Welcome to the FINAL chakra series – if you want to know more about your inner workings, how Eastern and Western philosophies unite, and how your physical self relates to your emotional, mental, and spiritual self….

Then you’re 100% in the right place!

Holy WOW – we’re officially ready to discover the seventh chakra.

What an incredible journey this series has been – a learning experience, a discovery experience, a bit of a SCARY experience, and an enlightening experience. Basically, I learned a shitload about myself, the inner workings of my being, how EVERYTHING is connected (like legit each facet of us), and how to use specific techniques to awaken, energize, and reconnect to myself.

If you landed here and have ZERO CLUE as to why I feel the above way, then please – start at the Intro to Your Inner Self post & click through to each chakra to start your chakra journey.

Related: Want to take what you learned here on the blog + integrate the chakra system into your yoga practice? Click here for the 7-Day Chakra Yoga Challenge!

So with that said, let’s get into it friends – below is a DEEP breakdown of your crown chakra/the seventh chakra/the Sahasrara chakra.

Pin now, learn about your chakras later!

Seventh Chakra Basics:

The seventh chakra is our source of enlightenment, our spiritual connection to something greater, our relationship with our higher selves, and deeper/acutely aware consciousness.

• English term – the crown chakra
• Location – the crown of the head.
• Element – Cosmic Energy
• Color – Violet
• Mantra – OM
• Descriptive words – consciousness, thought, information, understanding, transcendence, meditation.
• Function – understanding
• Malfunctions – depression, alienation, confusion, boredom, inability to learn.
• Foods – none, fasting.

The Location:

The crown chakra refers to the space within the head, specifically the brain, and even more specifically – the higher brain or cerebral cortex.

Hang tight friends, I’m about to get super nerdy on you….

The brain, our beautiful brains, contain some 13 billion interconnected nerve cells, these nerve cells are capable of making more connections amongst themselves than the number of stars in the ENTIRE UNIVERSE.

Holy hell.

I’ll keep nerding for a moment….

This basically means our brains are limitless, they have infinite potential, with zero ability to stop growing/learning/experiencing. Just like universe.

And to further hone this idea home, there are 100 million sensory receptors within the body, and ten trillion junctions in the nervous system, meaning the mind is 100,000 times more sensitive to its internal environment than it’s external one. To break it down further – our knowledge, expertise, and ability to grow/change comes from a place within – within YOU, within ME, within ALL OF US.

At this chakra level  we are the furthest from the material world, meaning we can experience the most versatility here, can experience the depth of all seven chakras, and as a result – experience liberation or enlightenment.

Deeper Definition:

Our crown chakra is one that can be talked about in-depth, but truthfully – it must be experienced. Below is a deeper breakdown of what this chakra encompasses and glimpses into what we can expect, shall we reach this state of being.

p.s. – This state can come in tiny waves, small experiences, and be easily masked in an experience that doesn’t appear to be “enlightenment”.  Be very aware yogis, it can appear in all forms, all fields of consciousness, and when we least expect it.

Consciousness

In the regular world, the majority of people walk around in a state of sleep, or at least that’s how I perceive the population. We live our daily lives – wake up, eat, work/school, eat, throw in an activity or two, take care of family/partners, and sleep again.

We operate on a structured basis of moving from one task to the next, usually with no regard to the transition or the in-between moments.

The crown chakra is all about waking up, asking yourself if you’re present, wondering what your purpose is, what your life journey should encompass, and then how you can tap into this?

The easiest way to wake the f*ck up is to become the watcher of your thoughts, also called the witness, and what the book refers to as the “the store manager”. It’s a process of becoming aware of your words, thoughts, and actions…. key word being process. You don’t need to become a drill sergeant upon your every move, but you should start to recognize why and where “things” are originating from.

For example – a nasty thought about a co-worker…. why is this thought springing into the mind, who is creating the thought, is it truly deriving from that person or a lack of something within myself, can I learn to soften this tendency and recognize strengths within this person, can I stop the comparison train, can I simply be me without judgement, criticism, negative self-talk, and so on and so on.

And the mind keeps going and going…

all damn day.

It’s up to us, the store manger, to recognize these thoughts in a non-judgmental way (so much easier said than done, but try is better than nada). By simply taking the first step to witness our thoughts and ignite our conscious capabilities, we are on the path to uncovering the seventh chakra.

Before we move on from this point, I want to dive a tad deeper, stick with me.

The crown chakra inhabits two types of consciousness –

• Cognitive consciousness – information that descends and becomes concrete, useful for manifesting in the world, and also expanding outward towards more external planes.
• Transcendent consciousness – moves past the the realm of things and relationships, symbolizes consciousness without awareness to the individual self, to an object, and without the comparative/logistical thinking that occurs in Cognitive Consciousness.

Can you guess which type of consciousness is more conducive to accessing our seventh chakra?

Information

The process of reaching liberation or tapping into the seventh chakra involves a step-by-step understanding of the world as a whole.

The structures that exist in our everyday lives are created from the meaning we gain from each experience. This experience then becomes our personal belief system and order by which we live our lives. We are actively aligned with this belief system and most of our experiences mirror this.

For example – My parents have always voted for the democratic party, so therefore – I have resonated and sided with the democratic party. Another example is religion and how we are raised. Another example is confidence – were our parents and the surrounding environments supportive, uplifting, and fulfilling in order to breed this type of behavior?

While it’s incredible to have certain belief systems/structures in place, it’s also –

A TRAP.

Just like the story book life we’re all supposed to live – college, full-time job, get married, buy a house, have kids, retire, and die – our belief systems can also be bullshit.

Unlocking these strong structures of ingrained beliefs is hard work, scary as hell, and something that many barely scratch the surface of. The best way to start this journey is through the practice of meditation…

And funny enough, that’s our last point of discovery.

Meditation

Meditation is the greatest tactic to tap into our seventh chakra, PERIOD.

And while it can be intimidating, unnerving, boring, and uncomfortable – it truly does serve a greater purpose for our entire being.

The book outlines an incredible parallel that had me re-thinking the purpose behind meditation….

For years, I’ve thought of meditation as a means to relax, tap into a greater part of my being, become more in-tune with the universe, and so on. But the book simply equates it to taking a shower to cleanse the body or eating to nourish the body. Just like we do these simple acts every day, we should also clean the mind – especially because it’s so damn busy!

For optimal meditation results, try meditating for 20 minutes, 2x a day. If this is too much, which for me it is, lower the time to 5 minutes a day, or even 2 minutes a day.

Find what works for you, stay consistent, and then  build upon it.

Tips to Stay Balanced:

• Meditation – as mentioned above
• Becoming the witness or watcher of our thoughts
• Retracing our steps from the morning, the day before, or the weekend before
• Journaling emotions, thoughts, and false beliefs down, so as to release them from our field of consciousness
• Challenge your current belief system, find where new concepts can be introduced, and where old thoughts can be shed

Yoga Poses:

• Meditation
• Saddle Pose
• Savasana

Meditation

For each chakra, there’s a corresponding seed sound or what can be thought of as a mantra meditation tool.

• Sahasrara Mantra – OM

If your work lies here – becoming consciously awake, deepening your sense of information, or practicing meditation – then use this mantra to help inspire and support your work. I’ve included a link above about mantra meditation and all that it encompasses to help start the meditation process.

Also, in the book mentioned above (Wheels of Life by Anodea Judith), she provides meditation techniques + a beautiful opening meditation. I highly recommend reading/doing both of these!

And…. the end.

The chakra series is now complete and ughhhhhh (that’s a big sigh of relief), I feel lighter, awakened, energized, and reconnected to both my practice on the mat and off the mat.

Related: Join me on the mat for a Crown Chakra Yoga Class to Welcome Integration

Thank you SO MUCH for being a part of this experience, for allowing me the space to study and explore these channels within, and to supply you with the information to live a more purposeful, aligned, and balanced journey.

SO MUCH LOVE – xoxo.