Chakras always fascinated me. First described in Hindu tradition, they associate parts of the body with aspects of our lives, visualized as colorful “energy centers” running along the spine.
For example, the first chakra (Root Chakra) sits at the base of the spine and is associated with survival, money, health, and feeling secure in this world. People usually think of the Root Chakra as being red. After you move up five more chakras, you arrive at a violet-colored one, the seventh and final, known as the Crown Chakra. This chakra enables us to feel a sense of higher purpose and oneness with the universe.
As someone who is very imaginative-prone and who tends to live in my head, chakras help me connect with my body. The very thought of them lets me explore esoteric ideas and focus on my physical being at the same time! While chakras are not scientifically proven, many of their features match up with common sense (such as the Heart Chakra being about love and compassion). You may find them an amazing meditation and self-exploration tool, no matter what your beliefs.
There are many systems out there for balancing your chakras—everything from crystal kits, to guided meditations galore. A chakra quiz can even point to which of your energy centers may be needing attention. What I hope to encourage is that, once you’ve familiarized yourself with chakras, you can explore them independently using your own creativity and intuition. As for me, I’ve been using chakra-themed days of the week to live colorfully! Here’s how.
My first attempt at Chakra Week was an incomplete, but I learned something important
Back in January, I was inspired to do a 7-day challenge. Each day, I tried to stay aware of my “chakra of the day” and to do things that would celebrate and strengthen that particular chakra.
I took it quite seriously, preparing seven pieces of colored paper that I could carry with me in my pocket during the day, in order to write down all the exciting chakra-themed things that happened. I even tried to coordinate my outfits and meals to go along with the chakra colors. Starting off full of energy for Root Chakra Monday, I donned my blood-red blouse and did a cleaning spree of the house. That night, I decided to sleep on the floor so I could feel more connected to the earth. Then on Sacral Chakra Tuesday, I wore my orange beanie cap to breakfast and made myself some homemade vegan carrot cake ice cream! Playful, right?
The chakra theme sprinkled my week with a sense of wonder, and magic. However, as the week wore on, I got tired and derailed and I was having one of my mental health dumps. By Sunday, I completely forgot or gave up on the challenge.
Being hard on myself is something I struggle with. I felt like I had failed the chakra experiment, and like I was a silly woo-woo Phoenix for thinking this would help me. Yet later, I reminded myself of how much fun I had had during those first couple of days. I created special moments and discoveries. Those were accomplishments in and of themselves, even if not every week of my wellness journey is a linear uphill path.
If I learned just one big thing from Chakra Week #1, I learned that if you intend for your day to have a theme, it will! Freaky coincidences occurred. For instance, on Root Chakra Monday my parents had randomly put out a circular red placement on the table, which is normally never there. This is significant as chakras are “wheels of energy” (circles) and the Root one is red.
Devoting a day of the week to a given chakra is just one way you can prime yourself to have a more unique, memorable day.
I recently gave Chakra Week another whirl, and I enjoyed it even more this time
Fast forward eight months later, and my enthusiasm for the chakras had returned. To kick off September, I got out my old chakra papers (which still had plenty of room to reuse them), and I repeated Chakra Week all over again.
This time, I was more relaxed. I didn’t try to coordinate colors. I even allowed myself to take an extra day on one of the chakras, so it ended up being an 8-day challenge instead of being done in only seven. However, the one thing I was more disciplined about this time was daily chakra-themed meditations!
My experience was so cool, I can’t help but list them all. The meditations were about eight minutes in length to suit my short attention span. Since I have an active imagination, my initial idea for a meditation often took me somewhere completely unexpected by the end!
- Root Chakra Day – I stood holding a plant, and I visualized roots growing beneath my feet. My roots ended up traveling all the way to where my friends would have been standing in Denmark, Australia, and Argentina, and our roots collided. Thinking of the show Sense8, I fancied how sweet it would be if we could share our knowledge and skills this way?
- Sacral Chakra Day – I imagined bathing in a “Pool of Creativity.” I observed all the happy people playing, splashing around, and expressing themselves. After a minute or so, I was inspired to change locations into my own private hot tub, where I met my future boyfriend. (Dang it, I am such a hopeless romantic during meditation… but this time I have an excuse because the Sacral Chakra relates to sexuality.)
- Power Chakra Day – Breathing into my solar plexus, with one hand there and another on my heart, I imagined it shining like a sun in many directions. I visualized the places my “power of love” would shine throughout the coming day, and all it would accomplish.
- Heart Chakra Day – I lied flat and asked myself, “How does my heart feel?” I breathed through many rounds of answers and became aware of a whole host of complexities I was feeling! I described this meditation in more detail here.
- Throat Chakra Day – Hand on chest and hand on neck, I imagined my heart sending healing energy up into my throat. This led to a broader visualization where I imagined the whole world being healed.
- Third Eye Chakra Days – First, I did a listening meditation (observing sounds). On the second day, I imagined I was floating above Hogwarts and able to see everything that went on. (Nice outfit, Professor Trelawney.)
- Crown Chakra Day – I gazed in the mirror, fixating on the spot right above the top of my head, and I pictured that Crown Chakra shining bright.
I even did one more meditation the day after, where I visualized each chakra cleansing itself and expanding outwards, several times from bottom to top until I felt complete.
The meditations were lovely pick-me-ups that seemed to make each day of the week at least 10% better than it otherwise would have been. Nothing earth-shattering came to pass, but I did have a good time helping my grandma get settled into her new place. I also appeared on my first-ever podcast!
It is so great to have this spiritual rainbow up my spine as an ally in my personal growth quests. I enjoy how it feels to forget about chakras for a while, and then come back to them and have a fresh experience. In due course, I’ll break out my seven colorful pieces of paper once more! Next time, my goal is to look back on them as soon as the week is over so I can immediately review how everything went, and smile.
Hopefully this report helps you think about what you could do to add a little pizzazz, vibrance, and inventiveness to your wellness adventures. Much love!
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Photo: Eberhard Grossgasteiger via Unsplash
