One way to balance my chakras

Ways to balance the chakra system:

Humans are so diverse there is never one right way for a person to bring the physical body into health. In this day and age we can seek Western medicine (pharmaceuticals, surgery, etc) Eastern medicine (acupuncture, massage, herbs), talk therapy, dance therapy or anything else that attracts a person.  It is the same for the chakra system. A person must find what works for them. And we cannot be disappointed if it takes a while for us to find the right one or the combination that works best.

One tool that works well for my chakra balancing is Kundalini Dance.

Kundalini dance is a self- healing journey through the seven chakras.  Leyolah Antara developed this unique form of ecstatic dance for her own personal healing. From that healing she was guided to share its benefits with others. Through Leyolah's process an individual learns how to apply movement, breath, sound, and energy techniques to purify and spiritual activate, thus gaining personal transformation. The main focus of Kundalini dance is opening to and connecting with the frequencies of the Sky, Earth and Unconditional love. These frequencies invite participating individuals to find and express their true essence through their understanding of the qualities and workings of the chakra system.

Through unconditional love Kundalini dancers learn forgiveness, acceptance and compassion for their lives and the lives of those connected to them. Surrounded by love and the supporting frequencies of the Sky and Earth, dancers are invited to uncover repressed energy, denied emotions and fear stored in the body.  Remaining in the state of witness a person can better purify and shed stagnation and regain health and vitality. As the individual becomes more familiar with these supportive frequencies and feels safe to go deeper they begin to face and integrate their shadow aspect, which can bring their true self into balance.

Kundalini Dance functions with the understanding that the body, mind and spirit work as one interrelated circuitry of conscious and unconscious information. The physical body, through pain, disease and illness, attempts to point a person to where they are holding onto emotional contraction and fear based thought forms. This practice views a block in the chakra system as a manifestation of repressed or denied emotional energy, unresolved developmental issues and karmic patterning.

Leyolah subscribes to the notion that the human form is more than just a physical body. She has learned that there are four bodies that make up our moving beings, the physical, etheric, emotional and mental bodies.  And enveloping this human vehicle we find the spiritual/causal body expanding us beyond the boundaries of time and space. Leyolah, as well as others, has learned that to truly identify and harness the energies of the spiritual body the human must reach an ecstatic state. Therefore, the aim of Kundalini Dance is to anchor the human on Earth through the high vibrational light frequencies within an ecstatic consciousness to express through Divine consciousness on a more regular basis.

Many of my teachers including Leyolah have a saying… "We are Spirits living human experiences."  As we enter the practice of Kundalini Dance we acknowledge and honor this statement.  First bringing our awareness to the physical phase of existence we seek to listen to the physical form and clear the body of blocks by allowing the frequencies of the Earth to raise into the flesh and give us the energy to revitalize, rejuvenate and balance. Grounded we can move our focus to the emotional phase and begin to clear cellular memory from organs, cells, and the energetic systems through spontaneous movement and sound, which in turn stimulates the release of endorphins to induce healing and well-being. From a place of witness in a state of ease and grace we can enter the mental phase seeking insight and clarity through rhythmic breath and movement into trance states we find a connection to the higher self, which reveals a higher wisdom. From this ecstatic, blissful, silent state we embrace the spiritual phase through which we unlock the true essence of the self as we commune with source remembering who we are, remembering we are one and finally realizing we are whole in mind, body and spirit.

Currently, science is catching up to mystical beliefs, telling us to understand human functioning we must look beyond chemistry to the electromagnetic systems. Even further back than the Hindu system people believed that the chakras were filtering a higher energy, the Universal Life Force.   Another term for Universal Life Force is Chi or Prana. Prana has been defined as the sum of all energy manifested in the universe. The external manifestation of prana being air to oxygen to breath.  We connect and can balance our seven chakras through this breath, this Prana.  Prana descends from the higher realms and allows the Human to ascend into the Universe.  Without this Pranic breath cycle the human body ceases to function. 

Leyolah also teaches us to become aware of our pranic body or energetic twin.  The divine double, which harness the higher vibrational energies of Universal Life Force into the physical body in a three dimensional, interpenetrating flow.

I now give you my simplistic understanding of the interplay of the pranic, physical bodies and the central channel. Universal Life Force, pranic breath enters the human in two channels. The left channel being named Ida starts on the right side of the body in the base chakra and can exit the body via the left nostril. This channel is represented as feminine, white in color, cold or cooling and the Moon. The right channel being named Pingala starts on the left side of the body in the base chakra and can exit the body via the right nostril. This channel is represented as masculine, red in color, hot or burning, related to digestion and the Sun. Ida and Pingala are also known as the Rainbow serpents.  As stated earlier the central channel is named Sushumna and runs from the coccyx to the top of the head.  In another form the Universal as pure consciousness divides into two poles prior to descending into the human. One pole becomes the masculine Shiva. Shiva representing creator's static, unmanifested consciousness, its power to be and yet not become or change. The opposite pole comes down as feminine, Shakti. She represents creator's dynamic, energetic and creative state where all form emerges. In general the masculine spirals up, while the feminine spirals down.  Within the region of the base chakra, around the central axis at the base of the spine, resides the coiled serpent, Kundalini, the often dormant, potential energy of Shakti.  On either side of Kundalini we find Ida and Pingala. Above this we find Sushumna holding the seven chakras. The chakras extend from the center four layers to the front and four layers to the back of the body. Leyolah teaches that through intentional pranic breathing and movement an individual can activate Ida and Pingala to awaken Kundalini to begin her penetration and ascension through the seven chakras. Ida and Pingala alternating at each chakra accompany Kundalini on her journey.  Depending on the bodies needs the pair can exist the body at the nostrils to release old breath and bring in new breath. Or they can unite with Kundalini in the Third eye to shift the beings sight.  Once Kundalini is awakened her primary goal is to remove anything that is holding the being back from allowing her to join with her partner Shiva, pure consciousness and become liberated resolving duality into unity.

One key tool to Kundalini Dance is how Pranic breathing is utilized through the session. Our breath moves energy, purifies the body and its systems, cools the body, calms the being and shifts the Human's state of consciousness.

The Human form, through the chakra system, reflects both the Earth and the Sky.  We can find the correspondence of the Earth's natural forces of Earth, Water, Fire and Air with the lower chakras. Via the frequencies of ether, thought, light and sound the chakras mirror the Sky. The Earth frequency is an upward flowing stream that penetrates the central channel and can cycle out through individual chakras. When we call to and breath up this frequency we become able to purify, burn away what no longer serves and revitalize our systems. In Kundalini Dance we speak of this energy as the Earth Fire Serpent. This feminine essence anchors us and nurtures us as a divine loving Mother would. The Sky or Heavenly frequencies are downward flowing streams that can be used to integrate the mundane mind with higher consciousness. When we call to and breathe down this frequency we turn the light on every situation with a renewed sense of clarity. Kundalini Dance uses this breath current after purification to sooth the body.

The physical means of moving breath comes in four forms, exhalation, inhalation, nose and mouth.  When we want to rid the body of stagnation or energy that no longer serves we exhale and use the mouth.  Mouth breathing is best for short breathes, quick energy and purification. Exhalation in general helps detoxify the body. An individual needing to contain their energy should breath through the nose. When we are feeling agitated, anxious or needing to become calm inhaling through the nose is best. Cycling from nose to mouth inhalation to exhalation is often beneficial.

Following the Hindu path one learns that each chakra can resonate with a specific sound. In this tradition the sounds are sacred vowels known as Bija mantras. Bija means seed. Therefore, each chakra has a seed sound. There are other chakra healing techniques that use musical tones to vibrate the chakras. Leyolah teaches a unique tone correspondence for each chakra. In any case Sound is the frequencies that holds all things together. Finding the correct tonal sound that will vibrate a given chakra is a key for balancing the chakra system and healing the body. Everything in the Universe emits a sound. When we can find the right frequency and vibrate with it we can hear the individual songs resonating around the Universe.  Music is our most familiar way to change our mood and behavior patterns. We use music to get through a relationship break up, as a lovers connection, in weddings, in movies and to move our bodies on the dance floor.  Therapies use different instruments, such as drums, flutes and bells. Some therapies use toning forks to resonate into the chakras. During a Kundalini Dance session we use sound in the form of intentional music, vowel sounds, and individualized vocables (sounds with no definable meaning).

Though I say one of the tools I use to balance my chakras, you can probably tell that through Kundalini Dance, I am really utilizing several techniques to achieve balance. I am using breath, movement, sound (music and personal voice-toning), and energy to bring about a state of well being.

I hope one day we can all dance in balance upon our great Mother Earth.