Each day, I ask myself “How do I maintain balance in order to live my best day ever?” As much as I try to stay balanced, I have learned that I can easily lose it. Balance may be easy to find, but it is hard to sustain. This is because we are the only ones who can do the inner work of maintaining it. Francis Braceland writes, “We can be sure that the greatest hope for maintaining equilibrium in the face of any situation rests within ourselves.”
So how do we find and maintain balance? I have discovered two tools: Chakras & Chant.
Chakras
The Chakras, which are the seven main energy centers in the body that receive, absorb and distribute life energies are a natural starting place. The Chakras offer us a benchmark to assess our life balance. They are located along the spine, starting at the base and running upwards to the crown of the head and each chakra radiates a specific color and energy. Each chakra relates to specific spiritual, emotional, psychological and physical issues. These can become blocked through and as a result a chakra can become either deficient or excessive and therefore imbalanced. Practicing yoga poses that correspond to each chakra can release these blocks and help clear the path to more balanced living. Simply understanding your Chakras provides a framework that can help you balance out excessiveness or insufficiencies within them.
I turned to the chakras when I began to appreciate nature and how it interacts with my soul. I soon learned about The 5 Element Theory (earth, air, water, fire, sound), and then discovered that they relate to the Chakras like this: Earth my Body, Water my Blood, Air my Breath, and Fire my Spirit.
Chant
Chanting, or using rhythmic speaking or singing of words and sounds is another way to find balance.Om Namah Shivaya is my favorite mantra to repeat. During and after singing this song I feel a quiet but energized sense of equilibrium. And I learned that the elements and chakras are the syllables of Na, Ma, Shi, Va, Ya.
Om Namah Shivaya mantra uses the universal elements that govern each chakra: earth, water, fire, air, and ether. This song allows the chakras to better utilize the fundamental elements that exist in the chakra. When we repeat this mantra, we bring the chakras into balance with our energies. If you need a real time life balance exercise try saying or singing 108 rounds of this mantra, or even just a few.
This mantra also reminds us that we are born perfect (siddha), whole, and balanced. Our only job in this lifetime is to remember how AMAZING WE ARE! What you are experiencing through your journey as a human being is a return to balance where your energies are neither excessive nor deficient, but even.
Even your hands hold the reminder within them as each finger is aligned with an element and a chakra like this:
thumb = Fire Solar Plexus Chakra
first finger = Air Heart Chakra
middle finger = Ether Throat chakra
ring finger = Earth Root Chakra
pinky finger = Water Sacral Chakra
Balance is easy to find and difficult to maintain: At the end of the day, it’s our responsibility to try. This is the key to happiness.
Love yourself, love your day, love your life!
Silvia
