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Sahasrara
The Crown Chakra is associated with bright white and golden light and with the element of pure light. It is the Chakra of self-transcendence, loss of ego-boundaries and connection with the infinite source of life.
The Crown chakra is primarily associated with the pituitary gland and hypothalamus. Located at the base of the brain, behind the bridge of the nose, the pituitary gland is a pea-sized structure. Referred to as the “master gland,” the pituitary gland produces hormones which control metabolism, growth, sexual maturation, reproduction, blood pressure in addition to many other vital functions. The hypothalamus works with the pituitary gland to regulate the endocrine system.
Due to its location, the crown chakra is closely associated with the higher brain, or cerebral cortex. The cerebral cortex is the brain’s top, or outermost layer. It plays a key role in attention, perception, awareness, thought, memory, language, and consciousness. Consequently, yogis identify thought as element of the seventh chakra. This chakra is most commonly represented with the colour white, although it can also be depicted as deep purple.
“Sahasrara” translated from the Sanskrit as ‘thousand-petalled’ is said to be the most subtle chakra in the system, relating to pure consciousness, and it is from this chakra that all the other chakras emanate.
The Crown Chakra is the energy centre within our bodies that is responsible for thought, awareness and wisdom. As we open to what is beyond our personal preoccupations and visions, Sahasrara connects us to the divine energy that creates everything in the universe and our higher selves.
Sahasrara is largely concerned with our search for meaning. As such, the seventh chakra’s development builds our cognitive structure, belief system, and understanding of the world at large. It encompasses our ability to question and think for ourselves and has no concrete developmental stage. Indeed, this chakra is not considered to have a psychological aspect as it is beyond the ego. Instead, it develops throughout life, beginning at the moment of birth and continuing until we die.
When the crown chakra is healthy, an individual can easily access his/her inner wisdom. Moreover, he feels connected to others and life and is able to see the “bigger picture. ”Consequently, he experiences a sense of serenity and wholeness despite outer circumstances. When an individual realises that everything is interconnected, s/he begins to live with gratitude, faith and trust, rather than with fear and anxiety.
It is from the Crown Chakra we connect with higher sources and from them we gain the following:
· understanding(both of ourselves and the complexity of our universe)
· wisdom (compassion for those around us, noticing and understanding signs that may be placed in front of us)
· knowledge (both of the world we can see around us and that which is unseen by the eyes).
The Crown Chakra does not contain clear psychological aspects. Nonetheless, it can be blocked, open or wide open. To a certain degree we can find there the fear of the person, or individual ego, of coming to an end. Whereas the first or root Chakra contains the more instinctual fear of the cessation of the body, the Crown Chakra holds a much subtler fear: the very ending of the “I-consciousness”; the desire of continuity that our impermanent and perishable ego has.
When our thought tries to imagine what it would be like after death, it attempts to reach and get in touch with a state which our ego or self-consciousness cannot exist in. For this reason, the subtler fear of death is the one in which we simply cannot imagine or contain the possibility of the true and final ending of our very sense of existence.
The Crown Chakra deals with the deeper questions which strive to tap into the “unknowable”, as found in death and deep sleep. It invites us to experience states of self-transcendence in which our separate sense of self blends into a greater whole, while keeping a sweet secret in it that on the other side of our ego’s fear of death, there awaits a tremendous sense of liberation, limitlessness and bliss.
The unbalanced and blocked state of the Crown Chakra is characterised by a sense of intense earthly gravity, resistance to the spiritual realm and fear of self-dissolution.
This state of imbalance is first and foremost caused by a lower Chakras imbalance – when lower Chakras have still not awakened to their spiritual aspects and potential. When the lower Chakras, especially the three lower ones, draw all one’s attention to psychological and worldly matters, they keep one’s life-force busy and even drain it. Thus, there has to be some lower Chakras resolution and relaxation to allow the force of Kundalini to rise all the way to the Crown Chakra.
The presence of spiritual teachers or occasional experiences such as a gong bath can make a person, even in a blocked Crown Chakra state, able to open it momentarily. However, as long as one’s major interest and engagement in life are worldly by nature, this prevents the sufficient energy needed for Crown Chakra balancing and opening.
There is yet another possible cause for Crown Chakra imbalance and that is a certain trauma that took place either in the spiritual realm, or in anything that is related to an unexpected loss of boundaries of the self-consciousness.
Here a trauma can range from a severe disappointment caused by a meeting with a spiritual teacher; a Kundalini crisis in which the spiritual energy became unexpectedly disruptive; a premature powerful spiritual experience (where we wished for some bliss and instead entered a state of nothingness which scared us); dangerously and prematurely opening of the Crown Chakra while consuming psychoactive substances (where we perhaps opened up both to light and darkness, or brought to the edge the capacity of our nervous system and brain), and a sudden loss of consciousness as in near death experience, surgery and near fatal accidents. All these incidents could imprint in us a warning signal whenever we reach a similar state of loss of self-boundaries and opening to the infinite source of life.
When the crown chakra is blocked, we may feel scattered and without direction in our lives. We may have the feeling of trying to remember something that is seemingly forgotten but was important to us—perhaps in a past life. It’s right there, but we are unable to quite remember it.
The psychological and spiritual symptoms of a blocked state can also be difficulty in meditation, resistance to silence and a general sense of intense earthly gravity, the feeling that we are physically heavy and grounded to earth. Any encounter with spiritual energy and knowledge are met with a sense of a barrier; an incapability of letting go of the mental, emotional and sensual realms.
Another type of symptom is intense fear that overwhelms us whenever we enter the depth of meditation. We identify depth as more scary and dangerous than bliss-promoting. Often our nervous system, brain and subtle anatomy would react with an overwhelmed physical and energetic state to any spiritual opening. Experiences would feel “too much” and would cause an overload rather than happiness and lightness.
There are no clear healing processes in this Chakra as its issues are not psychological by nature. More subtly speaking, we can think of a healing process in terms of allowing ourselves to heal the wound of our separate self and to let our inherent connection with the rest of existence be resumed.
The sense of a separate self is the subtlest form of psychological imbalance and it is the general feeling of an individual consciousness and organism caged in its own limitation and mortality. This brings forth all other psychic imbalances.
When we begin to trust and deeply believe that we are, after all, inseparable part of existence and divine reality, that brings us to experience the deepest form of liberation: liberation from our basic sense of limitation, including the physical outline in which we are packed.
This process of increasing unification with the rest of existence and the divine reality can be a major source of healing for our other systems – the mental, emotional and psychosomatic. Gradually, it can help balance other types of imbalances such as loneliness in the heart Chakra, the need for individual recognition in the third Chakra, excessive desire and addiction in the second Chakra, and the desperate attaching to possessions and objects in the first Chakra.
The first stage of opening the Crown Chakra is the initial healing that takes place as we learn to trust that we are part of the greater reality. This happens usually as a result of transcendental experiences that remind us of our true nature. This can range from psychedelic experiences to meeting a spiritual master, but this could also be achieved by a spontaneous and unexpected awakening, an extraordinary encounter with nature, or a near death experience.
Such happenings make us begin to follow the path of opening the Crown Chakra for good, which usually leads us to seeking initiations by spiritual teachers who embody this irreversible state of openness. The gradual opening occurs through mediation, silence, the effect of the presence of a spiritual teacher, scriptures, and the momentum generated by an ongoing spiritual focus. All these make our being slowly diminish the thick borderline distinguishing us from the rest of existence.
Thus, the stages of opening begin with some initial awakening experience, while the second stage consists of an ongoing chain of many experiences that still come and go. This means that the Crown opens and closes interchangeably, until a certain point in which a deeper type of experience marks a shift in which our very identity moves from the individual to the cosmic. The more we establish ourselves in this cosmic, universal identity, the more we move to abide in the Crown Chakra.
After years of establishing our new home in the seventh Chakra, we finally fix it as our abode, which is traditionally regarded as liberation; the final release of our self-consciousness.
· The clinging to any belief from anyone claiming to be a wise person or shaman. This is based on their “pretty” words, not instinct or insight.
· The belief that we are far more wise and important than we are, and often these types will demand knowledge they are not intellectually equipped to handle or understand.
· Extreme actions in a desperate attempt to infer how wise or gifted they are, i.e., instead of a one day fast, one might do a five day fast. Instead of an hour of meditation, one might meditate five hours.
· Becoming addicted to rituals without fully understanding them or their function.
· Confusion.
· Lack of empathy toward spiritual beings, i.e., they feel spiritual people are fools for their beliefs.
· Materialism and greed.
· Closed mind to new concepts.
· Rigidity in what they do believe
· Boredom with their life and the inability to find meaningful beliefs.
Meditation
Most people use meditation as a way to balance their crown chakra. While meditation can be used to balance other chakras, it is fundamental in balancing the seventh. Meditation is a powerful way to connect with your spirit and relax your mind.
Overall Health
Caring for the body is vitally important. The mind does not function to its full capability if the health of the body is ignored. Eating correctly, exercise, being in nature, and stimulating the mind are all critical.
Looking Inward
Balance in this area requires solitude which is very difficult for some people. Many people who regularly practice solitude find the longer they are alone, the more creative they become.
Drumming & Rhythm
Drumming is helpful. Find a rhythmic cadence and drum away. Drumming has been used for thousands of years to bring us into balance.
Food
Fasting or juicing is often suggested for balancing the crown chakra. Drinking plenty of fluids aiding to detoxify the body
Aromatherapy Oils:
· Rosewood —Promotes faith and opens you up to spirituality.
· Sacred Frankincense — Helps you know your purpose in life. Promotes feelings of acceptance and love.
· Sandalwood—Quiets the mental chatter of the mind. Aids in meditation and spiritual contemplation.
· Lemon —Uplifts your mood and increases your energy.
Crystals
· Amythyst
· Quartz
· White Agate
Yoga Positions
· Lotus (Padmasana)
· Reclining Bound Angle (Supta Baddha Konasana)
· Supported Headstand ( Salamba Sirsasana)
· Tree Pose (Vrksasana)
Sounds can be described as wave-forms that vibrate at particular frequencies. When two wave-forms of similar frequency oscillate at the same rate it is called rhythm entrainment, sympathetic vibration, or more simply, resonance. “Two oscillating vibrations, if they are near enough to each other in frequency, will eventually entrain” Our own vibrations can influence the vibration of others, just as the gongs can influence our own frequency.
Whether you listen to the gongs online, a recording or in person, using the principal of entrainment the gongs’ pure and powerful harmonics soothe and slow your busy mind into a relaxed, meditative state while their vibrations gently shake up and loosen the energy debris from around or within the chakra centres.
This vibrational detox helps to restore the natural resonance and harmony throughout your physical and non-physical body resulting in an increase of energy and a return to vitality. By focussing on one chakra at a time, each gong bath allows the energy system of each chakra to cleanse and rebalance restoring the free flow of energy and symptoms associated with previous blockages.
😍 Join us for a live online session with the gongs to cleanse and re-balance the Crown and 7th Chakra, Wednesday 27th October (8pm – 9pm BST) as part of a series of online gong baths to cleanse and re-balance the chakras.
In addition, recordings of these live streamed experience are also available to purchase as well as one to one, in person gong baths with the gongs of your choice. We're based in Dunster, West Somerset. Email for more details here.
Selected gongs being played at this session will specifically include the Flower of Life and Jupiter Gongs. Both are healing, balancing gongs while their energy and frequencies assist with clearing and re-balancing the 7th chakra.
•All you need is to have somewhere quiet to sit or lie down, headphones/speakers, a blanket, pillow, eye-mask and anything else that will make you cosy, warm and comfortable!
To book your spot, visit: Sound-Well's Events and Booking Page Select the event of your choice and follow the booking process.
