3 Ways To Use The Chakras To Reduce Overwhelm And Stress
Written by: Dolores Andrew, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
From the base of the spine to the top of your head, the seven major chakras line up with each chakra governing a different awareness in your body.
In a similar manner to the psychological tool developed by Maslow, his Hierarchy of Needs govern all your life experiences from the personal to the transpersonal. Just like the first chakra has to do with foundational needs we all have, so too does Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs govern our primal basic needs of safety, shelter and belonging.
When you develop a good foundation in life, feeling safe and secure you can then start to develop emotional intelligence, where you have the ability to be with your emotions and not them consume you. You will also be able to feel confident enough to be in relationships with others and to reach your full potential in life.
So how do you use the chakras to address the overwhelm and stress you feel in your everyday experiences?
1. Identify How Your Unconscious Mind is Controlling You
When you find yourself in a state of overwhelm or stress you are completely identified with the unconscious mind. You have no awareness beyond your thoughts and are being ruled by your conditioned self, the one that is made up of your limiting beliefs.
Action: Take a situation you find yourself feeling overwhelmed or stressed about. Write down your thoughts about the situation. What are you telling yourself about your story? Can you identify how those statements are limiting you?
When you become conscious of your beliefs you can match which chakra governs your beliefs.
For example: If you don’t trust yourself to do something it is a first chakra awareness. If you are not confident enough to follow through on something it is a third chakra awareness.
You can then work in a laser-focused way with that chakra to work through the overwhelm and stress.
2. Identify where you are being Rigid and Stuck
Our chakras are energetic in their nature and, energy in its natural state flows. When your chakras are flowing freely the energy is balanced. However, trauma, limiting beliefs, challenges etc. cause the energy of our chakras to go out of balance.
Take for example a time when your confidence was knocked when you are young. You stood up to answer a question in class and everyone laughed at you. In response to this trauma, you vowed to never again experience the humiliation you felt at that time. Your energy contracted and your confidence was dented.
Confidence is a third chakra awareness and when your energy is contracted there, you can become, rigid and stuck. You created a comfort zone that told you to never stand up again and get humiliated, as a defence mechanism, and you live within the confines of its walls.
But the energy of your third chakra will stay in that contacted state, being rigid and stuck and unable to move until you allow the old story/wound to be released.
When you are challenged beyond this zone that is when you feel overwhelmed and stressed.
Action: In this case, realising the old story for what it was:
“Yes I felt humiliated when the people in my class laughed at what I said but I now realise that holding onto this feeling is keeping me stuck. I accept what happened and I allow myself to move beyond it. no longer want to stay stuck in the energy of my younger self who vowed to never take a chance again”.
3. Identity the Illusions that Keep You Stuck
“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” This has always been one of my favourite quotes. Because that is exactly what happens when you realise the illusions you have created and under whose conditions you live beneath.
I must add a caveat here, please do not add guilt or shame to anything that comes up for you this will only add another layer. Accept whatever comes up.
It is not just our family but also a society that makes us accept their truths. This is not always apparent to us, instead, it seeps into our psyche.
It is only when we start to individuate as Maslow calls it, or when you go on your own hero or heroine’s journey that you start to see how the beliefs you hold are not aligned with your innate values.
You begin to pull back the layers of illusion you realise you have lived in and you open up to more of
your authentic self.
If you try to live your life according to someone else’s or society’s values even though they do not resonate with you, you will feel yourself being inauthentic.
Our sixth chakra governs these illusions and you can learn to pull back the layers of illusions to find your own innate truth.
If you would like to join me for a deep dive 7 Week Course Awakening to Your Chakras you can find out more details here. Or if you would like to download my Introduction to the Chakras you can do so here.
Until next time.
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Dolores Andrew, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Dolores Andrew is an All Star Accredited Lifestyle Leader in Holistic Life Coaching. Her personal coaching sessions and Corporate Training programmes are tailored to her client’s unique requirements. Dolores supports people to break through their personal barriers and reach their full potential, whatever that means to them. She supports them to reassess their values, effectively navigate their emotions and live their lives aligned with their authentic selves.
