Power of Three

The third chakra, the solar plexus chakra, is also known as the power chakra. It is the house of the personality,  purposefulness, endurance and self-esteem. Yellow is the color of this chakra that is located between the ribcage and the navel. Body parts associated with this chakra are the ovaries and testes/stomach, bladder, circulatory system. Aromatherapy scents: vetvert, bergamot, frankincense. Corresponding crystals are yellow citrine, aventurine, malachite.

A person with a balanced power chakra is outgoing, sociable, confident. Signs of an unbalanced third chakra are aggression, low self-esteem, critical, addictive personality.

The third chakra houses the ego the part of our psychological make-up that causes the most problems and opportunities.  We all need an ego, buy it doesn't necessarily have to be the part that controls everything.  Learning to quiet the voice of the ego, the demands of the "I" can do wonders for your life.

Do it til you're satisfied . . . or don't

And now for the writing portion of the program. I just happened to be tooling around the internet when I found this article from the Romance Writers of Australia on the do's and don'ts of writing paranormal romance. I especially like Nancy Strickland's iceberg analogy of world building.

I'm really trying to build my library of paranormal/fantasy sci fi at the moment, so tell me who are your favorites?  What do you like about these particular authors/stories?

Sexual Healing

Let's turn our attention to the second chakra, often called the sacral or creative chakra.  It sits in the abdomen, about midway between the navel and the pubic bone and is associated with the color orange.  This chakra is related to the reproductive organs, hence the concern with sexuality and creativity (as in the creation of life).  Here we are no longer concerned merely with issues of survival, but also more advanced concerns of sexuality, nurturance and emotion.

The bodily organs associated with the  sacral chakra are the gonads, bladder, prostate womb.  Crystals associated with this chakra are citrine, carnelian, golden topaz and others.  Aromatherapy scents are jasmine and sandalwood.

Someone with a balanced second chakra has a strong sex drive, is energetic,  and able to express power constructively. An unbalanced second chakra can lead to feelings of isolation and a lack of joy in life.

Keep in mind that when we talk about the chakras being balanced, your energy can be blocked temporarily due to a  sudden life event, be blocked for a time during a trying period or it can be a habitual pattern.  For example, if you are going through a divorce, this chakra may be out of whack for a time since your emotions, your sense of connection/isolation and probably your sexuality are involved--but you recover.  However, if you are chronically shy, inhibited, or joyless, the blockage in your chakra is more profound. 

Getting the 411 on the 212

I just posted the latest Carnival of Healing (212)  on my other blog On a Mission from Goddess.  Please stop by and take a look.  Leave me a comment if you are thus inclined.  There are a couple of writing related articles you might like.

Getting to the root of it

The first chakra, the root chakra is also called the base chakra. It is located at the perineum, between the anus and the genitals. Each chakra is depicted as a lotus blossom with varying numbers of leaves.  In this case, the lotus has four leaves with the sanskrit symbol for the chakra at the center.  The base chakra governs and is governed by an individuals feelings about health and fitness, survival, security, prosperity, grounding and stability--all those very basic issues of physical existance.

The parts of the body affiliated with the base chakra are the adrenals, kidneys, skeleton and legs.  Problems in these areas suggest an imbalance in the root chakra.

Aromatherapy scents associated with the root chakra are myrrh, lavender, musk and patchouli.  Crystals (stones) associated with the chakra are hematite, onyx, garnet, ruby, and my favorite, red Jasper.

Remember that chakras are vortexes, meaning they spin, how fast or how well depends on how blocked or free your energy is in this field.  Stagnant energy/imbalance can lead to problems in the physical, emotional and spiritual bodies.  Someone with a balanced root chakra is healthy, energetic, financially secure (regardless of the amount of money they make).  Someone with an unbalanced root chakra is egotistical, greedy, overly sexual, fearful.

One other thing to note about the root chakra is that it is the home of resting kundalini.  Most folks liken kundalini (feminine energy) to a coiled snake  awaiting stimulation to rise through the chakras. Think about sexual arousal:  it starts in the groin, in the genitals and rises often into the belly (or for women, the womb).  Most times it stops there, due to either orgasm or absence of continued stimulation.  However it is possible to have the kundalini continue to rise though the physical body.  That's the point of tantra.  Kundalini can also be stimuulated through breath work, yoga, and chanting the names of the chakras in order.

That's all for today.  Any questions?  Comments?  Have at it.

Energy basics

When we talk about reiki, when we talk about life, we are talking about energy.  This kind of energy is called ki, chi, prana, sekhem and ither names in other cultures.  If you are a Star Wars buff, you make think of it as " the force."

Whatever you call it, each of us humans has an energy body as well as a physical body.  We modern day folks think of this as the aura, but from ancient times most cultures knew of this energy body and had some way of defining the various energy vortexes (chakras) in the body.  For the sake of clarity and my own personal preference we'll work with the Eastern chakra system, since it is also the one most people are most familiar with.

This system describes  seven vortexes seated in the sushunma, a sort of energy spine that runs up the body.  The seven chakras are the root, sacral, solar plexus, heart, throat, third eye and crown.  Each chakra is related to a color, a sound, an organ in the body and a life issue.  The chart below outlines these:

Chakra	issue	color	sound	ruling glands
root	survival	red	LAM	adrenal
sacral	sexuality	orange	VAM	sexual organs
solar plexus	power	yellow	RAM	pancreas
heart	love	green	YAM	thoymus
throat	communication	blue	HAM	thyroid
third eye	intuition	indigo	AUM	pituitary
crown	spirituality	violet or white	AH or AUM	pineal

 

There are, of course, other chakras as well. The palm chakras are activated during a reiki attunement. There are chakras in the soles of the feet as well. The Mouth of God chakra is at the nape of your neck and you feel its activation as the hairs on the back of your neck standing up.

Chakras are affected by both the governing channel (male) that runs down the spine and the creative channel (female, kundalini) that runs up the front of the body.

If all this sounds a little much to take in, don't worry.  I will be devoting the next seven posts to explaining each of these chakras.  Then I will discuss how you can clear your chakras and also how you can use chakras to aid in developing your characters (now you know what this has to do with writing).  Hope you'll stick around for the whole series.  As my grandmother used to say--you might learn something.

Let's start at the very beginning . . .

The first question to answer, I suppose, is what is reiki?  I offer you the definition from my website Healing Hands of Reiki:

     Reiki (pronounced Ray-key) is an ancient hands on healing modality re-discovered by Mikao Usui, that accesses Universal life force energy. It can be used for stress reduction, relaxation and to promote healing and balance.  The word Reiki comes from the Japanese word Rei, which means universal, higher spiritual consciousness, and Ki, which means life force energy. Reiki is spiritually guided life force energy.  Anyone can benefit from Reiki. Anyone can learn Reiki.  Reiki never causes harm and can be used in any situation. It works on all levels–physical, emotional and spiritual.

The ability to channel Reiki energy cannot be learned by studying it. This ability is transferred to the student by the Reiki Master during an attunement process. 
 
What Reiki can do for you

Reiki . . .

• reduces stress
• promotes relaxation
• increases energy
• encourages restful sleep
• relieves aches and pains
• stimulates the immune system
• supports the healing of serious illness

What Reiki is not

• instant healing
• an excuse not to visit the doctor (Reiki works in conjunction with medical or psychological treatment)
• new (or new age) forms of energy work have existed since recorded time. Such practices have been re-discovered but they are not new.

Learning reiki is not essential to energy work.  There are many modalities of healing, working with energy and other means of expanding one's creativity.  However I've found reiki invaluable in my life.  To learn more about reiki go here.

Hello and welcome

Glad you decided to stop by my new blog.   Okay, I admit the title might be a bit of a misnomer, since I plan on discussing not only reiki but all sorts of energy topics.  In particular I will be focusing on how to improve creativity, stamina, the ability to manifest great things in your writing career.

Although I have published over a dozen books to varying degrees of success, I don't present myself as any expert.  I am on the journey, too.  Hopefully, I will provide you with needed information and a place for ideas. Feel free to comment or disagree or whatever.  As long as you hang on we're in this together.  So let's explore.