If you are in or around Sherman Oaks, join our RESTORATIVE YOGA CLASSES every Monday and Wednesday from 2 pm - 3:15 pm. Relax, Restore, Release Deeply Held Stress. Call our office for more information and directions at 818-915-1220.
If you are in or around Sherman Oaks, join our RESTORATIVE YOGA CLASSES every Monday and Wednesday from 2 pm - 3:15 pm. Relax, Restore, Release Deeply Held Stress. Call our office for more information and directions at 818-915-1220.
by Laurie Mazzarella
Ever wondered what a chakra is? You have probably seen the chakra charts with their different colors represented up the body. Chakras are not physical, yet the chakras interact with the physical. They are not emotional or mental, but the chakras interact with each of these realms. Chakras are best described as energy centers or, even, centers of consciousness. They are often described as spinning wheels that interact with the life force energy from within and from outside of us.
All chakras working together in harmony afford a person an ascending level of consciousness. If there are disharmonies in any of the chakras, there will be blocks to higher levels of thought and healing. One of the best ways to determine whether there are blockages is to examine our thoughts which often manifest in physical or mental ailments or dysfunctions. We are what we think. And, this is demonstrated in the harmony or disharmony of the chakras as manifested in our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual life.
While most people focus on the seven that run vertically up the body, there are many smaller, more precisely tuned chakras in the body totaling about 1,000. Our chakras reflect our thoughts, feelings and emotions. They can be open or closed; they can be spinning fast or slow.
The seven chakras running up the center of the body are identified by a frequency with each chakra corresponding to a different frequency. There are colors, sounds, attitudes, gemstones, essence oils and even foods that vibrate to their corresponding chakra. For example, the 5th, or throat, chakra vibrates at 384Hz. Since the 5th chakra deals with, among other things, truth, anything that resonates with this frequency, will influence this area and affect our personal truth.
One of the best ways to balance the chakra frequencies is through meditation. By focusing on a particular sound or mantra, we affect the chakra that vibrates at the same frequency as the sound or mantra. Creative visualization is another tool to adjust an out of balance chakra. For example, the 6TH chakra is associated with imagination and inspired communication. Practicing creative visualization strengthens the 6th chakra like working out in a gym does for your muscles. Also, visualizing corresponding colors and chakras will strengthen the chakra that you are dealing with. Using affirmations that relate to a particular chakra can also help the chakras to spin at their proper frequency. Movement can also open the chakras. For example, there are different yoga poses for each chakra that help to clear blocked energies. Breathing, or pranayama, is useful with meditation in bringing the chakras into balance.
Chakras close down or slow down when we have blocks in our thoughts and attitudes about whatever the particular chakra represents. In this case, the above tools can be used to help open or speed up the chakra energy center. When a chakra is out of balance, the Chi, or life force of a person vibrates below the appropriate frequency of that chakra. This can manifest as physical illness, mental dysfunctions, emotional disruptions or spiritual difficulties. The area or areas of your life that you think are not functioning well, whether they are physical, mental, emotional or spiritual usually points to chakra imbalances in the corresponding chakra. For instance, if you have an overactive 2nd chakra, you may manifest this with poor personal boundaries, guilt, lower back problems or, even kidney problems.
Like any type of growth in life, chakras can be balanced at one point in your life and then become unbalanced if you have any crisis, trauma or experience where you need to change an attitude, lifestyle factor or dispel a fear. Following is a brief explanation of each chakra and it’s corresponding associations.
First Chakra
Location – at the base of the spine
Sanskrit - muladhara
Associations – food and shelter, survival, safety, connectedness, tribal groups
Organs – reproductive, immune system, skeleton, bone marrow, endocrine gland: adrenal medulla
Element – earth
Color – red
Imbalance – chronic fear, paranoia, suspicion of the world, sciatica, depression, immune disorders, HIV, chronic fatigue, alienation
Balances – grounded, relation to earth, connectedness, belonging
Movement/Asana/Healing – warrior poses, mountain poses
Second Chakra
“Don’t get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water” Bruce Lee
Location: 1” below navel
Sanskrit: Svadhisthana (dwelling place of the SELF)
Associations: creativity, procreation, emotional, sensual, money, passions, desires
Organs: reproductive, bodily fluids (blood, urine, tears), hips, sacrum, kidneys
Element: water; that flows and changes
Color: orange
Sense: feeling
Imbalances: fear of pleasure, out of touch with feelings, resistance to change, overly emotional, sexual addictions, poor boundaries, blame, guilt, money issues, constant entertaining, clairsentience
Healing: Being near water; being near the arts; getting involved in the arts. Affirmation: “I am a money magnet and I attract abundance and prosperity into my life”.
Balances: creativity, money, change, able to flow and change without issue
Movement: pelvic rolls and circles, moving bridge, supported bridge, cobra
Third Chakra
Location: solar plexus
Sanskrit: manipura
Associations: self esteem, responsibility, personal power, self worth
Organs: liver, stomach, pancreas, gallbladder, intestinal tract
Element: fire
Color: yellow
Imbalances: power issues in jobs and family, recurrent ulcers, indigestion, heart burn, abdominal distress
Balances: healthy self esteem, dignity, respect, appreciation, belonging
Movement/Asanas/Healing: Abdominal exercises, plank, table top with alternate leg/arm extensions
Fourth Chakra
Location: center of the chest
Sanskrit: anahata
Associations: expansion of energy, unconditional love, giving and receiving love
Organs: thymus gland, heart, lungs
Element: air
Color: green
Imbalances: smothering, manipulative, excess guilt, easily hurt, depressed immune system, emotionally shut down, depression, withdrawn
Balances: compassion, healing energy for self and others, intuitive, empathetic, physically healthy
Movement/Asana/Healing: camel, bridge, savasana
Fifth Chakra
“Truth resides in every human heart, and one has to search for it there and to be guided by truth as one sees it. But, no one has a right to coerce others to act according to his own view of truth.” Mahatma Gandhi
Location: Middle of the throat
Sanskrit: Vishuddha (1st chakra to focus on the spiritual)
Associations: faith, understanding, higher communication, speaking, hearing & listening, inspired communication, the poet, teach
Organs: thyroid, parathyroid, jaw, neck, mouth, throat, tongue, larynx
Element: ether/space (cosmos)
Color: sky blue
Sense: hearing, taste
Imbalances: neck and shoulders, jaw, throat, thyroid, fear of speaking, lack of authority, hearing problems, inability to listen, excessive talking, overactive thyroid, jealously, addictions, scoliosis, gum & teeth problems
Balances: able to discern truth vs lies, able to speak truth, able to speak up for needs, surrender to higher power, self expression, higher communication
Movement/Asana/Healing: neck stretches, plow, lion, inclined bound angle, chanting, singing, speaking, reading aloud (all affect cellular level)
Sixth Chakra
“To see a thing clearly in the mind makes it begin to take form.” Henry Ford
“We are what we think, all that we are, arises within our thought, With our thoughts we make the world”. Buddha
Location: Center of the head in line with the brows
Sanskrit: Ajna – beyond wisdom or the perception center
Associations: center for clairvoyance, seeing your own truth, seeing energy, “bigger picture”, gain wisdom, see archetypically and symbolically, intuition, imagination
Organs: pituitary gland, eyes, head, lower brain
Corresponds to: “knowing”
Color: Indigo (bluish purple)
Imbalances: sinus trouble, headaches, living in your head, out of touch with intuition, judgmental thinking, criticism, hallucinations, difficulty in concentration, eye problems
Balances: “seeing things clearly”
Movement/Yoga/Healing: supported forward fold, eye exercises, shoulder stand, legs on the wall with rolls up and down, alternate nostril breath
Seventh Chakra
Location: at the crown of the head
Sanskrit: Sahasrara
Associations: spirituality, oneness, harmony, guidance, wisdom
Organs: cerebral cortex, central nervous system, pineal gland, muscular and skeletal systems, skin
Element: Thought
Color: Violet
Imbalances: depression, scattered, genetic disorders, bone cancer, multiple sclerosis
Balances: higher consciousness, enlightenment
Movement/Asanas/Healing: mountain pose, tree pose, headstand, head massage
Meditation: “NG” sound, then get into Oneness, Harmony, Wisdom
This is just an overview of the seven main chakras. Keeping the chakras balanced means health in mind, body and spirit. It is also ongoing if you are to maintain the balance.
Namaste
A couple of years ago, I had the opportunity to read a wonderful book by physician assistant and author, Blair Lewis. I had been thinking, searching and writing a lot about what happiness means to me and how I measure my happiness factor. Blair Lewis’ book, “Happiness the Real Medicine and How It Works” captured the essence of my search. He writes about how “happiness is our inherent nature”. It is inside each and every one of us! What then, keeps us from experiencing it fully?
Many of us search for happiness passionately. As a species, we invest a lot of time and money seeking it out. Whether we call it bliss, enlightenment or joy, we all want it, and we want more of it. Mr. Lewis’ book enlightens us to specific traits that happy people have. He also informs us of what specific blocks most of us have to experiencing these traits. Blair Lewis goes further by giving us specific natural tools that can help assist us through our blocks to happiness.
Blair Lewis takes us through his own journey towards happiness and shares a path that I expect most of us can personally relate to. Through his account, I was able to give structure to my own search. Additionally, since Mr. Lewis is a medical professional, he highlights the importance of happiness and its effect on the physical as well as mental and spiritual level. Holistic happiness! How much better does it get?
If you are interested in pursuing happiness or are wondering if you are happy at all, please read Blair Lewis’ book. It is inspiring, insightful and is sure to increase your happiness factor. If you know someone else who needs a little lightening up around this time of year, turn them on.
Start enjoying the light of the season. Look at the holiday lights. Enjoy the inspiration they bring and read this book. It will lighten up your search for true happiness.
Happy Holidays!
by Laurie Mazzarella
Please note price change.
If you are serious about growing your business, join us this Sunday, October 17, at 1 pm - 4 pm. It will be an investment in yourself and your business. Can you afford not to be there?
If you are in the Los Angeles area and are an independent yoga and/or other fitness instructor, you might be interested in my upcoming workshop, Intuitive Business Basics, where I will be discussing creative ways to build a foundation for your business. We will explore ways to breakdown old mindsets about business as we generate personal Mantra Statements; some people still call it a Mission Statement. We will write a Vision Plan, or Business Plan. We will determine our niche market a and come up with out of the box ways to market. And, of course, there will be much, much more. It will be fun!
This workshop is scheduled for Sunday, October 17, 2010 from 1 - 4 PM. Cost of the workshop is $60 in advance or $65 at the door. It will be held at Golden Monkey Healing, 13259 Moorpark St., Sherman Oaks, CA 91423. Call 818-915-1220 or emai:l Lauriemazz@yahoo.com
$60 in advance and $65 at the door.
by Laurie Mazzarella
Please note price change.
If you are in the Los Angeles area and are an independent yoga and/or other fitness instructor, you might be interested in my upcoming workshop, Intuitive Business Basics, where I will be discussing creative ways to build a foundation for your business. We will explore ways to breakdown old mindsets about business as we generate personal Mantra Statements; some people still call it a Mission Statement. We will write a Vision Plan, or Business Plan. We will determine our niche market a and come up with out of the box ways to market. And, of course, there will be much, much more. It will be fun!
This workshop is scheduled for Sunday, October 17, 2010 from 1 - 4 PM. Cost of the workshop is $60 in advance or $65 at the door. It will be held in the San Fernando Valley. I will have the exact location in a couple of days.
However, I want more. I want the deep peace I feel when I am in the quiet of a forest. It’s there that I can actually “feel” the trees as if they are embracing me. I feel connected. I experience the rhythms of the natural flow of nature. It is healing. It is deeply healing for me.
Is this something that you feel? Are you more joyful, content and whole when you are in nature? Or, is this just my experience? I decided to do a bit of research on nature and healing, and here is a bit of what I discovered.
In her article, "Nature’s Healing Effects on Your Body and Your Mind", Jennifer Edwards writes about forest environments being advantageous to acute emotions, in particular, chronic stress. She makes reference to a Japanese study that was released by the University of Kyoto and published in Public Health. This study talks about shrinrin-yoku, or forest air bathing and walking as methods that reduce stress. In light of this, Ms. Edwards, writes that the study points to the forest as a therapeutic landscape. Additionally, Ms. Edwards relays that after 911 there was a gut instinct to connect with nature and heal as was evidenced by the record number of New Yorkers who sought refuge in parks and botanical gardens.
Another author, Singh Vineet, wrote an article for Ezine, the online magazine. The article entitled, "Effects of Nature on Our Mental Health", made note of how currently there are hospital therapy gardens and wilderness trips for various populations suggesting that when we are connecting with nature we heal. Also, this suggests that we have become urban creatures and that we are disconnected from nature. Vineet’s article further conveys that research from Netherland and Japan found that people living closer to the green of nature lived longer and enjoyed a healthier life. And, further, according to this article, a leading researcher in the area of nature and healing, Roger Ulrich, discovered those people recovering from surgery who had a view of nature from their hospital beds recovered more quickly than the ones who did not have a view of nature. All of this makes sense to me!
I know that the forest or a lush park imparts a feeling of peace and wholeness to me. It is as if I become so aware of being part of the rhythm of nature I lose my “stressed” self to a bigger picture. I am not separated from the broader view and flow of nature. I am undeniably an integral part of it, and I feel the unity. I am nourished and comforted. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter how I explain it or what anyone else calls it, I like it. I crave it. I want to flow with it.
Now, I’d better get myself into it!by Laurie Mazzarella
I think I hear this remark more than any other when I tell people I am a yoga instructor. My answer, from now on, is going to be telling the story of my first yoga teacher back in the 70's. She told those of us in her class that her first teacher was in a wheelchair. More than just about anything I have heard since, this drives home that yoga is not just about being flexible in body. It is about connecting intimately to your body and mind. It is honoring the wisdom of your own body and not thinking you should look, in a yoga asana or not, like the person in front of the class or next to you. Yoga is connecting with yourself. As the story of the yoga teacher in the wheelchair demonstrates, yoga is not only something practiced by the movement of the body, but is just as much a movement and connection with the mind. Maybe it is more important to say that flexibility of the mind will help you practice yoga.
When I first started yoga, there was less emphasis on the asanas, or poses. My first classes took place in a darkened upper hall at a small church in Venice Beach. We not only did yoga asanas, we chanted, meditated and focused on breath, or pranayama. We went to class for the inner connection with hopes of further acknowledging the connection to something much larger than ourselves. We did this whether we were able to do a perfect full shoulder stand, forward fold or fish pose. We moved in a darkened room without music in hopes of increasing our awareness of ourselves. Sometimes I miss this kind of yoga class where the emphasis was on going inward. I think they were less intimidating than the way we have class a lot of times now.
So, remember the story of the yoga teacher in a wheelchair the next time you think you are not flexible enough to do yoga. I believe almost anyone who wants to practice yoga can practice yoga. There are many variations and adaptations to the physical poses just as there are to the mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of yoga. Flexibility helps, but maybe flexibility of our mind is more important than flexibility of the body.
by Laurie Mazzarella
Letting Go and Moving On to New Opportunities
My heart has been heavy lately. I have let go of a lot of things in the past several years of my life. I continue to go through the grieving process, and I move forward. After the tears, the acceptance, the hope in my new situation, I am beginning to see new growth. But, it has been a painful ride getting here. By sharing my story of letting go, moving on and embracing change, I hope to inspire those of you who are going through loss (and thus change) whether it be job loss, marriage break up, foreclosure or anything that has forced you through painful change.
I am teaching a class every Wednesday afternoon from 2 pm - 3:15 pm for people with fibromyalgia, chronic pain, active seniors or anyone seeking a gentle-flow yoga class.
We will meet at Golden Monkey Healing located at 13259 Moorpark (just east of Fulton), Sherman Oaks, CA 91423. Class is by donation with a suggested minimum of $5. Contact me for further information or to register at Lauriemazz@yahoo.com.
See you there!
Spiritual pioneering and exploring life's endless possibilities
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