Chakras—focus your energy for awareness and intention

Introduced

• Remembered—the rituals of grief and healing • Transformed—the wisdom of grief and healing

In addition to information and personal insights about the topic, all chapters use a common set of practises to assist you: Chakras—focus your energy for awareness and intention. Affirmations—focus your self-talk for assurance and hope. Journal—focus your expression for healing. Meditation—focus your mind for calm and clarity. Movement—focus your body for grounding and flow. Essential oils—focus your whole system for healing. Ritual—focus your daily experience for healing.

Chakras—focus your energy for awareness and intention When we feel vital, we feel alive and connected with energies within and beyond ourselves. We might experience this when out in nature, or after a holiday, or in other peak experiences. Our vitality is an expression of the universal life force that unites all living things. While cultures express this in different ways—spirit, prana, or qi, for example—the essence remains the same, and we know when we feel invigorated and energised.

This vitality can be disrupted and depleted in times of grief. Conversely, it can be restored and balanced as part of the healing process. In each chapter you’ll find some

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Introduced

ideas about how a particular aspect of your vitality may be affected by grief and then used to restore balance.

The word chakra is the Sanskrit word for wheel, and the chakras represent energy centres within and beyond the body. Chakras are part of the ancient wisdom and have been taught in a number of spiritual traditions and approaches to healing. Disturbances in this energy flow are linked to reduced well-being as the chakras support us with a flow of energy (or prana or chi) throughout our whole being to support health and balance.

While there are many chakras, the main seven are numbered from the lowest parts of the torso and continue to the top of the head. Each of these seven positions is allocated a colour from the rainbow.

In addition to the seven main chakras, we can draw on three additional vitality centres as we work with the energies of grief and healing: the earthstar chakra, the soulstar chakra, and the hand chakras.

Just beneath the body is the earthstar chakra, which sits about thirty centimetres below our feet. Sometimes called the super-root or the sub-personal chakra, this centre of energy connects us to the earth and, through it, to all living things. It supports our existence and our other chakras, and is often represented by the blacks and browns of the earth.

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Chakra Figure

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