The Importance of Energizing your Chakras

The chakras are areas within our body which energy flows through. Blocked energy in any of the chakras has been known to contribute to illnesses, so it's important to keep the energy in our chakras flowing. Energizing the chakras can enhance your meditation practice even further, and take it to the next level. Spiritual enlightenment is also something that can be achieved while energizing the chakras.

The Seven Chakras

1. The Root Chakra. This chakra is red and is located in the tailbone area. Blockage in this chakra can lead to financial issues.
2. The Sacral Chakra. This chakra is orange and is located in the lower abdomen about 2 inches below the navel. Blockage in this chakra can affect your sense of well-being and sexuality.
3. The Polar Plexus Chakra. This chakra is yellow and is located in the upper abdomen near the stomach. Blockage in this chakra can negatively affect your sense of self-confidence.
4. The Heart Chakra. This chakra is green and is located in the center of the chest right above the heart. Blockage in this chakra can affect your ability to find love and joy.
5. The Throat Chakra. This chakra is teal and is located in the throat. Blockage in this chakra can affect your ability to communicate.
6. The Third Eye Chakra. This chakra is blue and is located on your forehead in between your eyes. Blockage in this chakra can affect your intuition and imagination.
7. The Crown Chakra. This chakra is violet, and is located on your crown. Blockage in this chakra can affect your ability to connect with your spirituality.

How to Keep the Energy Flowing

Keeping the energy in your chakras flowing is essential to your well-being. There are several ways achieve this, which I will list below:

• Releasing negative energy and thoughts. You cannot energize your chakras if you have negative energy that is lingering. Negative energy and thoughts can drain your energy, which can contribute to blockage of the chakras.

• Meditating daily. If you are trying to energize your chakras it is essential to mediate daily. It doesn't matter what time of the day you choose to meditate, as long as you meditate every single day.

• Visualizing the color of the chakra during your meditation practice. If you have a chakra you feel is blocked, visualizing its color during your meditation can help to lift the blockage. You can also choose to focus on one chakra to visualize per week, in order to keep all of them energized.

One should make sure that they already have a proficient meditation practice established before they attempt to energize the chakras. You must have that foundation to work with. Keeping your chakras energized and balanced helps to enhance your mediation practice even further, and reach a higher level of spiritual enlightenment. It will also help to keep your sense of happiness and well-being.

Sources:

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-91/The-7-Chakras-for-Beginners.html

http://www.enlightenmentgateway.com/healing/insights-into-balancing-chakras-for-beginners/

Photo Credit: www.jamerkel.com

How to Use Healing Stones to Enhance your Life

If you're an empath who tends to absorb the negative emotions and feelings of others, you should look into investing in healing stones. There's an enormous amount of healing stones to choose from, and each of them has their own unique set of properties. Healing stones are very affordable and can be easily purchased online.

What Types of Healing Stones Should I Invest in?

It can take a lot of research and experimentation to figure out which healing stones are right for you. There are certain classes of healing stones you should look for, which I will list below:

• Healing stones that absorb negative energy. For empaths who are looking to prevent the absorption of negative energy from those around them, this is the most important type of stone for you to invest in. Good examples of this type of stone are: the Tiger's Eye and Crystal Quartz healing stones.

• Healing stones that help to strengthen your intuition and/or psychic abilities. If you are working on enhancing your intuition and/or psychic abilities, then you might want to include this type of healing stone in your collection. A good example of this type of healing stone is the moonstone, which is by far the best type of healing stone for this purpose.

• Healing stones that help with good luck. This is a good type of healing stone to include, because who wouldn't want to attract more good luck in their life? A good example of this type of stone is the Amber healing stone.

• Healing stones that help with money. This is another type of healing stone you might want to include in your collection since this type of stone helps to attract money. The stone I recommend for this purpose is the Green Aventurine healing stone.

• Healing stones that help with love. This is the last type of stone you should include in your collection. This type of healing stone either helps to attract love for those who are single, or enhance the relationships of those who are already taken. The best stone to achieve this is the Pink Quartz healing stone.

It is essential to know that this is just a guide. These are the healing stones that I have chosen for my collection, but you may find other stones that work better for you. My goal is to provide a starting point for the types of healing stones you should be looking for.

Properly Caring for your Healing Stones

I know you're probably wondering how much care could possibly be required for healing stones. Healing stones are actually alive in the sense that they have an active energy field. Just as people who are empaths have to meditate and ground themselves to release negative energy; healing stones absorb negative energy, and their energy fields must be cleared as well. This is called recharging your healing stones, and it should be done at a minimum of once a week. Below are several ways that you can achieve this:

• Set your healing stones in either the sunlight or moonlight for at least 12 hours. If you choose to set your healing stones in the moonlight, a full moon is the absolute best time to do this. The moon is at it's most powerful recharging state when it's full!

• Sit your healing stones in salt water for at least 12 hours, ideally in the sunlight. Saltwater has been known to recharge healing stones.

• Smudge your healing stones with white sage. You can achieve this by lighting a small amount of white sage, and passing your healing stones through the smoke. Sage is excellent at removing negative energy not only in your home, but in the energy field of your healing stones as well!

Not only should you recharge your healing stones at least once a week, but any time you buy new stones as well! Also, make sure that you invest in a small pouch which will allow you to carry your healing stones discretely in your pocket. Another way to wear healing stones is in jewelry such as rings, earrings, and necklaces. I personally wear my healing stones both ways, but it depends on whether or not I want to be discreet. 

Utilizing healing stones is very important for people who are empaths. If you incorporate them into your daily life along with your meditation practice and grounding techniques, you will be able to block negative energy more effectively!

Photo Credit: energyhealingstonetherapy.com

Why Everyone Should Start a Daily Meditation Practice

Meditation is something that everyone should include in their life. It is a known stress reliever and has been shown to reduce the amount of cortisol that we produce. Cortisol, the stress hormone, and has been shown to contribute to a host of chronic illnesses. Due to our modern lifestyle most people have elevated cortisol levels. Anyone with any type of chronic illness; or who has excess stress, anxiety, or depression will greatly benefit from starting a meditation practice.

What are the Benefits of Meditation?

• Lowers blood pressure.
• Reduces stress.
• Reduces anxiety.
• Reduces depression.
• Increases your energy level.
• Increases your immune function.
• Strengthens your memory.
• Increases your feeling of well-being.
• Helps to energize your chakras.

So How Can I Start a Meditation Practice?

Starting a meditation practice can sometimes be difficult, especially if you have never done it before. It takes focus and a small time commitment. The key is to start with just a few minutes a day and work your way up. A good meditation technique that beginners can start is listed below:

1. Sit or lie down comfortably.
2. Close your eyes.
3. Breathe naturally.
4. Focus on your breath and how your body moves which each inhalation and exhalation. Notice how your entire body moves as you breathe. Do not control your breath, just focus your attention on your breath.

Start off with this technique for just five minutes a day, and over time slowly increase the amount of time you spend meditating. Once you become comfortable with the meditation technique for beginners you can start experimenting with other techniques. 

Other Meditation Techniques to Try

• Concentration Meditation. This type of meditation practice involves focusing on one object of choice. Examples of this include: counting breaths, repeating a single word, staring at a candle flame, or listening to repetitive noises. This type of meditation is good if you are a beginner because if your mind starts to wander you can just shift your focus back to your object of choice.

• Mindfulness Meditation. This type of meditation practice involves focusing on wandering thoughts as they enter your mind. Mindfulness meditation is a little bit more difficult than concentration meditation since there is nothing for you to focus on while you meditate. Once you become proficient in concentration meditation, mindfulness meditation should be much easier.

The best way to figure out which meditation practice is right for you is to simply experiment with different techniques! The key is to find what works for you, since everyone meditates differently. I believe that everyone can benefit from a daily meditation practice. It can help to eliminate your stress, anxiety, and depression; manage your chronic illnesses, and also help you to enjoy a greater sense of happiness and well-being!

Source: http://life.gaiam.com/article/meditation-101-techniques-benefits-beginner-s-how

Photo Credit: primarycareie.com