I’ve been starting my day by focusing on my breathing and a short visualization practice revolving around the seven chakras (energy centers on our bodies represented by color) before moving into my gratitude practice. Ideally, these things would happen on my mat, but I’m adapting them to wherever I am.
Lately I’ve been in bed longer or back to bed with my daughter, so as I hug her, I do the following chakra mediation to start my day:
- Start with tuning into your breath.
- Then find a rhythmic breath from your belly.
- Imagine a glowing red light at the base of your spine. With each breath, this light deepens and expands. Breathe this red light into your body. Use the light to soothe any aches, to offer comfort, to expand and open, to recharge your spirit for the day.
- Move through each of the chakras in this same way, spending at least seven breaths on each one:
- an orange light at your low belly/sacrum
- a yellow light at your solar plexus/midback
- a green light at your heart center
- a blue light at your throat
- a purple light at your forehead
- a white light at the crown of your head.
- Then place your hands on your heart and list what you’re grateful for.
Keep your journal by you when you do this practice, and sneak in a few moments of writing directly after it. If something came up–an image, a thought–that you want to capture, write that down. Otherwise, following meditation is a perfect time to free write. Set a timer for five minutes and just write whatever comes from you.
For a recording of this chakra meditation practice to start your day with, click here.
Deepen this practice in a personal way:
Bring in images that mean something to you, stir something inside you, or bring about a memory tied to an emotion you want to elicit such as strength or happiness. I’m called to landscapes and nature, so this is what this looks like for me: When I imagine the red of the root chakra, I see the deep, rich reds of the mountains in Sedona, Arizona, a place where I feel very grounded. For the sacral chakra, I see the brilliant orange glow of sunrise, which stirs happiness inside me and so on. Infuse images into this color mediation that resonate with you to make it yours.
A final note: be adaptable with your practice. I often don’t have time for everything I’d like to accommodate in my morning routine—and sometimes none of it happens—so I find ways to incorporate it into my day when I have to forgo the structure. I love doing this practice as a walking mediation as well. The key here is knowing that you don’t have to be seated in mediation for this—adapt it to your day.
What did you think? How was the meditation for you? What did you add to it to personalize it? What came up that you recorded in writing?
For a once a month digest of inspiration coupled with writing and mindfulness practices, join my newsletter.
Recent Comments