Selfless: the word itself is in danger of falling out of the dictionary it is so seldomly used and so out of line with the individualistic, materialistic characteristics of modern day society in general." What's in it for me?, Why should I" would be the most common reactions.
Yet this attitude of self-centredness makes our world so small, so confined. We envy others, feel hard done by and urge ourselves to do more and faster in order for our ego to be satisfied and for us to move to the top of the pack.
Robin Sharma says: " No matter what you have achieved and how many things you own, the quality of your life will come down to the quality of your contribution (...) When you work to improve the lives of others you indirecly elevate your own life in the process". (so not entirely selfless!)
He goes on to explain what a paradigm is. Knowing that we each perceive the world in a different way, a paradigm is the view we have. A bit like a lense, an optimist will see the world rosy or the glass half full, a pessimist will see it gloomy and only notice what is missing. Here he means that in order to be happy, we need to review why we are here on Earth to put things into perspective. As he so rightly states" Just as you entered the world with nothing, you are destined to leave with nothing." The reason we are here is to contribute to the world in as large or as small a way, but to fulfill our individual purpose.
This echos again that amazing little book from Viktor Frankl: " Man's search for meaning" and Frankl's conviction than man's central motivator is to live a life of purpose. In order to do that we need to detect our destiny, our personal purpose.The amazing thing being we are always provided with the skill set needed to fulfill that destiny, whatever it may be.
Sharma:" The sages of the East call it the process of shedding the shackles of self." Stopping seeing ourselves as an individual, but part of the collective.And our aim, to contribute in a positive way to the collective.
It doesnt have to be huge things:yes we can volunteer time, we can donate money but we can also make sure that every day we make at least one random act of kindness:helping a stranger, saying a nice word to the cashier, praising someone, offering a flower, bringing a cup of coffee, making someone laugh.
Living is giving and this mindset brings with it so much more peace and satisfaction than something material whose attraction disappears as soon as we get it.
So what can you do today to contribute?
Let's make it happen!
Wednesday, 22 February 2012
Monday, 23 January 2012
Timeless virtue 5: Respect your time
On we travel with Robin Sharma through his book: "The Monk who sold his Ferrari". Today we are talking about what matters most, setting priorities, and making the most of our most precious commodity: time.
Balance around our priorities is the key concept.
Most of us either live frantically in the futur, planning and scheduling and dont stop enough to smell the roses or float through life without clearly defined goals and wonder where on earth all our days have gone when we havent achieved half of what we had wanted to do.
Mr Sharma is all for planning: " failing to plan is planning to fail." Slightly kitschy but does make the valid point that if we dont have the discipline to determine our priorities and focus our time around them, they are most likely to remain in the dream arena.
He refers back to the Pareto Principle which you may know as the "80/20" rule. That is the scientific fact that 20% of what we do leads to 80% of our results.20% of what you do will have an influence on the quality of your life. So be ruthless with your time and say no to the things which "waste' your time.
That does not mean rushing around hectically. That means determining which are the purposeful, meaningful things you want to focus your life on. Even if that means shutting down your computer and playing with total attention with a child, listening whole heartedly to a friend in need, honouring the values and fulfilling your life mission.
Goethe wrote:" Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least."
Robin Sharma urges us to simplify our lives: "Too mnay people are dreaming of some magical rose garden on the horizon, rather than enjoying the one growing in our backyards."
We need to cultivate a "deathbed mentality", making every moment count.Then all the little details which can make us so mad and are the cause of so much stress, just merge into insignificance in the background.
One of the simple quotations I like the most in his book is his recommendation to: "Never be a prisoner of your past, but the architect of your future."
Dont waste time fretting about past mistakes or events, learn from them and use them to build your future.
Here is to making it happen!
Balance around our priorities is the key concept.
Most of us either live frantically in the futur, planning and scheduling and dont stop enough to smell the roses or float through life without clearly defined goals and wonder where on earth all our days have gone when we havent achieved half of what we had wanted to do.
Mr Sharma is all for planning: " failing to plan is planning to fail." Slightly kitschy but does make the valid point that if we dont have the discipline to determine our priorities and focus our time around them, they are most likely to remain in the dream arena.
He refers back to the Pareto Principle which you may know as the "80/20" rule. That is the scientific fact that 20% of what we do leads to 80% of our results.20% of what you do will have an influence on the quality of your life. So be ruthless with your time and say no to the things which "waste' your time.
That does not mean rushing around hectically. That means determining which are the purposeful, meaningful things you want to focus your life on. Even if that means shutting down your computer and playing with total attention with a child, listening whole heartedly to a friend in need, honouring the values and fulfilling your life mission.
Goethe wrote:" Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least."
Robin Sharma urges us to simplify our lives: "Too mnay people are dreaming of some magical rose garden on the horizon, rather than enjoying the one growing in our backyards."
We need to cultivate a "deathbed mentality", making every moment count.Then all the little details which can make us so mad and are the cause of so much stress, just merge into insignificance in the background.
One of the simple quotations I like the most in his book is his recommendation to: "Never be a prisoner of your past, but the architect of your future."
Dont waste time fretting about past mistakes or events, learn from them and use them to build your future.
Here is to making it happen!
Saturday, 14 January 2012
Timeless virtue four: live with Discipline
Discipline, now that sounds painful.But Robin Sharma brings it down to a more human level by comparing self discipline and will power to a wire cable where each stem alone is not so resisitant but all these small components woven together create a cable stronger than iron. The sum is larger than the total of the constituent parts. What it means is that small, tiny acts of self discipline, woven together create " an abundance of inner strength". I like that idea! Anyone can develop a willpower of steel through a small daily training.
Having this self discipline provides us with a huge feeling of peace, knowing what is right and doing it daily.
"Don't race against others, race against yourself" he adds. In this way we both avoid pointless envy, worry and demotivation and pursue with passion and motivation a constant improvement on ourselves.Sounds like a good goal to have, in particular in January of a New year!
Remember what we said earlier in this blog" Will is the King of Mental powers. When you master your mind, you master your life." (The Monk who sold his Ferrari)
Based on old Eastern principles he is convinced that positive always overcomes negative. So even if the negative thoughts have usually won, pursue your fight with conviction and the positive ones will overcome. Once this train of thoughts is changed, and changed regularly, the path will become effortless. But at first it takes self discipline.
One tip he gives to cultivate this self-discipline is the use of mantras, repeating a few words:
" Words are the verbal embodiment of power.By filling your mind with words of hope, you become hopeful.By filling your mind with words of kindness, you become kind. By filling your mind with thoughts of courage, you become courageous."
He suggests this one. Sit somewhere quiet and still your mind, then repeat aloud over and over again: " I am more than I appear to be, all the world's strength and power rests inside me."
Self discipline starts with small steps, large journeys are covered in small steps.
Let's make it happen!
Having this self discipline provides us with a huge feeling of peace, knowing what is right and doing it daily.
"Don't race against others, race against yourself" he adds. In this way we both avoid pointless envy, worry and demotivation and pursue with passion and motivation a constant improvement on ourselves.Sounds like a good goal to have, in particular in January of a New year!
Remember what we said earlier in this blog" Will is the King of Mental powers. When you master your mind, you master your life." (The Monk who sold his Ferrari)
Based on old Eastern principles he is convinced that positive always overcomes negative. So even if the negative thoughts have usually won, pursue your fight with conviction and the positive ones will overcome. Once this train of thoughts is changed, and changed regularly, the path will become effortless. But at first it takes self discipline.
One tip he gives to cultivate this self-discipline is the use of mantras, repeating a few words:
" Words are the verbal embodiment of power.By filling your mind with words of hope, you become hopeful.By filling your mind with words of kindness, you become kind. By filling your mind with thoughts of courage, you become courageous."
He suggests this one. Sit somewhere quiet and still your mind, then repeat aloud over and over again: " I am more than I appear to be, all the world's strength and power rests inside me."
Self discipline starts with small steps, large journeys are covered in small steps.
Let's make it happen!
Friday, 2 December 2011
Timeless virtue three:practice kaizen
Here we are at the third timeless virtue based on Robin Sharma's book: "The monk who sold his Ferrari", and it is the practice of kaizen.
Kaizen is a Japannese word referring to the concept of endless improvement, of continually striving to improve. So it is not a question of having some New Year Resolutions and ticking them (or not) from our list, but of making it a virtue in itself to incorporate constant evaluations and new goals in our lives.
He has a few strong points here:
1. "No man is free who is not master of himself".This is food enough for a whole blog. For now, let us say it is knowing who we are and accepting who we are and doing what we know is our rightful way, adjusting and improving along that way.
2. Pain is a great teacher. This sounds rather masochistic but just as in sport a muscle needs to break its boundaries to grow (hence muscle ache, in the same way pain introduces new boundaries to us and through learning our way through them, we grow. We learn new aspects of ourselves, we learn how to cope.
He adds:" No experience is inherently painful or pleasant, it is your thinking that makes it so".Mmm...not our usual way of thinking...
So what Mr Sharma suggests is to identify and conquer our fears, our weaknesses. I quote: " The only limits on your life are those that you set yourself: make a written inventory of your weaknesses, when you conquer your fears, you conquer your life." Hence being master of yourself, and free.
In a way, he is saying that fear is a conditionned response and we need to question that. This is bringing to mind a training I did years back as I started off as management consultant. We were a group of ambitious young rookies and during our training we needed to make various presentations. I was terrified. I seem very confident on the outside but within I was thinking up all sorts of excuses why I had to leave and panicking totally. So what did I do? I always volunteered first. By doing this I eventually conquered the fear and what a gratifying feeling that was. And so in life we are frequently confronted by fears, new ones, recurring old ones and we need to find them, face them, question our fear and then go and do what we fear the most! So what are your fears?
To help us on our kaizen way he adds 10 tips on rituals we should incorporate into our daily routine to live a radiant life:
Ritual 1: A ritual of peace.Create a daily period of peace, a ritual of solitude (ideally at the same time as rituals like consistency), commune with nature daily. Inspire from its beauty, its logic, its life force.
Ritual 2: a Ritual of physicality (daily exercise: ideally a min of 30 mins and preferably outside)
Ritual 3:Ritual of live nourishment: (if its dead: dont eat it. He recommends only fresh vegetables, fruit, grain: ouch to most of us)
Ritual 4:The ritual of abundant Knowledge: (dedicate yourslef to a life long learning, make time to think, read regularly)
Ritual 5:A ritual of personal reflection (reflect on your day, cultivate positive thoughts, laugh, learn from the less positive experiences)
Ritual 6: A ritual of early awakening. Yes, I can hear the groans. He recommends rising with the sun and basing your daily rythm on it, taking from its energy.(I dont mind in winter)
Ritual 7: A Ritual of music. Create time to relax and listen to the harmony of music, let it transport you, carry your thoughts.
Ritual 8: The Ritual of the spoken word ( create a mantra that will inspire and ground you and repeat it out loud)
Ritual 9: The Ritual of a congruent character (strengthen your character: reap an action, sow a habit) Timeless principles of: industry, compassion, humility, patience, honesty and courage. Decide where your weaknesses lie and envision the differences and continuously work towards it.
Ritual 10: A Ritual of simplicity (do not unnecessarily complicate your life: put first things first, set priorities in a value based way)
And for today I shall finish with a quotation of his which particularly resonnated with me:
"Laughing is medicine for the soul, we don’t laugh because we are happy, we are happy because we laugh".
I love it! So keep laughing!!!!
Kaizen is a Japannese word referring to the concept of endless improvement, of continually striving to improve. So it is not a question of having some New Year Resolutions and ticking them (or not) from our list, but of making it a virtue in itself to incorporate constant evaluations and new goals in our lives.
He has a few strong points here:
1. "No man is free who is not master of himself".This is food enough for a whole blog. For now, let us say it is knowing who we are and accepting who we are and doing what we know is our rightful way, adjusting and improving along that way.
2. Pain is a great teacher. This sounds rather masochistic but just as in sport a muscle needs to break its boundaries to grow (hence muscle ache, in the same way pain introduces new boundaries to us and through learning our way through them, we grow. We learn new aspects of ourselves, we learn how to cope.
He adds:" No experience is inherently painful or pleasant, it is your thinking that makes it so".Mmm...not our usual way of thinking...
So what Mr Sharma suggests is to identify and conquer our fears, our weaknesses. I quote: " The only limits on your life are those that you set yourself: make a written inventory of your weaknesses, when you conquer your fears, you conquer your life." Hence being master of yourself, and free.
In a way, he is saying that fear is a conditionned response and we need to question that. This is bringing to mind a training I did years back as I started off as management consultant. We were a group of ambitious young rookies and during our training we needed to make various presentations. I was terrified. I seem very confident on the outside but within I was thinking up all sorts of excuses why I had to leave and panicking totally. So what did I do? I always volunteered first. By doing this I eventually conquered the fear and what a gratifying feeling that was. And so in life we are frequently confronted by fears, new ones, recurring old ones and we need to find them, face them, question our fear and then go and do what we fear the most! So what are your fears?
To help us on our kaizen way he adds 10 tips on rituals we should incorporate into our daily routine to live a radiant life:
Ritual 1: A ritual of peace.Create a daily period of peace, a ritual of solitude (ideally at the same time as rituals like consistency), commune with nature daily. Inspire from its beauty, its logic, its life force.
Ritual 2: a Ritual of physicality (daily exercise: ideally a min of 30 mins and preferably outside)
Ritual 3:Ritual of live nourishment: (if its dead: dont eat it. He recommends only fresh vegetables, fruit, grain: ouch to most of us)
Ritual 4:The ritual of abundant Knowledge: (dedicate yourslef to a life long learning, make time to think, read regularly)
Ritual 5:A ritual of personal reflection (reflect on your day, cultivate positive thoughts, laugh, learn from the less positive experiences)
Ritual 6: A ritual of early awakening. Yes, I can hear the groans. He recommends rising with the sun and basing your daily rythm on it, taking from its energy.(I dont mind in winter)
Ritual 7: A Ritual of music. Create time to relax and listen to the harmony of music, let it transport you, carry your thoughts.
Ritual 8: The Ritual of the spoken word ( create a mantra that will inspire and ground you and repeat it out loud)
Ritual 9: The Ritual of a congruent character (strengthen your character: reap an action, sow a habit) Timeless principles of: industry, compassion, humility, patience, honesty and courage. Decide where your weaknesses lie and envision the differences and continuously work towards it.
Ritual 10: A Ritual of simplicity (do not unnecessarily complicate your life: put first things first, set priorities in a value based way)
And for today I shall finish with a quotation of his which particularly resonnated with me:
"Laughing is medicine for the soul, we don’t laugh because we are happy, we are happy because we laugh".
I love it! So keep laughing!!!!
Saturday, 19 November 2011
Timeless virtue 2: Follow your Purpose
Still based on Robin Sharma's book: "The Monk who sold his Ferrari", now that we have explored timeless virtue number one: Master your mind, it is time for timeless virtue number two: Follow your purpose.
Thankfully coaching is not a set of random, unconnected principles and virtues so this of course ties in nicely to all the self discovery we have done on this blog about " Leaving a legacy" and finding our personal life mission.
AS he says:" The purpose of life, is a life of purpose." Simple and true.
He adds: "Lasting happiness comes from steadily working to accomplish your goals and advancing confidently in the direction of your life’s purpose". I am less versed in all things Eastern but he bases this quotation on the ancient principle of dharma which says that everyone of us has a heroic mission while we walk this earth. That we have all been granted a unique set of gifts and talents that will allow us to realize this lifework. The key is to discover them, and in doing so, discover the main objective of your life.
So how do we do that once we have discovered it ?(see previous blogs if joining me now!). By setting goals. Indeed, my favourite occupation! The difference between a dream and a goal is a date. Deciding what we want, what we need to do and when we are going to do it.
I couldnt agree more when he says: "People spend their whole lives dreaming of becoming happier, living with more vitality and having an abundance of passion. Yet they do not see the importance of taking even 10 minutes a month to write out their goals and to think deeply about the meaning of their lives, their Dharma. Goal setting will make your life magnificent.
My previous blogs are full of the importance of goals so I will limit myself here to presenting you Robin Sharma's 5 step method:
- Create a clear mental image of the outcome you desire (magic of the lake)
- Create positive pressure to inspire you (master your thoughts)
- Attach a timeline to your goal and commit it to paper (wrte it down to make it happen. He introduces the concept of a dream book)
- Magic Rule of 21: commit for 21 days. In 21 days you create a new neural pathway and he emphasises the tremendous power in ritual.
- Enjoy the process
The journey of a 1000 miles starts with a single step, so what is holding you back?
Let's make it happen!
Thankfully coaching is not a set of random, unconnected principles and virtues so this of course ties in nicely to all the self discovery we have done on this blog about " Leaving a legacy" and finding our personal life mission.
AS he says:" The purpose of life, is a life of purpose." Simple and true.
He adds: "Lasting happiness comes from steadily working to accomplish your goals and advancing confidently in the direction of your life’s purpose". I am less versed in all things Eastern but he bases this quotation on the ancient principle of dharma which says that everyone of us has a heroic mission while we walk this earth. That we have all been granted a unique set of gifts and talents that will allow us to realize this lifework. The key is to discover them, and in doing so, discover the main objective of your life.
So how do we do that once we have discovered it ?(see previous blogs if joining me now!). By setting goals. Indeed, my favourite occupation! The difference between a dream and a goal is a date. Deciding what we want, what we need to do and when we are going to do it.
I couldnt agree more when he says: "People spend their whole lives dreaming of becoming happier, living with more vitality and having an abundance of passion. Yet they do not see the importance of taking even 10 minutes a month to write out their goals and to think deeply about the meaning of their lives, their Dharma. Goal setting will make your life magnificent.
My previous blogs are full of the importance of goals so I will limit myself here to presenting you Robin Sharma's 5 step method:
- Create a clear mental image of the outcome you desire (magic of the lake)
- Create positive pressure to inspire you (master your thoughts)
- Attach a timeline to your goal and commit it to paper (wrte it down to make it happen. He introduces the concept of a dream book)
- Magic Rule of 21: commit for 21 days. In 21 days you create a new neural pathway and he emphasises the tremendous power in ritual.
- Enjoy the process
The journey of a 1000 miles starts with a single step, so what is holding you back?
Let's make it happen!
Thursday, 3 November 2011
Cultivate your garden
This metaphor is used in so many books! Being brought up in the French educational system, my first thought is "Candide" by Voltaire. But so many more take up this image of our mind as the garden where we cultivate our thoughts, plant new thoughts, remove weeds and create harmony.
Over the next few weeks I would like to use my blog to explore what Robin Sharma, in his book:" The monk who sold his Ferrari" called the seven timeless virtues for an enlightened life.
Cultivating your garden is the first.
" In the fable, the garden is the symbol for the mind. If you care for your mind, nurture it and cultivate it just like a fertile rich garden, it will blossom far beyond your expectations.But if you let the weeds take root, lasting peace of mind and deeper harmony will always elude you."
Many more authors have taken up the idea that we are what we think about most of the time. Earl Nightingale said, "The strangest secret is that we become what we think about, most of the time." It all begins in the mind. Thought is the cause. Behavior is the effect. We think, and with those thoughts, we create.
Robin Sharma goes on to talk about the toxic waste we let into our garden: all the guilt about the past, the fear and worries about the futur which siphon off our energy and our self-confidence. We should learn from the past but convert the lessons into positive thoughts. He also mentions " impoverished thinking" claiming that in general, the average persons thoughts are for 95% exactly the same they had the day before!!! I find that quite scary!
However practically the only thing we can control is our minds. We have a choice how to respond, we have a choice how to interpret what happened to us. But we need to make that choice. Our mind, like our body, needs to be trained to think in a positive way, all the more so if we have indulged in negative thinking and unnecessary and inefficient guilt and anxiety trips.
Concentration is essential to stop those worry energy leaks.
Robin Sharma mentions various exercises to help:
The heart of the rose:
All you need is a silent place and a fresh rose and all you need to do is really look at it, stare at its center, its heart, noticing all the fine details about its structure, its color, design, fragrance. Each time your mind strays to other thoughts, bring it back to the rose. Really relax into it. Welcome the calm, this is your oasis. Start holding your thoughts for just a few minutes then see if you can take it longer and longer: "taking back control of the fortress of your mind".
Winston Churchill said: " the price of greatness is responsibility over each of your thoughts."
Either you control your mind, or your mind controls you.
Enough food for thought for this week! Next week I will continue with two further exercises to cultivate that wonderful garden within, just desperate to be cleared of weeds and enabled to blossom!
So here is to be admiring the heart of the rose and ridding our minds of toxic waste!
Let's make it happen!
Over the next few weeks I would like to use my blog to explore what Robin Sharma, in his book:" The monk who sold his Ferrari" called the seven timeless virtues for an enlightened life.
Cultivating your garden is the first.
" In the fable, the garden is the symbol for the mind. If you care for your mind, nurture it and cultivate it just like a fertile rich garden, it will blossom far beyond your expectations.But if you let the weeds take root, lasting peace of mind and deeper harmony will always elude you."
Many more authors have taken up the idea that we are what we think about most of the time. Earl Nightingale said, "The strangest secret is that we become what we think about, most of the time." It all begins in the mind. Thought is the cause. Behavior is the effect. We think, and with those thoughts, we create.
Robin Sharma goes on to talk about the toxic waste we let into our garden: all the guilt about the past, the fear and worries about the futur which siphon off our energy and our self-confidence. We should learn from the past but convert the lessons into positive thoughts. He also mentions " impoverished thinking" claiming that in general, the average persons thoughts are for 95% exactly the same they had the day before!!! I find that quite scary!
However practically the only thing we can control is our minds. We have a choice how to respond, we have a choice how to interpret what happened to us. But we need to make that choice. Our mind, like our body, needs to be trained to think in a positive way, all the more so if we have indulged in negative thinking and unnecessary and inefficient guilt and anxiety trips.
Concentration is essential to stop those worry energy leaks.
Robin Sharma mentions various exercises to help:
The heart of the rose:
All you need is a silent place and a fresh rose and all you need to do is really look at it, stare at its center, its heart, noticing all the fine details about its structure, its color, design, fragrance. Each time your mind strays to other thoughts, bring it back to the rose. Really relax into it. Welcome the calm, this is your oasis. Start holding your thoughts for just a few minutes then see if you can take it longer and longer: "taking back control of the fortress of your mind".
Winston Churchill said: " the price of greatness is responsibility over each of your thoughts."
Either you control your mind, or your mind controls you.
Enough food for thought for this week! Next week I will continue with two further exercises to cultivate that wonderful garden within, just desperate to be cleared of weeds and enabled to blossom!
So here is to be admiring the heart of the rose and ridding our minds of toxic waste!
Let's make it happen!
Friday, 21 October 2011
Introducing Chakras
Now this is new stuff for me, a whole new world really but the book was recommended by someone whose opinion I respect so I gave it a go and found it very inspiring. The book is called: "Eastern body - Western mind. Psychology and the chakra system as a path to the self" by Anodea Judith.
It is ancient knowledge.
She says: "The Chakra system describes the energetic structure through which we organize our life force: a seven level philosophical model of the universe. A Chakra is a wheel and refers to the spinning sphere of bio energetic activity emanating from the major nerve ganglia branching forward from the spinal column."
So basically we have 7 Chakras located in our body, in a straight line from our pelvic area to the crown of our head and each is linked to a developmental age. They each have Identities, issues, elements, colours, rights, demons and archetypes.
The energy flows then up and down in our body from the more grounding aspects (survival, sexuality, power), upwards towards the consciousness chakras: love, communication, intuition and cognition.
What we can do is recognise issues which are plaguing us, trace them to their respective chakras and work on releasing the energy stored there enabling it to flow freely between the upper and the lower spheres.
There was something deeply grounding in working through this book and the information is shared with practical tips and suggestions which I found very helpful.
There are also some wonderful quotations she uses to support the understanding. Here is a quick overview of the seven Chakras:
Chakra One, is Survival
Element: earth, colour: red, right: to be here
Chakra Two Sexuality
Element: water, colour: orange, right: to feel
"E-motions are energy in motion, if they are not expressed, the energy is repressed." John Bradshaw
Chakra THree Power
Element: fire, colour yellow, right to act
" If we deny the child the right to act or assert herself as an autonomous being, then we lead her to question that right throughout her life. We need to guide without suppressing the delicate, emerging ego."
Chakra four: Love
Element : air, colour green, right to love
"In order to have intimacy, we first need to have a sense of self. We need to be able to love our own self enough to offer it openly to someone else."
Chakra five: Communication
Element is vibration, colour blue, right to speak
"The narrowest passage within the whole chakra system, the throat is literally a bottleneck for the passage of energy. Only when mind and body are connected do we have true resonance.If we do not express the vibration, the impact is stored in the body as stress."
Chakra six: Intuition
Element is light, colour: indigo, right to see
"Pattern recognition requires the ability to see simultaneously into past, present and future." Vision leads us forward, illusion holds us back."
Chakra seven: Cognition
Element is thought/consciousness, colour is violet, the right to know
" To realize one's universal identity is to recognise our many identities as suits of clothing. They are clothing that I can put on and take off when appropriate because they are not the sole statement of who I am."
The quotations alone here could fill many a blog. Food for thought.
There is so much more but maybe these little tidbits will whet your appetite to finding out more about the power of the Chakras and how we can use that knowledge to become more fulfilled and whole with free flowing energy in our lives.
Let's make it happen!
It is ancient knowledge.
She says: "The Chakra system describes the energetic structure through which we organize our life force: a seven level philosophical model of the universe. A Chakra is a wheel and refers to the spinning sphere of bio energetic activity emanating from the major nerve ganglia branching forward from the spinal column."
So basically we have 7 Chakras located in our body, in a straight line from our pelvic area to the crown of our head and each is linked to a developmental age. They each have Identities, issues, elements, colours, rights, demons and archetypes.
The energy flows then up and down in our body from the more grounding aspects (survival, sexuality, power), upwards towards the consciousness chakras: love, communication, intuition and cognition.
What we can do is recognise issues which are plaguing us, trace them to their respective chakras and work on releasing the energy stored there enabling it to flow freely between the upper and the lower spheres.
There was something deeply grounding in working through this book and the information is shared with practical tips and suggestions which I found very helpful.
There are also some wonderful quotations she uses to support the understanding. Here is a quick overview of the seven Chakras:
Chakra One, is Survival
Element: earth, colour: red, right: to be here
Chakra Two Sexuality
Element: water, colour: orange, right: to feel
"E-motions are energy in motion, if they are not expressed, the energy is repressed." John Bradshaw
Chakra THree Power
Element: fire, colour yellow, right to act
" If we deny the child the right to act or assert herself as an autonomous being, then we lead her to question that right throughout her life. We need to guide without suppressing the delicate, emerging ego."
Chakra four: Love
Element : air, colour green, right to love
"In order to have intimacy, we first need to have a sense of self. We need to be able to love our own self enough to offer it openly to someone else."
Chakra five: Communication
Element is vibration, colour blue, right to speak
"The narrowest passage within the whole chakra system, the throat is literally a bottleneck for the passage of energy. Only when mind and body are connected do we have true resonance.If we do not express the vibration, the impact is stored in the body as stress."
Chakra six: Intuition
Element is light, colour: indigo, right to see
"Pattern recognition requires the ability to see simultaneously into past, present and future." Vision leads us forward, illusion holds us back."
Chakra seven: Cognition
Element is thought/consciousness, colour is violet, the right to know
" To realize one's universal identity is to recognise our many identities as suits of clothing. They are clothing that I can put on and take off when appropriate because they are not the sole statement of who I am."
The quotations alone here could fill many a blog. Food for thought.
There is so much more but maybe these little tidbits will whet your appetite to finding out more about the power of the Chakras and how we can use that knowledge to become more fulfilled and whole with free flowing energy in our lives.
Let's make it happen!
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