© 1999 Reeda Garcia
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Most natural healing systems known today are attributed to particular cultures. Most of thee modalities have their real roots in India, from there knowledge traveled to Tibet, then to China, working our way westward we come to Egypt. Working our way eastward we come to Japan, then Okinawa. Of course the peoples of the Americas were also developing their own techniques. Many of these modalities were adapted to the people of a particular region according to the maladies of that area; also these techniques were greatly affected by the belief system of that culture and their particular religious doctrines. Thus, the many paths of healthiness began. You will find many systems deal with a system of ‘elements’. The Chinese use 8 elements, aurevedic, 3 elements, Hindu a different 3, Native American 4, much of Europe 5. Then we get into what the elements were and how they are worked with. All this can be very confusing and overwhelming. We have meridian flow and accupoints, nadi and nadi points (72,000 of them), then we have over 1000 chakras, and then there’s the art of iridology that studies only the eyes, and then there’s kinesiology that works through muscles. So which one should you use…? The list just gets longer. All these ways of health work well, much of the effectiveness will be governed by education, either yours or your practitioner’s. Also, much depends on the type of imbalance in health you are trying to address. (You wouldn’t go to a dentist to treat a heart attack). It is this writer’s opinion that for total health balancing it takes several different things to bring one into total health, although these different approaches may be within the same system. The use of plants and essential oils, stone healing techniques, dietary change, and "energy work" are all examples of things that are cross-cultural. Generally, if you are drawn to a particular type of healing work, it will have something you need, and you should trust your higher level of consciousness that lead you in that direction, and either study or find someone else who has done considerable study in that field.
Chakra points on the body contain consciousness, which is why many people are concerned with the working of them. There are seven main chakras, plus the root, there are secondary chakras, and many minor ones. There have been over 1000 chakras identified in the body. These wheels of energetic force have the ability to effect us physically, mentally, emotionally, psychically, and spiritually because they are levels of consciousness effected by our mental states. Our attitudes and our chakras are interactive, which explains why these vortexes can be extremely powerful. These centers of energy may be fast or slow, pulsating or radiant, expanded or contracted. The chakras are perpendicular to the body and provide an exchange of energy with your surroundings, much the way your lungs provide an exchange of airflow with your body. Each chakra has a particular state of consciousness, which it holds and effects. Of course the seven major chakras are the ones usually worked with, and are more general in their purpose. The minor and secondary chakras are more targeted and specific in their purpose. When working in a healthy manner the chakras will activate appropriately (responding to your attitude) to the situation at hand. Exemplified by: you would not respond from your heart in matters of survival, nor would you respond with your power stations of will to matters of love, although there are times when these could be appropriate.
Now that we have the understanding that chakras are not energy centers working independently, but rather are reflections of who we are and that we think and feel how do we work with them? Since chakras are energy centers, and energy follows thought, it stands that first we must work with the thoughts, feelings and levels of consciousness with in the chakras. If we don’t do this all-important step, all other work on these centers is for naught, for they will only revert back to the way they were before the other work was done. While working on the thoughts and emotional adjustments needed there are many other things that can and do help us to balance these centers. While the Hindus and Kabalistic have rather complete and extensive systems for attaining our goals with chakras, I do not recommend using these systems unless you have a complete comprehensive education in the system. Much more useable things are available for most of us to work with.
Meditation on the chakra and it’s corresponding attitudes and feeling is one of the first steps in identifying the areas of disharmony. This would work directly on the attitude effecting the area. There are also their "tools" that we can use that share the same energetic frequency as the chakra centers we’re working with, or that physically activate it. Exercise and message will physically activate the areas, especially if you focus your attention on the result you have in mind. Again, energy follows thought. The use of therapeutic quality pure essential oils may be used in massage or inhalation to effect the areas also. Please do not confuse food grade oils or "fragrance" oils for this purpose. Only high quality essential oils that are pure contain the full spectrum of chemical composition needed to fully achieve the goals here.
Certain other substances may share the energetic frequencies found in chakras. These would include sound, color, stones, stone essences, pure essential oils, botanical essences, and even herbs and other plants. If you think of a piano, it has eight octaves, therefore there will be eight ‘A’ notes, they are all the tonal sound of ‘A’ but at different frequency rates. So it is with the methods of working with the chakras. Many things will help you to work with the chakras, as long as they share the frequency of that chakra. Of course the more different and varied the rate of vibration on that frequency the things you use are, the better the result will be.
Another word of caution here. These centers are extremely powerful. Before working in these areas you must fully understand their purpose and the level of consciousness they contain. Care should be taken so as to not over work these areas by moving too quickly as the changes you make will need time to integrate into your way of thinking and feeling. This will allow you and your chakras to respond appropriately to any given situation. Conversely, in any situation where you would like to know the appropriate response, you would also know what chakra on which to focus.
Understanding all this should help you to work with your chakras in an interactive and integrated manner. There are many books on the subject, or you may seek someone qualified in this area to help you.