Let’s talk about energy, chakras, healing & yoga

As a homeopath and reiki master teacher I have worked with the chakra system for over twenty years. I am intently interested in the spiritual part of us, that which affects the human spirit and soul as opposed to purely the material and physical things. 

Whilst practising reiki, it is usual to focus on the main chakras in and around the body and to work on balancing the energies for the highest good of the recipient. Ultimately all of the chakras become fused into one column. It is part of the illusion of separation for them to be working at different speeds and frequencies. 

As a homeopath it is common for a patient to be discussing a concern or problem that they have and I will see the connection to a particular system or organ in the body as well as the chakra it relates to. For example emotions of anger, bitterness and resentment relate to the liver and the solar plexus chakra whereas emotions of grief are held in the lungs and the heart chakra. 

I will then consider prescribing remedies that relate to the individual’s symptoms, those particular organs and also to the chakra.  The remedies bring flow back into the body, allowing the emotions to be processed and enabling the patient to move on from the place of feeling stuck, this allows the physical manifestations to clear.

There are remedies that have been created using the vibration of the colours of the chakras and on occasion I will incorporate these into my homeopathic prescribing also. I have for example used the remedy ‘blue’ to help with a blocked throat chakra and this has enabled the patient to open up, stand in their integrity, speak their truth and to be heard.

Now I realise that this would seem like total madness to some people, how can a colour have a vibration, how can a chakra have a colour, and what even is a chakra anyway?

Personally, I have dipped in and out of yoga for 30 years and so I have always had some knowledge of the chakra system and this has become intertwined with my learning of other healing modalities including reiki and homeopathy. It seems that the more I study the chakra system and how this is such an important part of our body/mind balance and ability to unify our energies in our bodies, the more fascinating the subject becomes.

I appreciate that this is me, I love to deep dive into esoteric learnings and they inspire me to keep on doing what I do, and enable me to help people on a vibrational level. However I also appreciate that there are many who do not find these subjects at all interesting and would just like to come to a yoga class and move their body. 

It reminds me of when I was taught reiki years ago and we had two explanations of how it works. The spiritual people are happy with the explanation of using universal energy and channelling it through you to them, you are a tube, whereas the scientists amongst us would much prefer an explanation the electro magnetic field around our human bodies. A similar approach applied to homeopathy, some patients just love and trust in the magic of it and others want to discuss quantum physics and the memory of molecules. As a practitioner in these modalities it is my job to match my responses to the audience and this is the route I intend taking with yoga teaching and the chakra system, finding the connection. This is something I see as areal challenge as a teacher.

The benefits for me as a yoga teacher, teaching the chakra system is that it brings me back to balance on a personal level and gives me the chance to revisit a concept which is interwoven into my life in numerous ways. It allows me to tune into the energies of the chakra system and to feel the unity of them whilst on the mat, this can be powerful for me and reawaken an awareness that I can take out into my everyday life and continue to work with off the mat.

As someone who likes to think and analyse, it is good to be reminded to think from the heart and to tune into my truths and speak them with integrity. To know that if I am out of balance I may feel it in my solar plexus/gut and tune into that. Or maybe I feel insecure and will know that my base chakra needs some attention and I should wear more red! I might have had an insight as my brow chakra is open and I might feel spiritually connected when doing something else completely like painting or writing. There is an art to allowing yourself to enter into the feelings and sensations and relating them to the chakra system and to stay connected. This is an ongoing practice of self discovery and self development and I do not believe it to be a job we ever get done, we are all work in progress and progress rather than perfection is what we do when practising yoga/life.

There will be students who may have some, or a lot of knowledge about the concept of the chakra system and there will be some who have no knowledge of it whatsoever. So how do I introduce that to a yoga class without upsetting a student, making them leave, or switching them off yoga? Perhaps someone who has religious beliefs or is not spiritually awakened to this concept yet would really dislike this idea being brought into a class. I ask myself, how do I weave this into a class without preaching about the chakras and who am I to preach an idea anyway, is that even my place or am I here to teach shapes and flows. 

So my intention is staying immensely present and trust in the process. Not to worry about the outcome, just remain in the moment, stay present and the outcome will take care of itself. Executing a class and bringing some ideas into a session without even using the word chakra perhaps. Maybe I can use phrases such as open up the front of the body, feel the place where your heart is pushing forwards. Or maybe, if I feel its right, suggest a visualisation of a spinning wheel in the chest, around the heart which is bursting out of the front of the body and also out of the back of the body, like a funnel. I like the use of visualisations and the idea that if the brain is imagining these things then that in itself brings the student into their body more, withdrawing the senses from that which is going on outside (pratyahara) into a place of concentration (dharana), the place before actual meditation (dhayana). Perhaps finding a place one step closer to a state of oneness.

For me, it’s about planting a seed of an idea and seeing how the seed grows. I would suggest that this takes plenty of planning, having some phrases that I can go back to which become part of the vocabulary of the classes I teach and that many hours on the mat will teach me more about how to bring these concepts in.

Perhaps using a reading or a short piece of philosophy on the eight limbs during chavasana could plant a seed, giving the student something to take away and ponder on. 

So the challenges for me teaching the chakra system are to remember that not everyone wants to know about the spiritual journey with yoga and that I have enough self awareness to reel it in at times. I know I want to talk about this so much as it inspires me, but I must learn to read my audience and adjust accordingly.

The challenges for the student are multiple, we are for ever evolving human beings and we are not the same person coming to a yoga class today as we were the last time we did the same class even. No man steps into the same river twice, the river is constantly moving and flowing and so are we. Even the most spiritually aware person may have times when what they want to do is fire up their body, sweat and move. It’s about balance for all, in having the freedom to choose what is right for themselves today, do they need a power flow or would a yin class serve them better.

We learn the chakra system as Patanjali tells us it is a requirement in learning about the eight limbs of yoga, to develop the ability to draw the mind inwards to focus on a sacred object such as a chakra. Personally, this part of the teachings sits well with my own belief system however I appreciate that this will not necessarily be the case for everyone and that this must be considered when teaching a yoga class. Finally, to caveat that, I do believe there are ways to bring these teachings into class on such a subtle level that the unity can begin to take place in the student regardless of the awareness of the chakra system and that they can benefit from these classes in body, mind and soul.