Need some explanation and sites to view

Wondering about Chakra and alignment.

This is very new to me and don't have any knowledge so any sites for me to view would be helpful.

Any information about Chakras and the importance of alignment to my spiritual life would be helpful as well.

Thanks in advance.

Debi

I just don't know where to turn and I don't want to spend time/money on hoax sites!

Debi

My particular favorite is "Your Aura and Your Chakras: An Owner's Manual" by Karla McLaren. "Wheels of Life" by Anodea Judith is also excellent. I've been working with chakras for 7 years now and highly recomment both of these books.

into balance and why it's important?

What do you do to keep your chakras in balance? What do you do for cleansing?

Most important - how will I know when I finally get it right?

The reason why it's important to keep your chakras in balance is for the same reason why it's important to keep our physical body in balance -- to maintain better health. In this case, better energetic health.

(For this exercise, by "chakra" I am referring to the 7 main chakras that run along the spine on the etheric body.)

Here's what I do:

1. First I center myself. To center I sit quietly in an upright position with my feet flat on the floor, back straight. I close my eyes and take several deep breaths and visualize pulling in the edges of my aura until it is about arm's length from my body. I bring my awareness into the center of my head -- think of your eyes as the windshield of a car and you are in the driver's seat.

2. Then I Ground. It's very important to ground before doing energy work so any excess energy can be drained into The Mother (earth). Otherwise you can get light-headed and kinda spacey. To ground I "see" (eyes closed) my 1st chakra, which is at the base of the spine, as a bright red ball of light. I drop a cord of that light straight down into the ground until it is about half way through the Earth. I tie it off to anchor it.

3. To cleanse the chakras I start by opening up the Crown Chakra (7th) at the top of my head and start bringing in white light from the Universe. I move it slowly down each chakra cleaning up each chakra in turn until I have moved it through all of them and down along the grounding cord into the earth where I dump off all of the accumulated "junk." You can take your time with this and ask to see any issues you might need to know as you move the light through each chakra. You'd be surprised at what can come up! At this time you can also see if a chakra is really big or small (it is typically about the size of your fist), or if the color seems pale or muddy -- use the cleansing light to "correct" the color and size.

4. When done, take a couple of deep breaths, open your eyes and stretch!

How will you know if you get it right? Like a lot of other spiritual practices, it sometimes takes a bit of practice before you feel you are doing it correctly. I think you'll know you've done it right when you notice you feel calmer and perhaps more connected with the Universe. I don't think with this kind of practice it's an "all or nothing" exercise -- any little bit you are able to do will be helpful. It seems to be accumulative, too -- over time you'll find this easier and easier to do.

(BTW -- if you have any cats don't be surprised if they start bugging you for attention while you are doing this -- cats are attracted to the energy you channel during this exercise!)

Well, that's kinda the "cliff notes" version. Let me know if you have any questions. Have fun!

I'm going to print out your message and try to follow it. As for the cats' response, I find that they start to crawl all over me and meow for attention as soon as I pray or try to meditate. I wonder if it's because of the energy channeling that you mentioned.

Of course, it could be that you are sitting still not paying attention to them -- it's a "cat thing," you know!

I don't have a dog, so I don't know if meditation or energy work has same effect on them. That would be an interesting experiment.

... HippieDog Hank pretty much just lays off to my side when I meditate, but if I sit down on the floor to wrap gifts or (in a very rare event) do situps/stretches, he's right there with a tennis ball or some stuffed animal wanting to play.

I think they know, instinctively, when we're 'focused' somewhere else.

I can't wait for some quiet 'me' time to do this.

It makes perfect sense. I have to print your post off as a primer.

I'll post back after I've tried it to ask any questions I get from doing it.

I appreciate the explanation.

I don't have cats but two small dogs who sense when I'm feeling tense or out of sorts. I'm sure they'll be affected by this, but will try to keep them quiet during my time.

Thanks again!

Debi

That'll distract them!

My dogs snarf their food and beg for more.

I'll wait until they're off sleeping (which they do about 18 hours a day) to have my time.

Thanks again!

Debi

Very nice, especially the part about asking for issues. I like how the cleansing with white light helps actualize that. Very nice. Thanks. www.shambhudance.com Meditations of page two. Very good centering meditation - the circle, part way down. I'd like to hear from you if you went there and wanted to share your perceptions/ insights.

It starts from the ground up. That's the way I'm most familiar with, although I like the one posted above too.

http://www.robinwood.com/LivingtreeGrove/Magic/MagicSet.html
(click on "Grounding and Centering" in the left column.)

I've seen her at several Science Fiction conventions where she does a "round Robin" talk! She has a great Tarot deck too -- I'm happy to say I bought one from her and had her sign the Fool.

She is amazing. Lucky you! :D

How often do I work on alignment or centering? Is there a set time or is it when I feel the need?

Or when I begin to feel overwhelmed with "issues".
A daily routine wouldn't hurt. I wish I had that kind of discipline.
Many times I do it before I get out of bed. Of course it's a modified version since I'm horizontal.
It never hurts to connect to the Universe, which is how I view this exercise.

Preface it with www. of course. I couldn't enter that in the subject because it was too long without punctuation.

Her grounding is the best because it puts you in the loop not just using you to link above and below. Very empowering. Her site map is a great guide. I've worked with her for two years and have had only wonderful experiences. She sometimes has chat groups around subjects. Ask for a list of upcoming ones.

For centering, I have a *simple* exercise on my meditation site, page two. www.shambhudance.com.

Jai.

I'm starting yoga (and will need to go slow because I can't get the breathing right). Your site will help me with that as well as taking some quiet/centering time even in the office at lunch (when I am all by myself for about 30 minutes.)

:hi: I appreciate it.