Welcome to your chakras, illuminating discs of swirling energy in your subtle body. In this series, the chakras become symbols, gateways to a deeper understanding of the self. Let their archetypes speak to you, teach you, whisper their secrets into you so that you may discover more ease, healing, and insight on this path.
Today we climb right into your third eye center, the Ajna Chakra.
From earth we came (Muladhara Chakra). We flowed into water from there (Svadhisthana Chakra) and then into the throes of fire (Manipura Chakra). And then, we entered the heart (Anahata Chakra) and onward, we spoke our truths (Visuddha Chakra). Now, we get a different kind of clarity, that which comes from our deepest visions.
When you turn your inner gaze up to the space between, above, and behind your brows, what you see there will reveal to you an inner world at work, toiling to create your reality. What images live there? What stories churn? The world is full of distractions, and they will pull you in every direction if you let them. At this level, you must stay close to yourself. You must hold a vision the way you would your lover’s heart—carefully, diligently, sweetly.
Shine the light of your attention upon the stars, and that’s how you will reach them.
Meditation on Seeing
Find a quiet and still space, free from all forms of digital.
Sit on the edge of a cushion, pillow, or blanket, as comfortably as you can. Rub your hands together vigorously until you feel a heat and warmth generating between them. Close your eyes and cup your palms over them. Bathe your eyes in complete darkness. Take several slow and steady breaths into the calm… let your hands drop and rest in your lap.
Imagine a ball of swirling indigo light in the middle of your forehead. In this ball is everything you’ve ever seen. Everything you have watched, everything you have read, everything you have witnessed lives here…
Let an image of yourself rise in your mind’s eye. See yourself as you truly are, as a pulsing, vibrating hunk of pure potential. See the cosmos in your eyes, the stardust on your skin, the rhythms of nature in your heart’s beat… See only the beauty in you.
And when it happens that your mind would like to show you your flaws, to show you your failures and shortcomings (and it will), guide yourself back from that place to only contemplate your light, your innate goodness, your spirit…
Teach yourself to see your own light in the same way that you teach yourself a yoga pose. Focus and Practice. What you think about yourself, you become. Practice holding a vision of love.
Take a break from watching the news and perusing your friends’ newsfeeds. Take ownership over what you consume; what you read and watch. Bust out the old magazines, and make a vision board. Write your vision down, and hang it somewhere you look every day. Read a book. Look at the sea. See the beauty everywhere, even when it’s the hardest thing to do.
Namaste.
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Andrea Manitsas—affectionately called “Anj”—is a yoga teacher based in San Francisco and Berkeley, where her Oms resonate down the block and around the corner. She is known for a bhakti-filled class with a whole lotta soul and a fierce flow. Andrea also writes and edits. And travels—a lot. She takes her teaching on the road with yoga retreats around the warm world.