muscle to your affirmations, which very few people share.  In fact, most books you read on positive thinking and affirmations would not have given you the bulk of the information that you gained through those four articles, don’t you agree?

This article then deals with a number of different techniques that you can use to supercharge your affirmations.  Remember, An affirmation is a statement that is repeatedly uttered with confidence and assertion about a perceived truth to program your subconscious mind and bring about a significant change in your life.  Acknowledge that these are beliefs, not truths! When you argue for your limitations, we get to keep them. You choose!  What you believe is true for you!!

Also remember one other very important thing – to combine behavioral conditioning with affirmations to ensure it works for you every time.  A toast to your success – I am happy for you! You do not have to attempt all the techniques simultaneously, but you do have to work with all of them, to check what feels just right for you and what works most effectively for you.

Verbal affirmations

Say your affirmations aloud if it is possible and say them silently if it is not possible, but do say them as often as you can.  Remember, affirmations are several times more effective in a state of mind where you are connected with your subconscious, then when you are migrating them into your subconscious through your conscious mind and the critical filter.  This is precisely what Nirmiti Nidra is all about.  The workshop also teaches you the optimal time and repetitions each day.

Written affirmations

Remember, speaking is a conscious activity, writing is a subconscious activity.  Writing your affirmations down makes it powerful and energizes it with willful action. Yet, writing with emotion mechanically is only a fraction as effective as writing it charged with emotion and feeling what you would like to feel when what you are affirming manifests in reality in your life.

Replacement affirmations

Become Aware (Beware) of your thoughts and observe each time you slip into a negative pattern of thinking.  Remember to acknowledge your thoughts, thank them and cancel them.  Thereafter, replace them instantaneously at that very moment with your positive affirmation.  If there are multiple repetitive thoughts across different areas of your life, replace each of them with an appropriate positive affirmation.

Walking affirmations

When you are out for a walk, take a note of all that the universe has gifted you by way of the nature around you.  Take time to notice each tree and every flower, acknowledge the divinity of the universe and thank it silently.  In that moment of focussed attention and acknowledgement of the divine, repeat your affirmations.

Yogic affirmations

To transform your life, you have to influence your subconscious mind.  One way is through Nirmiti Nidra, which imparts you with an easy, effortless way to get in touch with your subconscious mind.  Another way is through meditation.  Meditation gives your mind a break from the incessant stream of thoughts and allows you to devote your attention to one particular key subject.  So when you meditate by using breathing techniques, word techniques or by employing a guided meditation, once you can feel yourself to be in a meditative state meditate on your specific affirmation.   

Gratitude affirmations

Write a thank you note to the Universe.  State how you will feel when you have achieved the outcome you desire.  State how thankful you are and how grateful you would be to the Universe.  Thank the universe and creation umpteen times till you feel you have thanked it enough and then some more.  Make sure you describe all your feelings when your dream comes true.  And if you can also add what you will give back to the society and the universe when your affirmation manifests as reality, super!

Secret : There are a few other unknown, un-revealed, un-shared techniques that you can use – visualized affirmations, vibrational affirmations, creative affirmations and turbo-charged affirmations.  To learn these secrets, visit our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/nirmitinidra/ click “like” to become a follower, then click here.  You have to be a registered user to access this page (registration is free).

Adding Muscle to Your Affirmations Whilst Dealing With Limiting Beliefs

This is a continuation of the previous article which gave you an understanding of core beliefs and how one goes about dealing with them.  Do remember that you may need help in identifying the core limiting belief in some cases, which is beyond the scope of this article.  No article can substitute the work of a trained practitioner or therapist. 

Read on if you have identified a limiting belief which you are now choosing to overcome through positive affirmations.  Examples of limiting beliefs are –

”I can’t do X because of Y”

”I am not a good speaker”

“It’s too late to pursue my dreams.”

”I am not lucky”

”I am not good enough” or ”I am not good enough for...”

”It is hopeless”

”I am worthless” or ”I am useless” or ”I am lazy”

At this stage, you probably have that little voice in  your head which goes, ”Now how am I going to identify a limiting belief?”  If you have already identified the limiting belief, brilliant.  If you havent, I am going to share a little trick in my next article which you can use to identify them with relative ease.

Remember that a very deeply entrenched core limiting belief cannot easily be overwritten with an affirmation.  The belief needs to be deleted with professional help.  You cannot hide a dark stain on your dress permanently by wearing a jacket, can you?  The stain has to be removed.  However, you can certainly working on your limiting beliefs RIGHT NOW with positive affirmations by adding muscle to them.  Here is how.

Step 1 – Tell yourself every single day whenever you indulge in self-talk or whenever you remember that going forward, ”all my beliefs are in harmony with my goals”.  ”I am constantly being more aware of my limiting beliefs, ”I am reviewing, editing and transforming my limiting beliefs into empowering ones.”

Step 2 – You want to accept that whatever you believe about yourself is what you become. You want to accept that who you are is a reflection of what you believe. Acceptance is very important for anything to change as I have explained earlier.

Step 3 – Identify the limiting belief.  I have explained this above and will shortly share a little trick that you can use.  At other times, catch yourself every time you have a negative thought or belief about yourself, similar to the examples I laid out above. Now read Step 2 again.

Step 4 – Create an affirmation that negates the old limiting belief and overwrites it.  For example –

“I’m not a good speaker” turns into “I am a great presenter and speaker. Speaking is easy for me”.   “Its too late to chase my dreams” turns into: “I am the manifestation of my dreams. I live my life to achieve every dream imaginable.” You get the gist.  The affirmation you create should ideally be in  your own words.  Read it out loud to yourself and see how it feels.  Does it feel right?  If there is the slightest doubt, revise and edit your affirmation.  Repeat this till it sounds just right to you.  It is immaterial if it sounds right to others, it must sound right to you.

Step 5 – always keep a written copy of your final affirmation. 

To practice affirmations, repeat your statements for at least 5 minutes or 21 times thrice a day.  There are different techniques and ideas that you can use, which again I shall list out in a subsequent article.  Keep in touch with my posts on this blog.

Meanwhile, here is what you do to add muscle to your affirmations.  Ready?

1.      Look at yourself in the mirror when you repeat the affirmation.  Look into your eyes and observe your facial features every day as you recite.  Notice over time what changes in your features and in your eyes.  Be grateful for the change, thank the universe.

2.      Write your affirmations 21 times each day.  Notice over time if your handwriting or style of writing including the pressure applied on paper changes.  Be grateful for the change, thank the universe.

3.      Take a deep breath imagining positive energy being drawn into you and thereby into your affirmation which you are uttering or writing.  Notice how it feels when your breathe into your affirmation.

4.      When you have mastered the basics of awareness exercises (as is taught in the Nirmiti Nidra workshop), you may be in a position to identify that part of the body which resonates with the limiting belief.  At such times, place your hand (palm) over that part of the body that was afflicted with the earlier belief.

By noticing changes you get a vital clue as to how your subconscious mind has perceived, accepted and digested the new concept you are imparting it through affirmation.  Empower yourself, take care and stay blessed!