Downward Facing Blog

Hello again, sorry for the long absence… was in Europe teaching yoga for a month! I think I forgot how to write in the absence

In case you’re around, I am doing a meditation on Sundays at 1PM, material I have not taught previously.Since the Sunday afternoon mantra meditations are only thirty minutes, and there is so much background material to discuss, I want to fill in the blanks about this.

Firstly, a student just came to me and said she was hesitating to come because she doesn’t know how to manage a block inside her energy body, that something feels stuck around the heart.

This terminology may be familiar to those who do pranayama and meditation, with the goal of pulling energy up the spine. I too used to feel a block along the central channel that I couldn’t seem to resolve through any amount of meditation or mantras. Finally one significant  day in my life about two years ago, when I got to heal a relationship with my mother, I felt the energy start to flow upwards with ease. So, the chakras and the energy body also hold obstructions in them which mirror those in the mind.

I also believe that the opportunity to meet my Mom and go through that process may have only come about through the work I had made on myself in the years prior. So, in other words, meditating in this way may have elevated me to the point that my psyche was ready to have the experience.

So when that student complained of a block in the energy body, I just told her to come, and chant, as this process itself shakes up the held patterns of energy and reshapes them to their higher possibility.

Each of the seven chakras locations, and their basic attributes of color, element, and psychological  associations should be memorized by every yoga practitioner. There are a lot of books on that subject so I won’t go into that here.

The chakras are visualized and struck with the sound of the bija mantra in order from the base of the tailbone upwards to the top of the head.

1. Root chakra - mantra “KREEM” - this mantra is the sound which creates electricity and transformation. It is the seed sound for the goddess Kal

i, who is the personification of Kundalini, hence placing this mantra at the tailbone stimulates this higher, transformative prana to activate. Kali is TIME and rules over the dissolution of matter back to energy (death) as well as the destruction of illusion. When chanted at the root chakra, this mantra also helps us to understand what true security is- inside the Self!
OM KREEM KALIKAYE NAMAHA!

2. Sex chakra - mantra “KLEEM” - this mantra is sticky, in that it holds things in it’s place, and attracts to itself.  It is the energy of attraction, beauty, creativity, and love. Connected with the Goddess Tripura Sundari who, symbolizing a pacified crown chakra grants us the experience of beauty and truth from within. It can also be used for Lord Krishna, and any deity or thing we wish to pull towards us. As the sex chakra is concerned with creativity and love, awakening the higher side of this chakra with this mantra, we become a source of love and creativity, without the need to manipulate others to satisfy us. OM KLEEM SUNDARYE NAMAHA!

3. Navel chakra - mantra “HOOM” or “DOOM” as you can hear, these two mantras both employ the long U sound, which has a similar effect of protection. Chant HOOM, with a short U sound, emphasizing the exhale and you will feel the navel contract, this is where the navel chakra is. HOOM is specific for Agni, or FIRE. DOOM is specific for the goddess Durga who is sought for protection. These mantras increase intensity and heat, which is a good thing especially for the digestive strength. The higher notion of this chakras meaning of power is the expression of a quiet power that does not need violence to attain it’s ends. Instead, true power is when all things are given freely to us without request or struggle.
OM HOOM AGNIYE SWAHA!

4. Heart chakra - mantra “HREEM” - This mantra is like OM but for the Goddess, and connects you magically at a heart level  to the Supreme, or, any other deity or thing we wish to get closer to. This is one of the most important mantras and has positive effects upon the physical heart as well as the energetic heart. The higher aspect of the heart chakra is to let the expression of love become unconditional and the direct perception of the air element.

OM HREEM MAHADEVYE NAMAHA!

5.  Throat chakra - mantra “AYM” (like AIIIIM) - chant this mantra for wisdom, higher learning, teaching ability, and the gift of convincing speech. Connected with the Goddess Saraswati, this mantra is the most important mantra after OM.

OM AYM SARASWATYE  NAMAHA!

6. Third eye - mantra “SHREEM” - I never tire lately of talking about SOMA, and the soma chakra at the back of the head. The mantra SHREEM brings about beauty, devotion, abundance, softness, and can be used to take refuge in whatever deity we choose. SHREEM is connected to the goddess Lakshmi, who’s two lower arms dispense tangible wealth, and who’s two upper arms hold lotuses, the abundance in spirit, the SOMA we yogis are seeking. 
OM SHREEM MAHALAKSHMIYE NAMAHA!

7. Crown chakra - mantra “OM” - liberation, going beyond all form. When you chant OM, bring your mind to stillness after the sound has finished, which takes your mind to the pure stillness within.

Chant each of these in order, drawing your mind to each chakra, striking the chakra with the mantra:

KREEM
KLEEM
HUM
HREEM
AYM
SHREEM
OM!

As your concentration gets better, think of each goddess at each chakra and dissolve the chakras into each other until they dissolve at the crown. So, you can dissolve earth into water (root chakra to sex chakra), water into fire, fire into air, air into space, space into mind, and mind into the cosmic.

I love this meditation, and find it very powerful. Come join me to practice each Sunday in May at 1PM!

Much love, Adrian