Energy Flows
I don’t recall the first time I heard about the 7-chakra system… probably because it wasn’t anything I found contrary to the kind of language about energy within the body that I had heard when I was growing up…
I grew up hearing the language of energy moving through the body. The energy within your body could be used to determine the percentage your organs were functioning at, the points at which your muscles needed an extra stretch, or how beneficial a herb could be for you. The phrase I heard most often was the idea of ‘using the body’s own electric signals to determine what’s happening in the body’. Energy was all around us and in us, and we could connect with it to heal our bodies naturally.
Take a pause right now and rub your palms together quickly.
Do you feel the heat building up?
The friction from rubbing your hands together causes kinetic energy to convert to heat energy.
Remember science class in grade school?
Solids, liquids, and gasses are made of tiny particles called atoms and molecules. In a solid, the particles are very attracted to each other. They are close together and vibrate in position but don't move past one another. In a liquid, the particles are attracted to each other but not as much as they are in a solid. In a gas, the particles have a lot of energy, moving around in a random way, hitting what they are contained within. These particles moving around tighter or spaciously are moving, creating kinetic energy.
Einstein said, “Everything is energy and that’s all there is to it. Match the frequency of the reality you want and you cannot help but get that reality. It can be no other way. This is not philosophy. This is physics.”
While this post isn’t here to dive into frequency (although that is a super interesting topic I loved learning about during yoga teacher training and beyond), the first bit is key here, “Everything is energy and that’s all there is to it”.
From you, yes you, the one reading this, to the tea in your mug, to the snow on the ground, the sun in the sky, the trees, the book you plan to read later, and the water you wash your face and brush your teeth with before bed, it’s all made up of molecules bouncing. We are all energy.
This isn’t anything new, but it’s often something we don’t think about, which is when introductions to topics like the Chakra system can feel strange. We say to ourselves, ‘wait, we learned about solids, liquids and gasses when we did science in school with water, but I didn’t think about myself as energy!’. And so, to consider yourself as a piece of the energy world around you can feel a little disorienting. Suddenly you wonder about your own energy make up.
Perhaps you’ve heard of the idea of energy input and output: you eat food to fuel yourself (input) and the activities you do during the day (output). We need enough energy input to maintain all of our body systems. Our body systems, from ones we may think of as using energy, like digestion, to ones we don’t often think of like our psychological processes like thinking and feeling, all use energy. As this energy flows through the body, we get what is called the ‘subtle body’.
From her incredible research and sharing, Kelly McLellan from Getting Still, shares “Tias Little in his book, Yoga and the Subtle Body describes the subtle body as “that which is fine, delicate, and infinitesimally small such as an atomic particle”. The subtle body, as its name suggests, is the aspect of our being which cannot be seen by the naked eye. Composed of various layers called koshas, the subtle body is thought to hold our life force or vital energy which flows in a complex loop resembling rivers and streams weaving through, around, and beyond the physical body. Where these streams and rivers of energy collide, a chakra is found.”
As it turns out, energy in the body may not seem that surprising after all…
As I learned about the 7-chakra system in yoga classes and in yoga teacher training, it was easy for me to feel familiar with the subtle body (the energy body) as a means for health and well-being from my experiences during childhood. This ancient way of looking at the body before what we would call modern medicine in the west had been a way I was familiar with the body long before the language of chakras came into my understanding.
When LaDawn and I first connected about doing an event together and the idea of a chakra-focused workshop came up, I was excited! It’s not often I have the opportunity to dive into this energy system to share with others. But, I admit, I was also hesitant. From my experience as one who loves Jesus and yoga, I’m all too familiar with the pushback, the amount of education, and the general idea that I wasn’t sure how ‘my community’ of those I share my Wander to Wonder Soul Care with would respond. Thoughts of ‘how much education will I need to do in advance?’ swirled.
I reminded myself that while yes, I can share my own experience, what I’ve learned, and what I believe, at the end of the day, the world is full of varying and contradicting opinions and ideas and that we have the ability to take this all in and decide what is best for each of us. For me, the chakra system is a beautiful way of looking at the energy within us and how we can utilize this system and the energy to create a deeper connection to God, self, and others.
On Instagram, I linked over to Kelly McLellan and her work where she dives deeply into Christianity & the Chakras. She has courses and a wealth of information on her website giving incredible overviews into the chakra system as a means for healing and connection with the God, the Creator of us and stars and trees and everything that is and every atom and particle and molecule we cannot see that moves within us and all around us. If you’d like to dive deeper, please see her incredible work HERE.
As Balanced & Beaded inches its way closer, I find myself curious as to how it will unfold. Will people practice discernment and decide to explore the chakra system with us? Balanced & Beaded is going to be a beautiful introduction to the 7-Chakra system. I will lead you through a movement, meditation, and reflection practice where we will intentionally experience each chakra. LaDawn will then take you through a time of learning about each chakra as you create a beaded bracelet with gems to represent each of the 7 chakras. You’ll finish your bracelet with a chakra charm of your choice– perhaps selecting one from a chakra you feel is needed at this time of your life, one you want to remember to work with, or one you feel connected to naturally.
This unique workshop allows you to explore your energy centres, bringing awareness and balance to each chakra, and craft your own intention-filled beaded bracelet to wear as your intentional adornment.
There are two dates and locations available:
Winnipeg
Saturday, April 15th, 2023
9:30am – 12:00pm
Home Stretch Therapy
308 Morley Avenue
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Registration closes on Sunday, April 9th
Winkler
Saturday, April 22nd, 2023
9:30am – 12:00pm
become-yoga
82 Cambridge Crescent
Winkler, Manitoba
Registration closes on Sunday, April 16th
Click here to learn more and register and we hope we will see you there!