Tag: The Chakras

The Brow Chakra

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I know this chakra far too well –
it’s a monkey wrestling with an owl.
Only when the chatter ends
can I access deeper wisdom.

~

When I’ve been exploring the issues I’m experiencing in all the other chakras they have led me up, through the nervous system, to my brain where I believe many of my problems with disregulation stem from. 

The brow chakra is associated with the mind, both its thinking and intuitive capacities and is viewed in the yogic tradition as the command centre. 

I’ve done a lot of research into the brain and thought, at first, my troubles stem from my hypothalamus, which is the control station for so many of our bodily functions such as sleep, hormone regulation, autonomic nervous system.

Yet, when I did some journeywork around this I got told by my hyopthalamus that it’s only doing it’s job based on signals from other brain parts. Through a combination of journeys and research I discovered that I’ve got an enlarged overactive amygdala, our inner alarm bell, whose constant ringing keeps telling my hypothalamus to put me into a sympathetic ‘fight or flight’ state. My anterior cingulate cortex, which is responsible for attention, emotional awareness, self control and behavioural adaptability, is underdeveloped. 

I’m also subject to getting to stuck in the ‘worry loop’ (a tract of neurons running in a circle from the pre-frontal cortex to the striatus to the thalamus and back linking to the limbic system (which includes the amygdala). For me this manifests as worrying constantly about financial security and being unable to cope if I cannot make a living from my vocation. These thoughts keep my amygdala sounding the alarm bell and result in adrenaline and cortisol constantly coursing through my body, which has led to my overactive inflammation response causing conditions such as rosacea, eczema, tendinopathy and IBS along with Raynaud’s and secondary amenorrhea.

It’s only over the past few years I have discovered meditation, breathwork and polyvagal practices as ways of activating my parasympathetic nervous system, strengthening my anterior cingulate cortex and shrinking my amygdala.

At the brow chakra we find the monkey mind and its constant chatter which keeps ever distracted and ever over-stimulated. Yet we also find the pineal gland and the third eye which are associated with intuition and second sight. There’s less science to explain the latter. I’ve found that when the monkey is quiet, when I meditate, when I journey, I can access depths of wisdom that are not available to the thinking mind and bring it back for others.

~

Location: Brow / Colour: Indigo / System: Brain / Endocrine: Pituitary and pineal / Sense: Sight / Faculty: Mind / Realm: Thought / Faculties: Thinking and intuition / Animals: Monkey and Owl

The Throat Chakra

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A dove flies free
across a clear blue sky.
I have the right to stay silent
and from Annwn sound my cry.

~

The throat chakra is associated with the voice and communication. It’s been an interesting one for me to work with as somebody who was once a performing poet with a really big gob but who has recently begun to appreciate far more spending time in solitude and silence. 

I had my first Reiki session a few months ago and the practitioner aptly spotted my overactive solar plexus chakra and told me that I had a blockage between it and my throat chakra. Intriguingly during the treatment I found a lot of saliva in my mouth which related to her work to clear the blockage. When we chatted about it afterwards she intuited that the block might be to do with me being unable to say positive things about myself. I realised this was true – I’m able to speak about my fears and limitations but not my assets. 

She suggested trying positive affirmations. I had a go at these. I could just about manage, “I am strong,” as I’ve worked so much on my physical and mental strength. However, “I am kind,” “I am patient,” did not ring true as I was still being snappy with my dad. “I am becoming kinder,” “I am becoming more patient,” felt more realistic. Unfortunately this work has recently gone out of the window due to recent stresses but I intend to return to it. 

It also connected with purification and with the breath. I’ve found that breathwork is one of the best things for helping me to regulate nervous system.

In The Miracle of Mindfulness Thich Nhat Hanh says: ‘Our breath is the bridge from our body to our mind, the element which reconciles our body and mind and which makes possible one-ness of body and mind. Breath is aligned to both body and mind and it alone is the tool which can bring them both together, illuminating both and bringing both peace and calm.’

It’s interesting that, as I’ve been working with this chakra, a number of negative thought and behaviour patterns have arisen to be purified. These have been based around financial insecurity causing me to go against my commitment to my spiritual vocation and inner nature as a monastic who needs solitude and routine by signing up for a secular counselling course and by forcing myself into running and attending groups on evenings and weekends. Neither of these things worked out and I needed to withdraw.

In relation to purification I found out the origin of the word ascesis. It comes from theGreek askēsis ‘training’, from askein ‘to exercise’ and was associated with athletics. I had associated it only with self-denial in its extreme and punitive forms and had not thought of myself as an ascetic. Yet for me as someone for whom exercising regularly (strength training and yoga), eating healthy foods and not engaging with social media is important the term has begun to resonate with me and I now associate it with this chakra.

Metabolism, digestion, heart rate, hormones and sleep are regulated by the thyroid gland so I see why the throat chakra is related to ascetic processes.

At first when the white dove appeared as the symbol I was surprised. I thought, ‘I’ve never even seen a white dove.’ Then I Googled white doves and found out they are specially bred birds of the species Columba livia domestica – rock doves or rock pigeons. The very same as the feral pigeons who visit my back garden to feed on the seed and live under the railway bridge. 

Intriguingly, a few months back, in a dream a bird appeared that looked like a pigeon but which I intuited was a dove (both are in the Columbidae family). I was told it had come from my supervisor, Jayne, ‘to end the conflict between A and B.’ A number of conflicts within and without have come to an end (and Jayne has helped with this) in the period I have been working with this chakra.

~

Location: throat / Colour: Blue / System: Pulmonary / Nerve Plexus: Cervical / Faculty: Speech / Realm: Social / Element: Ether / Qualities: Communication and purification / Animal: Dove

The Solar Plexus Chakra

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My lion is raging. 
My City of Jewels is burning.
I am feeding the fire in my belly
to fill the void within.

~

Connecting with this chakra has been like wrestling with a lion. Unsurprisingly I’ve discovered that, like the digestive system which it governs, it has a mind and a will of its own. It’s a greedy guts but it’s not very gutsy. It will spill its guts over any tiny little thing. 

Both this chakra and my digestive system are overactive. I’ve long had difficulties with IBS. “Slow down,” “slow down,” the constant messages I’ve been receiving from the rest of my body and from my Gods.

I journey to my bowels and see the microbiota are overwhelmed by ‘reds’ (Streptococcus sp.). I take probiotics and ‘greens’ (Bifidobacterium sp.) and ‘whites’ (Lactobacillus sp.) become more dominant. Things slow down. Too  much. I see them lying on a beach on their bath towels. I stop the doses and give them extra green vegetables to chew on and tell them to get back to work. 

I succeed in slowing my bowels but what about my life? This chakra is associated with vital energy, power, will, with the ego, with striving in the world. I’ve always been very active whether it’s exercising or creating. I’ve been ambitious too. Since becoming a nun I’ve pared that down a bit. Made more time for meditation – for being not doing. Hard. I can meditate for a couple of hours a day now but even that can easily become a competition.

This chakra also governs the adrenals and the animal there is Scrappy Doo from Scooby Doo. Scrappy with zoomies with his boxing gloves on. “Let me at ‘em, let me at ‘em.” He’s great for starting new projects but not at getting them done.

At first I’m both afraid of and annoyed with the lion. Why is it (and why I am I) so hungry? Why does it roar so at tiny vexations then disappear beneath the table when real courage is required?

I go “raargh!” at the lion. It goes “raargh!” back. We roar together and as we roar the lion shrinks until it so bigger than a tiny cub that fits on my fingernail. It reveals that it’s afraid of the void, that’s why it’s always hungry, always roaring. 

I take it into my heart chakra with my white winged mare, with Gwyn, show it love and reassurance. We go to the void and show it there is nothing to be feared.

I go to other digestive organs. Courage has long been associated with the liver – the part of us that wants to live. Lily-livered is a term for a coward. I’m relieved to find mine is dark and healthy – regenerating now my drinking has ceased. Overactivity has perhaps been good for my pancreas as unlike my mum and grannie on her side I have so far not developed diabetes.

“Let’s try to work together, be brave, truly brave, not roar but no resilience, not bark but no bite,” I tell the lion and the pup that looks like Scrappy Doo.

I’m doing my best to befriend this chakra – perhaps a lifetime of work.

~

Location: Abdomen / Colour: Yellow / System: Digestive / Nerve Plexus: Solar Plexus / Gland: Adrenals / Sense: Taste / Realm: The World / Element: Fire / Qualities: Vital Energy / Animal: Lion