An Introduction to the Chakra System

The chakra system has come to the West originating from more than 4,000 years of yoga tradition and practice. Our exploration of the chakras will encompass the seven major chakras which lie in the column of energy that runs from the base of our spine to the top of our head referred to as the Sushumna in Sanskrit. These seven major chakras are related to our basic states of consciousness. There are minor chakras also in the hands, feet, fingertips, and shoulders.

Let’s start with a definition of the chakras. The word chakra is a Sanskrit word and it is translated as “wheel”. Chakras exist within what is called our subtle body which is our non-physical physic body and part of our energy field. A chakra is a concentration of energy within the energy field and each chakra is a spinning vortex. You can think of them as whirlpools in a body of water, part of the body of water, but distinct. They are constantly moving and flowing.  Chakras are referred to as centers of consciousness, information, and communication.

In order to talk about the functions of the chakras, we must briefly touch on quantum physics. Matter breaks down into tiny subatomic particles – basically everything is energy. All matter exists in three forms:

• When particle energy is vibrating slowly – solid matter
• When particle energy is vibrating faster than solid – liquid matter
• When particle energy is vibrating faster than liquid – gas matter

The atmosphere is gaseous in nature and is vibrating very fast, where as, our bodies are primarily liquid and solid, and they are vibrating more slowly.

Our chakras primary function is associated with these rates of energy vibration. The chakras allow energy in the atmosphere to move into the physical body, be processed ,and move out again. Remember, the vibration rate in the atmosphere is very fast. The chakras transform energy to a vibration rate acceptable for the energy field layers (in and out of the body). Chakras vitalize the energy field and thereby the body. They also bring about development of certain aspects of who we are - physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

From a mystical eastern view, the free flow of our life force (prana) and the proper balance between the seven major chakras are required for enlightenment and good health. There is an eighth chakra, or aura, that surrounds the body and encompasses the other seven. The three lower chakras serve the body’s physical needs, while the five upper chakras are associated with the spiritual realm. The heart chakra (our fourth) is the bridge between the lower and upper chakras where the mind and body are integrated.

The seven major chakras relate to the seven colors of the rainbow.

The slowest vibration of visible light is red for our root. The fastest and shortest is violet for our crown. The colors in between (orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo) are steps of increasing rates of vibration. The chakras from the base to the crown are:

• Root - Red
• Sacral - Orange
• Navel - Yellow
• Heart - Green
• Throat - Blue
• Brow - Indigo
• Crown - Violet

This ends our introduction to the chakra system. You can learn more about the chakras by purchasing our chakra meditations, Relax, Renew, Refresh. There are seven individual tracks which provide additional information as you focus and meditate on each chakra. In addition to the individual tracks, there are three longer meditations that flow through the chakras providing you with a rich and refreshing experience.

Namaste, Leslie Ottavi

Relax, Renew, Refresh is now on iTunes!

Now available on-line! Download our new meditation CD from iTunes and from Amazon.

iTunes link:
Amazon link: Amazon
Our store: yGuide Yoga Software Store

Achieve balance through guided chakra meditations. The chakra system has come to the West originating from more than 4,000 years of yoga tradition and practice. Our exploration of the chakras will encompass the seven major chakras which lie in the column of energy that runs from the base of the spine to the top of the head. These seven major chakras are energy centers related to our basic states of consciousness. Chakras vitalize the energy field and thereby the body. They also bring about development of certain aspects of who we are physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. 

The individual chakra meditations explore each chakra so that you have a better understanding and a deeper experience when practicing the three longer meditations. Chakra Awareness, Chakra Journey, and Chakra Flow are guided journeys through your seven major chakras starting at your root to develop awareness - relaxing, renewing, and refreshing your mind, body, and spirit.

Namaste,

Leslie Ottavi

Gratitude - Thought for the Moment

A lovely expression for our connection with the universe!

"By feeling gratitude towards life, I move towards light, wholeness, universal energy, love. I move beyond the bounds of my own life and discover that I am an expression or form of universal life, of divine energy".

Quote by Arnaud Desjardins

Yoga at Any Age!

Introduction: Vanda Scaravelli, born in Florence, Italy, is an inspiration to anyone who wants to begin yoga at any age. She was in her 40s when she met B.K.S. Iyengar and hosted Krishnamurti’s lectures at her chalet in Switzerland. As she practiced with Iyengar, her health improved and she felt much better. Later, when she met T.K.V. Desikachar, she understood the importance of breathing. She then went on to create her own unique approach to yoga that draws from the belief that “if you are kind to your body, it will respond in an incredible way”. Her approach includes proper alignment of the spine, and uses the principles of gravity and breath to work with the body and mind to achieve wonderful results. Teachers all over the world carry on her work since her death in 1999 at the age of 91. Her book Awakening the Spine (HarperSanFrancisco, 1995), is a must read for any yogi/yogini.

In the spirit of exploring starting yoga at any age, I asked Margi Miller, a sixty year old yoga enthusiast and realtor from Half Moon Bay, California, to share her story with us.

Leslie: Margi why don’t you tell us when you were first introduced to yoga?

Margi: I was first introduced about five years ago, right after I sold my house of 23 years and decided I needed to have some different physical movement. I went to a local yoga studio doing the beginning phase for about nine or ten months and really got hooked. After that, my teacher encouraged me to move to the next level, and when I did I found that too challenging and backed off. It was kind of scary for me so I went back to the beginning stage.

Leslie: What style of yoga did you start out with?

Margi: I was introduced to Ashtanga yoga which is definitely more physically challenging and I really, really enjoyed it. What I enjoyed about it initially was the physical ability to stretch and move my limbs. I had some back injuries and I noticed immediately that I was feeling better after yoga. Then two or three months after that it sort of took on a different light when I took a look at the breathing that goes into Ashtanga yoga. That opened me up even more and has continued to do so until this day, five years later.

Leslie: And do you still practice Ashtanga?

Margi: I do. I practice Ashtanga once or twice a week in class and often on my own in my own house. I’ll do those poses because they seem to be very linear in motion and while they are definitely physically challenging they seem to move in a way that creates some continuity for my body, because I am sixty and my body has changed a lot in six years.

Leslie: So where has yoga taken you?

Margi: For 2 to 2 ½ years I did strictly Ashtanga yoga and I moved to some of the meditation stuff too and up to the intermediate phase. In the second year, after moving ahead in it, I started getting injured. I would pull this muscle out or that muscle out and then I’d be out of yoga for a month or two. I found that frustrating. I realized I needed to take a look at my own body and how to integrate my own issues with the yoga practice of my choice, which has been Ashtanga. So I got involved in Pilates which is another form of movement that is challenging mostly in the alignment area, posture wise and also working more on your physical center which are the stomach muscles. Pilates strengthens your stomach muscles which becomes the core to doing everything else. So as I have evolved, I’ve incorporated both of those. I use the Pilates methods and teaching in my yoga class so that I don’t get as injured. Because injuries really took away from my yoga practice and pushed me away. I don’t want that to happen, because yoga is like one half of a circle for my physical growth and it is so meditative. Yoga has become more a form of mediation for me, where as Pilates has become more about strengthening. So yoga is flexibility, meditation, and smoothness. Pilates is definitely about strength training. And at sixty years old, I need that also for my bones and a lot of other stuff.

Leslie: Have you tried other styles of yoga?

Margi: Yes I have. Actually, starting with Ashtanga yoga was just the introduction to a whole yoga practice that includes Bikram and Hatha. Both of those I have tried and still do. I’m even moving into some more combination type yoga where you practice a little Hatha, restorative, and Bikram which is hot yoga. I found that as I continued to do Bikram that it was more of a risk to my body, because that heat does warm your body up and that means that you can stretch more, but in the course of doing that if you don’t know your own body you risk injuries. So my whole goal in yoga and Pilates is not to get injured, but to continue to stretch my spine and my body in ways that help make it easier for it to grow older and in the ways my body wants to!

Leslie: So if you met someone who had just turned 55 and they were talking about doing yoga what would you tell them?

Margi: I went in blind and now that I have learned so much, I would encourage someone to start with the softer forms of yoga, Hatha yoga for example. I think restorative yoga is a good introduction if you are overweight, or don’t have any background at all in moving muscles in any kind of physical training. Restorative would be a good way to start and then move into Hatha. I would probably suggest Ashtanga at the end because Ashtanga reminds me a little bit of war. It is very physically challenging and as you continue to evolve it becomes even more physically challenging. If your ligaments, muscles and tendons are not growing with those challenges, you risk injury. If I would have known then what I know now, I would have started with a softer form of yoga. I would have also interviewed teachers, or gone about trying different teachers instead of hooking into just one. Your body gets into a memory pattern then, when you go to do other yoga styles you can risk injuries, because it is used to doing the kind of yoga where it is the same every time . Ashtanga yoga is the same poses every time, but in Hatha or restorative, the poses and sequences vary a lot.

Leslie: Like a vinyasa flow class?

Margi: Yes, like a vinyasa flow class. Now Bikram is the same every time too. So those repetitive yoga styles are the ones that I would caution a new person starting out to be aware of. Not that they shouldn’t try it, but to be aware of taking it slowly and listening to themselves.

Leslie: There is a broader world of yoga than just a single series of poses.

Margi: Yes, that was what I was trying to say!

Leslie: What do you see in the future for you, do you want yoga to continue to be a part of your life?

Margi: Yes I have come to the conclusion that anything to do with body work needs all the pieces to be there and that yoga is becoming more spiritual to me than physical. The breathing, the meditation, and staying in the moment have all been huge for me. You can not be in the pose and doing really good yoga unless you are right there, very present and conscious. That is how you avoid injuries, and I am going to continue to do yoga once or twice a week. I will continue to do the Pilates for strength training my bones and a different kind of breathing, which is more percussive in nature versus the deeper slower breath of yoga. But I am really beginning to see that they are each one half of a circle and they complement each other. One or the other is not for everyone, it’s experimenting and trying different things to help you stay flexible as you age. You want to keep supple, moving quickly, and flexible as you go through the various transitions of the aging process, especially for women but men too. I will continue to do yoga. I think I will withdraw a little bit from Ashtanga, and move more into the integrative vinyasa flow types, which seem to be easier on my spirit and my body.

Leslie: Have you ever looked back and wished you had gotten introduced to yoga at a different time in your life?

Margi: Absolutely. In the 1970’s which is when I was in my thirties, aerobics and jazzercise, dancing, were the big things for women to stay fit. Running was becoming important. Yoga was never introduced to me, or I wasn’t paying attention. But if I would have started yoga when I was in my twenties or thirties, I think I would have avoided some of the injuries I have received. I think when you take a yoga practice, or any kind of body work, there is more to it than just the physical - it’s mental, it’s spiritual. Yoga is an ever constant reminder that you need to live in this moment and focus on what’s going on here and now to get complete and full enjoyment of life.

End of interview.


Our thanks to Margi for sharing her story with us!


Namaste, Leslie Ottavi

(reprint from 2004 interview)

Making Yoga Fit You

It is beautiful to observe someone moving in and out of a fully expressed yoga pose with ease, their breath synchronized with the fluidity of their movement. As a teacher, I have watched many students practice full expressions of poses. I have witness very few students who can move through an entire practice in full expressions of all the poses. When I say full expression of the pose, I am eluding to what we perceive as the perfect pose. But since we are imperfect beings, no one really achieves the perfect pose and it doesn’t matter one little bit. Why you ask? The pose is part of the journey, not the destination.

Yoga aims to integrate the mind, body, and spirit. Traditionally, physical postures and breath work are part of the system of yoga dedicated to helping yogis and yoginis achieve steadiness and relaxation so that they can sit for long periods of time in mediation. If you have ever tried to sit still for 5, 15, or 30 minutes, you know the types of aches, twitches, stiffness, and soreness that can limit one’s time meditating. Keeping active through moving the body with postures and breath work is not only healthy, but it is needed so that we can sit for long periods without getting stiff or tired. You can only attain a level of fitness required for extended periods of sitting by keeping your body moving.

How should we approach postures and breathing? We should learn postures and breathing by letting go and not striving for perfection.  This means you must learn how to move within the structure of your own body on any given day and with the rhythm of your own breathing. Variations of postures and the use of props enable you to move within your comfort zone to produce steadiness, release stiffness, reduce stress, renew energy, and connect with your inner strength. Previous injuries, inherited traits, posture habits, previous exercise experience, age, and other factors do affect the current condition of our body and how it functions. Making yoga fit you can lead to a healthy, long-term approach for your yoga practice. 

Your breath is your barometer. If you can breathe smoothly and slowly with rhythm through a posture, then you have moved in and out of the posture within your comfort zone. Sometimes, when you are trying to do something new or extending beyond your comfort zone, you may have a tendency to hold your breath during an asana. Pain will cause your breath to be unsteady. Be mindful, back off, and do not hold your breath. Listen to your breath.

Humans are quite capable of changing throughout their lives. Working within your comfort zone, finding a comfortable edge, and then proceeding deeper into poses when your body, mind, and breath are willing, retunes your body to more beneficially use your energy. Using your energy more beneficially conserves your health and can make the most of your potential at any stage of your life. Move and breathe with awareness and focus.

Namaste,

Leslie Ottavi

Variations and Props

There are a myriad of ways to vary a yoga pose. Most tools to vary a pose change the structure of the pose to accommodate the current state of your body.  Several common tools to vary a pose are a blanket, block, and strap.  Here’s a few ways these tools can enhance your yoga practice:

Blanket –  

• A blanket folded several times can be used in forward seated poses to lift the hips higher than knees and tilt the pelvis appropriately to bend forward (tail bone back toward the wall behind you and tops of the hips forward). 
• During deep relaxation, a folded blanket can be used under the knees to enable a micro-bend that alleviates stress on the lower back and allows the student to relax more fully.
• In shoulder stand, a folded blanket can be leveraged to keep your seventh cervical in your neck from being overly stressed during the pose by keeping your shoulders and seventh cervical on the blanket while the head rests on the floor. 

Block –

• A block can be used as an extension of your arm in a variety of poses from triangle to half moon pose. You can use any edge of the block so that you can more comfortably place your body in better alignment during a pose. It is better to find good alignment with a block than to risk over-extending the body to achieve poor alignment in a pose and risk injury.
• A block makes for a great prop for supported bridge pose.  You can begin using the lowest edge of the block and then ease your way to the highest edge of the block over time. The block rests on the flat part of your sacral area, not pressing on the tail bone or on near the waist.
• In sleeping tortoise pose a block can be used to elevate the feet stretching the hips a bit more fully.

Strap –

• A strap can be an extension of your arm or your leg in many poses. The picture of sleeping tortoise pose above shows how a strap can be used to extend the reach of your arms. This helps one to feel the alignment of the arms fully behind the back even though the fingers can’t be interlaced behind the back, opening the shoulders.
• In sleeping big toe pose, a strap allows the student to fully extend their leg straight and experience a deeper stretch in the hamstring and the inner thigh. .

Variation without Props –

Of course, there are ways to vary poses without props that allow a student to be in better alignment and receive the benefits of the pose more fully. For instance:

• Bend the knees while forward bending – Whether you are doing standing or seated forward bends, you can bend your knees as much as needed to better align your back. In the standing forward bend shown, you want to bring your belly towards your thighs to align the lower back (don’t round the lower back to achieve your reach), protecting the back and the hamstrings. It is more important to align the lower back properly with bent knees than to keep the knees straight and risk injury to the hamstrings or lower back.  
• Bend your elbows – In the example of cobra pose shown, the elbows are slightly bent to help keep the hips toward the floor and ease the stress on the lower back. Over time, as the lower back becomes more flexible, one can straight their arms.
• Ease up – It is not necessary or recommended to go so deep in a pose that you lose your alignment or your breath. In triangle pose, using a block to extend the length of the arm may not keep the lateral alignment of your body.  In this case, easing up and using the hand on the shin can keep the lateral alignment while gaining the benefits from the pose.

Variations and props are important tools to make yoga fit you. It is not “giving in” to use props or to vary your pose; it is honoring your body, mind, and spirit in the moment. Be present, be healthy!

Namaste, 

Leslie Ottavi

Happy St. Patrick's Day and Green

My morning thoughts on St. Patrick's Day have been about the color of green and our heart chakra. The meaning of our heart chakra's name, Anahata, is "unstuck". Its goal is all about love and compassion, especially in relationships of all kinds. It holds our right to be loved and to love, so it is fitting that the phrase "I love" sits within our heart chakra. Located in the mid-chest and between the shoulder blades, this chakra is associated with the element of air, the sense of touch, the state of inner harmony, and the celestial body of Venus. The bhakti yoga path is aligned with our heart chakra. For me, the key thought I am reminded of today, is that the heart chakra is the bridge between our lower and upper chakras. It is where the integration of the mind and the body occur. The lower chakras' earth and water are transformed by fire and are then able to mix within the air of the heart chakra with the sound, light, and consciousness of our higher chakras.

Whether or not you are celebrating the gaiety of St. Patrick's Day, take a moment to reflect and feel the compassion and love associated with the color of green and your heart chakra!

Namaste,
Leslie