According to the ancient Vedic thought, there are seven circles (Chakras) of energy referred to as energy wheels in the human body. These are present along the meridian of the body. Certain mystical practitioners even believe the number of these wheels to be fourteen.

Beginning at the base (believed to be either the bottom end of the spine or the genitals) they go right up to the top of the head, the crown. In between there are: the orange chakra of the womb or belly; the golden chakra of the solar plexus; the green chakra of the heart; the blue chakra of the throat; and the indigo chakra known as the third eye, on the center of the forehead. The base chakra is red, and the crown chakra is violet right above the head but as its circumference extends outward, away from the head, it turns whiter.

As well as each chakra being associated with a particular color, they are numbered from one to seven with the base chakra being number one and the crown chakra being number seven.

Chakra one controls sexual health, physical strength and vitality. The second chakra is responsible for all of our creative powers. The third chakra is responsible for our desires and what we want. The fourth chakra commands the energy of our emotional life and opens us upto giving and receiving love. The fifth chakra gives us communicative power, loops our emotions in with our thinking, and gives us personal magnetism. Chakra six influences a person’s intuition, psychic powers and insights, also referred to as the sixth sense. The final chakra, number seven located at the crown of the head is what is responsible for our astral voyages.

It is observed that people, who have divine interventions, are actually focusing the energy of the seventh chakra. This chakra focuses on cosmic awareness. It is this cosmic awareness, which is annexed and passed onto the second chakra during artistic practices. It is accessed on shamanic journeys too. The chakras spin in their natural state. If they are healthy then they will spin and will then provide you with the optimum energies you need. If however they become unbalanced they can not spin and you will therefore experience illness or sickness in one or more of the areas outlined.

The secret to health is that these chakras should be balanced. In case evenone wheel is more active than others, the result can be addictions, neuroses, obsessive-compulsive disorders or unintentional cruelty. There is constant worry that these chakras will become blocked. For instance, some people who possess a negative attitude towards sexual relations or have a poor diet will experience ill health or broken romantic relations primarily because they have disturbed the base red chakra. The seventh chakra is prone to disruption in people who are forever thinking of negative actions towards others like working black magic. When this purple-white wheel is disturbed, the cosmic connection is hampered. Consequently the person feels bitter, fearful, and empty. A freely spinning energy wheel will be characteristically flexible.

Here is a sample of one of the wonderful chakra meditations offered at chakra-balance.com or on youtube.

The human mind has the power to receive good vibes and ward off bad and negative ones. It is just like a hand, which can open and close when required but if broken, it will not function. Similarly a healthy chakra will open and close as per the vibes it encounters. The way to use chakra therapy is to focus in a balanced way on each one of the seven major energy categories that each chakra commands. This should be done on a daily basis. Take each major energy category and at some point each day meditate upon how its aspects are manifesting-or not manifesting-in your life, and as you do this visualize your body’s energy residing in that particular chakra. If you find your energy waning in any category, meditate on the steps you can take to make that category healthy and cleanse the related chakra. Some people find that meditating on a gem stone the same color as the chakra wheel allows them to get a clear image in their mind of what actions they need to take to make it healthier.

Recent advances in audio technology has also made it possible to just listen to the particular frequency of each chakra which results in your own chakra resonating at that same frequency resulting in it automatically becoming balanced.

I was hard pressed to find information in Google validating the fact that microwaves are totally sketchy, but I have enough first hand experience as well as anecdotal evidence to feel that I will not be running one in my house or place of work now or ever in the future.

Youtube did have some videos on the topic…here’s one I thought was informative:

I wanted to tell you about connecting with a beautiful woman ‘Hethir’ on Twitter.  I think she found me from my post on Jeannine Parvati Baker, or maybe she just happened upon me in Twitter through Stompernet…anywayz, turns out she has a site called www.NaturalFertilityInfo.com on conceiving using natural methods.  Not that I need the info for myself…I’m guess I’m lucky to be one of those ULTRA fertile women who can get pregnant hanging my knickers on the clothes line next to my man’s

I’ve seen articles float by my nose that credit the decrease in human fertility to toxins everywhere present in our environment from cleaning products to carpeting to air and water pollution.  

So Hethir’s solution involves cleansing the body of toxins naturally – both on the man and woman’s side.  Check her out!  She’s a cutie too

Just dreaming, I started my search tonight, and ended up reading and eHow article on “How to Go on a Macrobiotic Retreat” with a link to Karin Stephan’s Yoga Macrobiotic Vacations .  Started looking around the site, and ended up emailing Karin some philosophy about my take on shelling (the act of hunting for and taking shells off beaches).  Go figure.  I’m sharing here though because a chord of passion was struck for me, and I do hope you all will learn something interesting.

Dear Karin, I’m excited to find your yoga and macrobiotic retreats via Google (search phrase: “macrobiotic retreats”).  It would be lovely to attend one day.
 
There is something I found amiss on your site on this page:  http://www.yogamacro.com/yoga_macro_vac/sanibel/nsanibel.htm you state that “Guests may avail…all the shelling you want!”
 
I must say I am disappointed to find these words written on your site without further explanation or instruction.   As a Gulf of Mexico Florida native (Naples, Florida) and conscious being, the “shelling” that has gone on in Florida for decades now has resulted in a huge decline in unique and rare shells in the region.  As a child I remember the most amazing shells washing up with each storm in abundance – I learned all their common names and there were many…turkey wing, tiger paw, ABC shell, moon shell, olive shell, baby conchs, most of them complete and perfect, with gorgeous deep colors – purples, pinks, coral, browns, greens and blues.  Now, the shells are blandly colored and it is rare to find even one I could compare to the 10 rare beauties I would find on one of my own shelling outings.  Even from that young age, my family explained to me that taking more than necessary tipped the balance and caused shortages in other areas.  We were encouraged to think carefully about the “treasures” that would go home with us.  In this way I learned to cherish the shells I did collect, and to this day they hold a special place on my altar.
 
Over time, ignorant tourists to the region have greedily grabbed and gobbled up shells until there is very little diversity andd rarity to the shells now common on Naples beaches.  Unaware “guests” take sea life that is not even dead, such as sand-dollars and star fish.  I know that the declines are not all due to shelling, a lot can be attributed to dredging and drilling and other environmental side effects. 
 
However, the issue remains that on the shores, most people take much more than they will actually do anything with, other than hoard these shells somewhere in their houses (which are probably already packed with stuff as it is).  I personally feel that yoga and macrobiotics are a way of life – of cleansing ones body, mind and soul of unecessary clutter and the attachement to “things”. 
 
As you can see, I find I must speak out on something that is near and dear to my heart – not only from a conservation standpoint, but also from a spiritual standpoint.  Yes, it’s great that students are practicing yoga and eating one of the best diets on the planet.  Can we complete holding this sacred space with the consciouness to be conscious in our consumption and our footprint – in what we take from the earth/beach as well?  To stop and think first “do I really need this – another thing? Let me consider whether I will actually use it for a good purpose, or whether I will end up just stuffing more into my psyche.” 
 
I believe that in this age of change, evolution and enlightenment, we must look at every one of our actions and the impact is makes upon the greater.   We must learn to look upon the abundant gifts of Mother Nature with appreciation, gratitude, awe, delight, and joy, and rather than clutching and grasping, trying to hold and contain these experiences – every single last one of them mind you, that instead we can learn to enjoy for a bit and then let them pass through us and continue to flow…
 
I hope you will condone humility and open-mindedness.  I personally do my best to be flexible enough in my life as well as my yoga practice – to make adjustments as new insight is presented.  The collective goals of yoga and macrobiotics can truly be reached – that of health, wealth, love (for all living things), and perfect self-expresion for manifesting continuous abundance.  Thanks for your time and keep up the good work!

Any one else with passionate feelings about shelling out there? Let me here them!
Aloha~

Why I’m  Passionate About Rest and Sleep

If you haven’t noticed already, Lemurian Girl, that is – me, is passionate about living life in abundance.  I believe that as humans we are meant to live in perfect health, wealth, love and self-expression.  This blog is in fact a study in this notion.  There is nothing like a good, long, deep sleep to heal the body, mind and spirit.  Stressed?  In Pain? Sick? Tired?  You need rest!  Recuperation!  Rejuvination!

 The road to recovery begins when you change your lifestyle for the better, and that includes creating sacred sleeping space.

Reasons a.k.a. Excuses for Not Sleeping/Resting Well

Sometimes, when people are not well or are all tired out, they find they cannot sleep well at night.  Sometimes the culprit is worrying – maybe subconscious worrying, i.e. you’re not aware of the reason you feel anxious or worried because you’ve pushed it so deeply into your subconscious mind.  Did your boyfriend not call you?  Are you worried about someone else?

Top 10 Ways to Encourage Restful Sleep

1.        Create Sacred Sleeping Space.  Make sure your bed is in a clean, quiet area of the house where you can darken the room or sleeping area from glaring lights.  Put on good sheets (fitted and flat) with a high thread count that fit your mattress snugly.  Have a clean and warm comforter or blanket over the top sheet.  If you like pillows, make sure it is also clean and smells good, and is covered by a clean pillowcase.  If you like flat pillows get a flat pillow.  If you like poofy pillows, get a poofy one.  You should make every attempt to have your body in good alignment when you lie down – so you don’t want your neck jammed up or feeling unsupported.  Find the happy medium and this may take some experimentation.

2.       Create & follow your bedtime ritual.  Put on some jammies.  Brush your teeth.  Have a small glass of water.  Bedtime is a special time of the day.  You’ve given a lot of yourself to the day, and so now you deserve to lie down and rest.  Put on something comfortable and loose fitting that won’t entangle you or slip off of you.  Or maybe you like to sleep naked.  In that case, bathe before you go to bed (use some warm water too).  The goal here is to allow our body and senses to relax and feel safe.  You’ll have to be the final judge of whether you are doing this or not.

3.       Learn How to Breathe Properly – Yogic Breath (you can read more about this in the Yoga section of my site – or do some research in Google).  One Breathing method described here in detail is as follows:  One good plan is to close the left nostril by pressing on it with the finger, then take four deep breaths through the right nostril. Then close the right nostril and take four deep breaths through the left one. Repeat this about four times. Then breathe slowly through both nostrils, but count your breaths. You seldom will count very many.

4.       A warm bath before retiring, followed by a gentle massage, especially along the spine, often will, by relaxing the nerves and muscles, produce very good results.

5.       A hot foot bath, which draws the blood away from the brain, frequently will be found beneficial.

6.       If the sleeplessness is a result of indigestion, clean up your diet – get on a macrobiotic diet – that will relieve you.

7.       Sleeping upon a hard bed without any pillow sometimes produces the desired effect.

8.       Always have plenty of fresh air in the room.

9.       Keep the mind free from the cares of the day.  If they intrude, be reasonable for a moment and count your blessings.  List them out to yourself.  Do you have a roof over your head?  Are you dry?  Are you warm?  Is your belly full?  Do you have all your limbs?  Are your children and/or pets safely tucked in bed?  Are you alive?  That is all you really need to think about before you retire for the evening.  If you can say “Yes” to any of those questions then you have hope in tomorrow.  So put everything of this world down (tell all those voices in your head that it is closing time and they need to leave and they can come back tomorrow morning) there crowd them out by repeating something else some soothing sentence or bit of poetry.

10.   Never take any sleeping powders or tablets except upon the advice of a physician, for they usually contain drugs that will injure the heart.

Thanks for looking after yourself – after all – if you don’t do it, who will?  Love and accept yourself, and know you are doing the best you can.  Now, it’s time for me to go off to bed.  My favorite time of the day.  So delicious to give this gift to myself.  G’nite y’all.