Enchanted pen

“Yoga means addition – addition of energy, strength and beauty to body, mind and soul.” — Amit Ray. Yoga has a lot more meaning than just the movement of the body and breathing. It also includes alignment of the body, clearing the chakras and aligning them, a way to tap your subconscious/spiritual power and so much more. Most people in this generation and day concentrate on the asanas in which only 10% know about the alignment and the chakras of the body. Say why do alignment and chakras matter when it comes to yoga or just your body. Let’s dive into it shall we?

WHAT ARE CHAKRAS AND ALIGNMENT?

Chakra is a Sanskrit word originated from Bharat or what we call India these days. Chakra means wheel or cycle. But why wheels or cycles? How is it connected to our body? Chakras are seen as spinning wheels and cycles of our body through which the life energy flows. Now the question is what happens through this energy which is not visible to our naked eye? So the beliefs of chakras 1000 years ago or maybe even back and came to light around 1500 BCE as a part of buddhist and Hindu traditions and the use of chakras is the knowledge to connect with the life energy in different ways.

1. WHAT IS THE ROLE OF CHAKRAS?

As per the vedic information there are 7 chakras in our body, well the 7 chakras which can easily be located or imagined. According to the vedic shastras or as written in the Upanishads there are more than 7 chakras in our body probably a 100 but since they are not easily accessible and to make it easy the focal point are these 7 chakras which helps you to clear negative energy and let flow the positive ones. 

2. THE 7 CHAKRAS AND THEIR ROLES

• Muladhara- the root chakra based on the base of the spine and can be imagined as the colour Red. By concentrating on this chakra you bring ambition, dependency and stability in your life.
• Svadhisthana- the sacral chakra represented by the colour orange and located below the navel. Focusing on this chakra enhances creativity, gut feeling, self worth, sexuality and adaptability.
• Manipura- the solar plexus chakra is one of the most famous chakras which is located between the rib cage and navel as the colour yellow. This chakra helps you balance digestive problems, liver problems, diabetes and helps cure depression and low self esteem.
• Anahata – the heart chakra located at the middle of the cardiovascular system as the colour green. Practising this chakra helps you bring compassion, love, trust and passion and helps you remove anxiety, fear and jealousy.
• Vishuddha – the throat chakra which is situated in the neck as the colour blue. This chakra helps you bring self expression, communication and confidence.
• Ajna – the third eye chakra found in between the eyebrows and represented by the colour indigo. Also known as one of the most powerful chakras as it helps you with intellect, wisdom and spiritual power. Focusing on the third eye can also help you with meditation and bring you peace.
• Sahasrara- the crown chakra is represented by the colour white or violet. It is used to connect with the higher self, tapping into the subconscious mind, the opening of the crown chakra brings enlightenment or what we call the eternal peace and is also helpful to cure depression, frustration or destructive emotions. 

There are a lot of questions like are you sure this helps? Do chakras even exist? How can you imagine colours? And my answer to that is not everything has to be visible to your naked eye. Yes some things are not easily believable but that doesn’t mean that they don’t exist. The chakras are a usual practice for a yogi and if you put in real efforts and believe or just concentrate on doing it you can find the results.

Which brings us to our following question:

HOW DOES ALIGNMENT WORK WITH ALL OF THIS?

Alignment is something that every person who works out or does yoga should know about. Yoga is not about pushing your body and stretching till it hurts. It’s about staying in the correct posture while breathing, being present and activating every organ in your body. For example let’s take a simple asana like warrior 1 or Virabhadrasana 1. One leg to the front in 90 degrees the back leg at 45 degrees and turning in the front while the front knee is bent, now when you turn staring and bend your knees your goal should be to feel light, no stretch on hips, equal divided weight on both legs to balance without strain and let me tell you if you feel light, you can stay longer. If you can stay longer you can breathe like a turtle and if your breathing and posture is on point you can meditate in any asana. And that’s how alignment plays a role in your body so when you kix chakras and alignment it is basically aligning your body and mind to achieve peace.

There you have it folks. Being busy everyday is a part of life and if working hard is a part then being at peace should be too. It’s not necessary that you try to focus on all the points, even with one you will start something and drop by drop makes an ocean. Let me know if you liked this article in the comments or if there is something else you would like to know about. The previous article links are right below. See you in the next one! Toodeloo! 

https://enchantedpen01.com/2023/11/06/yoga-series-the-impact-of-yoga-on-your-health/

https://enchantedpen01.com/2023/11/20/yoga-series-how-does-breathing-impact-on-your-physical-and-mental-health/