Okay, this section we are going to be introduced to the chakras or the subtle energy centers in the body that are situated along the spinal cord. So for the yoga major that follows this lecture, you will be asked to visualize and go mentally to these different psychic centers. So I'm going to just introduce them to you in case you're not familiar with them. So that won't be a total surprise when you get to that part of the practice. So chakra also means vortex or to world or she's spin and and it's basically like a whirling energy center that comes together, kind of like the nerve Plexus in the body where the nerves bundle in certain areas like the thoracic plexus, and the sacrum and so forth. So a bunch of nerves come together in those places in the chakras a bunch of energy lines are meridians.

In Chinese medicine in yoga, they're called Noddy's. So the rivers are the energy system kind of flows throughout the whole body and then it worlds at these certain centers and bundles that comes together strongly. So they're situated and depicted as lotus flowers. And in seven or eight different places, we're going to go over eight, in this particular meditation from the base of the spine, which is malenda chakra, all the way up to the crown of the head, which is known as sansaar Chakra. So there's a Sanskrit word and there's also just an English translation of that center. And roughly I want to give you an idea of what each of these centers is responsible for, in our consciousness in our reality.

So each one is said to be kind of closed. You know, the blossom is said to be closed. In our life, and it's, you know, at certain times those flowers are opening closing. And in awakening, as we're becoming more conscious, some would say in a spiritual realization or a self realization, those psychic centers, those energy centers are not only opening to remain open but they are cleansing and purifying and they are holding different memories in regards to different aspects of life or aspects of consciousness. So as they open and cleanse a lot of the debris or memories or in Sanskrit, they would say that some scars are held in there and we might re experience them as they're cleansed out. So that's one of the benefits of yoga nidra actually is, the psychic centers get to open and clear and cleanse just like other parts of the body where we might be holding impressions or memories like the subconscious Mind, but we don't just hold memories in the subconscious mind, we also hold them in various parts of the body.

You know, when an experience happens to us, depending on what we're doing what we're thinking what the experience is, if something kind of traumatic happens, say we're eating, at this time that we find out some, you know, really traumatic information, we might hold that story that memory, that impression in our stomach, for example, and then we might go on later in our life to have stomach issues. And then when we go through a practice like this, like yoga nidra, that memory that impression can come up and out and be cleared. And then that stomach problem that we maybe have tried so many things to help can finally be cleared because we're clearing out some skaara that memory or psychic impression that was stored there. So the centers where these impressions are stored are these chakras and they are also the like the gateway to certain parts of the body so they're responsible for sending energy to certain parts like the lowest chakra Moolenaar and the root would also be responsible for energy moving into the legs, and then veins and the legs and the intestines and all of the processes of elimination, as well as the consciousness surrounding being rooted or grounded or safe, secure.

Feeling supported, basic needs and instincts. The Root Chakra is said to be the highest chakra in animals. So it's that survival instinct of don't have enough food, clothing, shelter, to survive. And this is a very base experience of that first chakra in its highest expense. Melendez chakra is all about knowing that you're provided for feeling secure and that there's a higher power, providing that you are abundant and that you will feel safe and secure. So that is the first center is generally depicted as read and associated with the earth element.

And there's much more about the first chakra, especially in the book as well, but I'm going to move on now to the second chakra, which is found several vertebrae there's a three vertebrae up from the sacrum. And in a woman, it would be close to the cervix and man, it's just inside the parent em. And what he's done is generally depicted as vermilion or an orange color and it directs energy to To the reproductive glands and organs, and also to the kidneys and adrenal glands and it has to do with the consciousness surrounding joy, satisfaction, sexuality, sensuality. Feeling just satisfied in your experience is also a very important center that is connected to karma or cause and effect our ancestry family patterns that are playing out. So oftentimes we will carry impressions, fears, memories, generationally, and we will be playing them out even though they aren't ours.

And the second chakra is the one that carries that. So when we're clearing out second chakra issues, or opening that chakra, this is where a lot of sticky energy can be. What some refer to as the dark night of the soul kind of experience because we will often have to clear, really deep seated patterns in order to open and bypass this energy center. But when we do, we begin to feel very satisfied in our experiences with our sexuality, with our relating with others, it's the base of our creative energy, we feel creative and joyful. And we also feel our own unique expression starting to happen here. So this also flows into now the third center which is at the navel or solar plexus, and some say there are two different chakras here and that's possible this practice we're just going to focus on one and you can think of it as navel, or between the navel and the solar plexus and it's a golden or a yellow energy or light here, golden yellow Lotus, and it's known as money.

Pool, the city of jewels. So that's the translation of money for it in the Sanskrit language. And once we've raised consciousness or awareness passed the second into the third chakra It is said that this is a great transition in our consciousness. And then if we move energy up and open the center that it will not fall back into the first two chakras. If you noticed, the information about those first two centers, is really what our Western society is very focused on is money and sexuality and not always at its highest expression. So when we can raise up the energy of those two centers and move into the third chakra, then we can start to experience life from a higher perspective.

So this third chakra is yellow and it's basically all about personal empowerment. So we're coming out of those lower centers and we're coming into personal empowerment, motivation. Confidence is where we let go and the highest manifestation of this center of fears. You know those feelings of butterflies in the stomach and gripping and all that is the lower expression of this center. But as we open it up, we begin to feel confident expressing and creating from the from who we really are sort of our uniqueness really starts to shine through. And then we've got the heart center on hot which is a green color.

And sometimes in the meditations it's also talked about as blue. Blue is mergence of normally blue is the throat center. But some say that the throat has shifted down into the heart or were able to sing the song of the universe, our personal truth from hearts centered living and the colors are kind of adjusted here. So I think in this meditation, we're doing blue in the heart, you can think of it as greenish blue, but it's a healing energy in the heart. The lower expression of Heart Chakra living is, is love his interpersonal love, but sometimes it's mixed with feelings such as jealousy or anger, hatred or envy and those things but in the higher expression of the heart center, it's unconditional love, it's divine compassion. And it's also healing energy for the body.

Healing energy moves the into the greenish tones, like earth tones, where we become our personal own healer. And also they call this chakra the wishing tree that when we're in alignment and all the other chakras are open, that the things that we reach for or would like to see in our Lives start to manifest more quickly. So this is where it's good to be clear and have those lower centers cleared out and open and functioning properly. And then in the meditation, we skip this one, but we might do it in a future one that is the high heart. This is between the throat and the heart and often depicted as turquoise or pink. And it's all about speaking your personal truth, living from your passion.

So we're gonna jump over that one. There's a Sanskrit name for that. Then we have shooty chakra and the throat generally depicted in most textbooks and teachings is blue. And this is going to be purple in this meditation. So a purple or violet color and it's all about speaking our truth communication, bridging the gap and also tasting of the sweetness of our experience, you know, and the Hindus Stories the deities are depicted as blue skinned. And this all began when Lord Shiva a masculine depiction of the creative energy or consciousness takes in a vial of poison that was meant to destroy the demons that got turned back around to those who were incarnate as divine beings and he took the poison swallow it and changed it into nectar, but it changed his throat to blue.

And then all the days are depicted with the blue skin as a representation that we can change any experience into a sweet into sweetness or take the sweetness out of anything we are handed. So that is an elevated consciousness a higher attribute that we're able to do that so blue is the throat shootie And then we've got the Third Eye Center, which is onion chakra, often depicted as the Indigo color. In the meditation, it's gray but can be gray indigo, but it's basically why it's gray is it's kind of that in between place between the white and the black, which is duality. The gray is starting to merge, the white and the black coming to a place where we can start to see the non duality the unification of all that is so in that Third Eye Center, we unify the hemispheres of the brain. The two main Noddies or energy flows up the spine they call them EDA and Pingala Nadi that run along the spinal cord the solar lunar force that criss crosses each chakra they merge and the Third Eye Center so these seemingly opposite energies come together in one so white and black merge as gray and Anya chakra, allowing us to see this play that we're in from the perspective of the observer or the witness.

And then we finally have, well actually in the meditation we do the back of the school, a lot of the yogic texts talk about the Bindu. The Bindu is right at the back of the skull associated with the pituitary, and it is basically governs that release of the Amrita or the nectar into the system. And then we have soft star at the crown of the head and this is the thousand petal Lotus depict it is generally a white light or a rainbow colored Lotus. That connects us with universal consciousness and from this perspective, there is no duality everything is oneness and we have experience to Britain, or what is also known as somebody. Okay, that's the summation of the chakras that we'll be using in this meditation to come