The Fourth Chakra: Love

The fourth Chakra, Anahata (not struck), is located at the heart (center of the chest). Its color is green and its issues are love, compassion, acceptance, and trust. Affirmation: May I be free to feel my true feelings, desires and passions, and be at home in my heart. Yoga Poses to Activate this Chakra: Fish Standing yoga mudra Pigeon Camel Standing backbend Prayer twist Yoga Practices to Activate this Chakra: Mudra: Hridaya and Anjali Mantra: Yam Meditation: Heart Chakra Meditation

The fourth Chakra, Anahata (not struck), is located at the heart (center of the chest). Its color is green and its issues are love, compassion, acceptance, and trust.

Affirmation: May I be free to feel my true feelings, desires and passions, and be at home in my heart.

Yoga Poses to Activate this Chakra:

Fish
Standing yoga mudra
Pigeon
Camel
Standing backbend
Prayer twist

Yoga Practices to Activate this Chakra:

Mudra: Hridaya and Anjali
Mantra: Yam
Meditation: Heart Chakra Meditation

written by Timothy Burgin

Toning the Chakras

Unlock the sacred power of sound by reaching within yourself during silent meditation.

Step 1 — first chakra:

Focus your attention on the first chakra, the root chakra, located at the base of the spine. The vowel sound for this chakra is “UH” (as in the word huh).

Begin to tone an “UH” sound. It should be soft and gentle, as should all the sounds you will be making during this exercise. Continue to focus your attention on the first chakra and project your intention so that you visualize the sound resonating at the base of your spine. Feel it vibrating here, and as it does, become aware that the energy center associated with this area is resonating, becoming balanced and aligned. Make this “UH” sound seven times.

Step 2 — second chakra:

Next, focus your attention on the second chakra, the sacral chakra, located about 3 inches below the navel. The vowel sound for this chakra is “OOO” (as in the word you).

Begin to tone a soft and gentle “OOO” sound. Continue to focus your attention on the second chakra and project your intention so that you visualize the sound vibrating this area. As you feel it resonate here, experience this energy center balancing and aligning with sacred sound. Make this “OOO” sound seven times.

Step 3 — third chakra:

Focus your attention on the third chakra, the solar-plexus chakra, located at the navel area and several inches above. The sound for this chakra is “OH” (as in the word go).

Begin to tone a soft and gentle “OH” sound. Continue to focus your attention on the third chakra and project your intention so that you visualize the sound vibrating this area. As you feel the vowel sound resonate here, experience this energy center being balanced and aligned through sacred sound. Make this “OH” sound seven times.

Taken with permission from The Divine Name

Step 4 — fourth chakra:

Focus your attention on the fourth chakra, the heart chakra, located in the center of the chest. The vowel sound for this chakra is “AH” (as in the word ma).

“AH” is often a sound we make when we’re in love, and indeed, the heart chakra is the center associated with love. Begin to tone a soft and gentle “AH” sound. Continue to focus your attention on the fourth chakra and project your intention so that you visualize the sound vibrating this area. As you feel the vowel sound resonate here, experience this energy center becoming balanced and aligned through sacred sound. Make this “AH” sound seven times.

Step 5 — fifth chakra:

Focus your attention on the fifth chakra, the throat chakra. The vowel sound for this chakra is “EYE” (as in the word my).

Begin to tone a soft and gentle “EYE” sound. Continue to focus your attention on the fifth chakra and project your intention so that you visualize the sound vibrating this area. As you feel the vowel sound resonate here, experience this energy center becoming balanced and aligned through sacred sound. Make this “EYE” sound seven times.

Step 6 — sixth chakra:

Focus your attention on the sixth chakra, the third-eye chakra, located in the forehead between the eyes and slightly above them. The vowel sound for this chakra is “AYE” (as in the word may).

Begin to tone a soft and gentle “AYE” sound. Continue to focus your attention on the sixth chakra and project your intention so that you visualize the sound vibrating this area. As you feel the vowel sound resonate here, experience this energy center becoming balanced and aligned through sacred sound. Make this “AYE” sound seven times.

Step 7 — seventh chakra:

Focus your attention on the seventh chakra, the crown chakra, located at the top of the head. The vowel sound for this chakra is “EEE” (as in the word me).

Begin to tone a soft and gentle “EEE” sound. Continue to focus your attention on the seventh chakra and project your intention so that you visualize the sound vibrating this area. As you feel the vowel sound resonate here, experience this energy center becoming balanced and aligned through sacred sound. Make this “EEE” sound seven times.

Step 8 — silent meditation:

At the completion of this exercise, you may feel very light-headed. You’ve been sounding, resonating and balancing your chakras as the energy moves up your spine into your head and above. Allow yourself a good 10 to 15 minutes for meditation, bringing your awareness fully back to everyday consciousness. At the close, be sure to ground yourself.

During workshops, I tell participants to take this opportunity to sit in silence and have the experience that will be of highest benefit at this point in their spiritual development. I suggest that this is a very nice place to be, so they should sit in a state of meditation and enjoy the experience.

To ground yourself

After you’ve completed the meditation, it’s sometimes helpful to draw the energy slowly back down into your lower chakras and your body in order to ground yourself. To do this, begin to tone a midrange “AH” sound three times, bringing the energy first to the heart chakra. Then, after three slow breaths, tone three of the deepest “UH” sounds, bringing the energy back into the first chakra to completely ground yourself.

The importance of silence and meditation

This entire exercise can take approximately a half hour — sometimes an hour if you’re having a particularly good meditation. It’s extremely transformational, both during the toning, when you’re resonating your chakras, and especially afterward while you’re in silence. Many people have related that they’ve experienced their most profound inner journeys and meditations from this exercise. In workshops, participants are often in states of bliss during the meditation and frequently following it as well. This exercise truly allows you to experience an introduction to the transformational power of sound.

The power and safety of sound

Sound can act like a psychoactive substance, altering and enhancing consciousness. The extraordinary thing about it is that not only is it entirely natural, but it’s totally controllable and totally safe. The experiences that people have are benevolent, blissful and beautiful. This is the wonder of self-created sacred sound — you’re responsible for the creation of it, and wherever you go or whatever you do, it’s completely natural and well within your control. If you need to stop the experience, all you have to do is open your eyes and take a few breaths and you’re back. I can honestly report that out of the tens of thousands of people I’ve worked with using sacred sound, there have never been any adverse effects. During workshops, the only complaint I’ve received from people is that they’ve been brought back and been grounded too soon after the experience — they were having too much fun! I assure them that they can always return to wherever they were simply by continuing to practice this exercise.

Here are a few reminders when you do this exercise (especially the first time):

• Allow yourself enough time to really enjoy the benefits that accompany this toning practice.

• Only do this in a safe environment where you won’t be disturbed, sitting in a comfortable chair or perhaps on the floor. (Never do this exercise in a car or standing up.)

• Allow yourself time after the meditation to relax and fully integrate the experience once you’ve grounded yourself. Don’t come back from the meditation at the end, open your eyes, and immediately rush to pick up the kids at school or go into that business meeting. Honor this exercise, the power of sound, and the experience you’ve just had.

Practice and integration

Once again, be sure to give yourself plenty of time. If you’ve had any difficulty feeling the resonance of the vowel sounds in your body and your chakras, know that the more you practice this exercise, the more you’ll understand how powerful it is, and how to incorporate it into your life. The more you work with sound in this manner, the easier it will be to experience the power of your own self-created sounds. Like any other sort of exercise, it may take some time to become comfortable with it and to fully integrate it into your physical and subtle bodies. The more you do it, the more effective it will ultimately become.

an exerpt from 'The Divine Name' by Jonathan Goldman
article found on GAIAM website

Sun Salutations

Surya Namaskara = salute to the sun



This sequence of movements and poses can be practiced on many different levels.



1. Mountain Pose or Prayer Pose (Tadasana) exhale

2. raised arms pose (Urdhva Hastasana) with back bend inhale

3. Standing Forward Bend (Utanasana) to Flat Back exhale

4. Lunge (aekpaadprasarnaasana) inhale

5. Plank pose exhale

6. Salute to the Eight Limbs pose (Ashtanga Namaskara or Chaturanga Dandasana) or stick

7. Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana) or Upward Facing Dog (Urdhva Muhka Svanasana) inhale

8. Downward-Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana) exhale

9. Lunge inhale

10. Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana) exhale

11. raised arms pose with back bend inhale

12. Mountain or Prayer Pose exhale

There are several variations of the sun salutations. Depending on when you are doing it, and how advanced you are, and how much time you want to spend.
The idea is to flow from pose to pose in a continuous motion, using your breath for each change of pose.

You can add or subtract various poses into the salutation, as you like. You can also chant mantras while performing these asanas, if you choose. You can affiliate them with the chakras as you focus on each pose.

3rd eye meditation

Imagine what your life would have been like if you had kept your eyelids shut for your entire lifetime. Your eyes would have worked perfectly and yet your sense of vision would have gone to waste. Similarly, not using your 3rd eye is keeping you in the dark in relation to enjoying the wonders and wisdom of your sense of mystic sight.

Every one of us had our 3rd eye fully open when we were babies. We were effortlessly able to witness the glory of the universe from its subatomic nature to its multi-galactic infiniteness. Through conditioning by our parents, teachers, and peers, we started a process of covering our 3rd eye with layer after layer of illusion. As an example, let's imagine that at one month of age we were laying in our crib looking at the paisley patterned dance of energy that life is. Our mommy stuck a stuffed doll in front of our face and said, "Look at the piggy, look at the piggy." We then started the process of recognizing that particular shape and associating it with the label "pig". We also might have been introduced to the concepts of color, texture, size, and other things. "Baby, look at how pink and fuzzy the nice little piggy doll is." And this began our habit of replacing direct perception of reality with a perceiving, labeling, reacting physically, emotionally, and mentally process. And we went further and further away from an unfiltered pure experience of living life as it takes place. As we aged, we also added a thought analyzing method of judging, comparing, and commenting on every thing our senses brought our attention to, and we got less and less in touch with Now.

The result of this process is similar to putting shutters on a window. No light comes through and those within can only imagine what is on the other side of the shutters. Unfortunately, this really leaves us in the dark about what is real and what life is really about. Just as you can't adequately describe an orange to anyone who has never seen the color orange, or has not tasted one, you cannot understand what a 3rd eye vision is like from reading about it, or hearing it described by someone who has them. You will have to experience it first hand. So, the experience of divine perception, astral sight, aura awareness, mystic vision, or whatever other esoteric label you put on it, will remain only a theory until a way is found to actually open the 3rd eye.

Every time you sit in meditation and do the 3rd eye technique, you remove one of the shutters covering your inner window of wisdom. It is often compared to peeling away layers of skin from an onion. This continues until there is nothing left. And in this No-thing, there is everything. And we return to the pure direct perception of the glory and wonders of the universe we beheld as a baby. But now, we have the understanding that only comes with maturity.

The 3rd Eye Meditation Technique

To begin, place yourself in the place and position that you have found to be most advantageous to meditation. Relax your mind, body, and emotions. Command your mind to cease its chatter, your emotions to stay in a serene mode, and your body to not disturb your meditation in any way. Focus your attention to the sound and feeling of your breath coming in and going out. Return to your breath awareness if you witness that you have lost your focus. At no time during your meditation should you chastise yourself about anything. So, for example, if you lose your attention and then realize this, just accept it without commenting. Return your attention to your breath and then continue with your meditation.

Close your eyes. Place your attention on the area between your eyebrows. After a short time, a point of light will present itself in the center of your inner field of vision. Keep your focus there. For some people, it will be beneficial to raise your eyeballs as if you were looking up at about a 25-degree angle. For others, just directing their attention upwards will be easier and less distracting. After some experimentation, go with one of the ways exclusively. In the beginning of 3rd eye practice, it may help to place your thumb at the outer edge of one eye and your middle finger on the outer edge of the other, while placing your index finger at the mid-point between your eyebrows. This gives you a point of focus to place your attention. It also allows you to prevent your eyelids from fluttering. This commonly occurs, and can be distracting until you get used to the sensations that accompany this technique.

Let the light come to you. Be available to be filled. The more you continue practicing this meditation, the more layers of the veil of illusion will peel away and Reality will reveal itself to you. As you perceive the Truth, your understanding of the delusional concept that you are apart from the rest of the universe will lose its grip on you, and the knowledge that you are a part of all and everything will become undeniably apparent. Your chattering mind will eventually dissolve in the unspeakable transcendent light of love that is now and forever within and without you.

Once you stop being locked into viewing reality from just one perspective, you will start to be free from habitual reactivity. 3rd eye experiences put you in that position. You will recognize that nothing more than a show has been playing out before you in what you considered "real life". And, just like when you are at the theater, you may be interested to some degree with seeing how the plot turns out, but knowing that it is all just a story, you won't take it any more seriously than a show. The constant anxiety and fear that is attached to a singular ego centered view of life will end and be replaced with the bliss of effortlessly merging and identifying with all of creation.

Once a chick has pecked its way out of its shell, it knows that there is a lot more to life than was within its dark confines. Mother Nature, Grace, then gives the chick strong wings that let it fly to the heavens. The 3rd eye meditation technique has the potential to be the beak you use to break out of your shell, as well as the wings to transport you to the infinite, eternal, universal divine reality that is your birthright.

- information from 'cosmic consciousness'

I love Chakras

The Chakras represent the seven primary energy hubs in the body. Life force energy is constantly flowing in and out of these centers. Just as the cosmos is constantly changing, so too are the levels of energy absorbed and radiated by our Chakra centers.

Sahasrara The crown chakra represents energies associated with cosmic consciousness, spirituality, knowledge, wisdom and inner peace.

Anja The Third Eye Chakra represents energies focused on both physical and spiritual vision. Psychic powers resonate from the Anja Chakra, as well as you image of the Cosmos as a whole (the big picture and the many nuances that make your journey unique.)

Vishuddha Throat Chakra is the energy center associated with communication and creativity. Your energy to express yourself verbally and creatively are derived from this Chakra.

Anahata The Heart Chakra's energy is concentrated on issues concerning your emotions. This energy fuels your power to love, feel compassion and maintain balance between disparate aspects of your being.

Manipura The Power Chakra provides the energy that fuels our strength of will, individuality and sense of self-worth.

Svadhisthana The Spleen or Sacral Chakra supplies the energy we use emotionally and sexually. This is the energy used to connect to others.

Muladhara The Root or Base Chakra furnished the energy used to create and maintain our foundation. This is the energy that keeps us on firm ground and provides us with the basic skills to uphold a place in the world.