Chakras and Sound

In Hinduism, Chakras are the "wheels" or centers of energy located along the midline of the body. The concepts have since spread around the globe, and many alternative therapies recognize their power. While the number of chakras is debatable, most will agree that there are seven major ones, and several smaller ones. Each governs a different area of life or even nature. Each corresponds with a certain color, a function, an emotion, and yes, a sound.

When the chakras are in a state of disharmony, energy flow becomes blocked or 'closed'. This energy, or 'prana' can powerfully affect all areas of life. Often compared to spinning flowers or lotus', the chakras can be felt in the body from root to crown. Sadly, many people are cut off from their bodies, from experiencing the energy moving through it. Our bodies shut down in defense after traumas, or our worlds demand a desensitized self. Attending to these blocks can happen in all sorts of ways. The goal is to open the chakra and free the blocked energy, evolving to a new state of consciousness and experience.

This site claims their chakra test can reveal your body blockages, while others suggest using a pendulum to seek out imbalances. I think that it really depends on the person and some e-quiz won't tell you much. This being a sound healing blog, lets explore the chakras for each sound. Its been done before, and below are videos which will walk us through the experience. Did it work for you? As I'm finding out, sound is inescapable. It can penetrate us to the core and beyond. So much of it is white noise, gossip, bogus .. what a fresh breath of air to hear intentional stuff.

(Side note: Judith Anodea wrote this book "Eastern Body, Western Mind: Psychology and the Chakra System as a Path to Self" that is really great. As the name suggests, it compares the chakra system to the models of psychological development created by Maslow and others. It's got lovely diagrams but I can't find them to post online.. ah well..)



I'm loving this one, Mom or not! Its a nice meditation that has a diagram if you need a basic understanding of how energy can flow through the body.

sources and other good articles:
http://becominghanuman.wordpress.com/2008/08/19/chakras-rationalism-and-science/
http://cowabungalifestyles.wordpress.com/2011/03/16/deep-chakra-cleansing-meditation/

This website has a feature which lets you roll over the Chakra to hear the note: http://www.soundessence.net/chakras.php

This website focuses on the didgeridoo for its healing qualities, but also has quite a bit of information on each Chakra:
http://www.didgetherapy.com/chakras_didgeridoo_sound.html

Tom Kenyon: Mind Gymnastics

I was able to talk my dear friend Katie into listening to another Tom Kenyon track. This time, it was the first track off of his "Mind Gymnastics" CD. I personally found this track to be challenging and unnerving. Tom Kenyon guides the listeners through a different exercise in visualization. We are encouraged to visualize numbers and colors, a task which may sound simple but really is challenging for a person not used to such abstract concepts. For me, the track pushed my boundaries. I guess I didn't feel safe enough to trust Kenyon, or perhaps just uneasy about my own blocks, but I wasn't able to follow through with the entire thing. I actually got some really intense anxiety during the track, and had to 'abandon ship' and just listen with my eyes open.

Katie had a similar experience. While she didn't get anxiety like I did, she found herself confronting her own blocks, not being able to "let it all in", or let herself go. She shared that her visualizations stayed positive though, unlike mine, which got a bit messed up with fearful thoughts. She pushed herself to really engage with the activity, and liked the structure of the track.

Katie and I both felt that this CD (well, the first track alone!) was the most intense of the ones we've reviewed. Maybe not for amateurs, but engaging and challenging for anyone.

Review: Tom Kenyon's "Ultimate Performance"

As I posted earlier, a good friend (and sport!) volunteered to listen to some of Tom Kenyon's CD's while she was staying with me this week. Katie and I put on the first track of "Ultimate Performance", part of Kenyon's "Ultimate Brain" collection. Below is our review and responses.

While we both sat down to listen a bit distracted, with things on our mind, we thoroughly enjoyed this CD. Some of Kenyon's tracks are very focused with orders and exercises, and some are just the opposite: open and breezy. This first track on "Ultimate Performance" fell somewhere in the middle. His visualizations exercises were open enough for us, although instead easily visualizing a resolved problem in the future, Katie's thoughts drifted more to the past. The track guides the listener to envision an issue in their life, and then envision its resolution in great detail. I found it to be inspirational, especially since I have some future goals that I have been wanting to flush out in my mind's eye. It created a warm, loving environment for me to nurture these little seeds of thoughts, although Katie wasn't quite so impressed. We both rated it at about a "3" on the instensity scale (10 being heart-attack intense). I would definitely recommend listening to this CD if you have some unresolved issues or anxiety about current challenges in your life.

Review: Tom Kenyon's "Ultimate Relaxation"

I've been listening to several of Tom Kenyon's CD's for the past few weeks, and this week, I partook in an experiment with a friend. While it was in no way 'scientific', it was interesting to listen with a friend and record our experiences.

Tom Kenyon's "Ultimate Relaxation" CD is part of his "Ultimate Brain" CD collection. I really enjoy this disc, and have been listening to it as I fall asleep for weeks! It did make quite a difference to listen to it consciously, though. My friend Katie and I both reported to be a bit flustered or preoccupied before listening to the disc, just so you know.

Also, we just listened to the first track off the disc, and then recorded our experience afterwards.

For this disc, both Katie and I felt that Tom Kenyon's voice was initially a bit off-putting. Sometimes it can be hard to follow the commands of someone, especially if that someone is a white male you've never met. Still, we both warmed up to his voice and became incredibly tranquil. Katie felt that her own analytical mind was getting in the way of her experience, and I couldn't help but feel the same. Going from listening consciously to this track was a much more challenging experience than just putting it on before bed. It made me a little nervous to hear with "new ears", so to speak, what I had been listening to unconsciously for weeks. Still, Kenyon guides the listener on a quiet visualization of a peaceful, comforting fantasy place. His gentleness toward the listener allowed for guilt-free mind-wandering and took the guilt out of straying from a meditative experience. We both feel that this track was appropriate for most, and had a low intensity level.