The Seven Week Chakra Challenge--Keeping the Light in Your Crown Chakra

Dear Yin Weaver,

We are finally entering the seventh week of our Challenge! Congratulations! This week we will address the Crown chakra. Sahasrara rests at the top of the head. It is also called the Chakra of 1000 Petals, and is often pictured as a beautiful Lotus blossom. This chakra is the most subtle of all the chakras. It is the chakra of pure consciousness, transcendent awareness of, and union with, God.

Maybe you think only yogis sitting in caves who meditate 24 hours a day can open their Crown chakras. I suggest you think of it a little differently. We all have the capacity to open our Crown chakras to the fullest. Your fullest will look different from my fullest. But that doesn’t matter. Let’s see, how can I explain this?

Well, a story comes to mind of one of my favorite saints, Therese of Lisieux. In her "Autobiography of a Soul," she wrote

One day I expressed surprise that God does not give an equal amount of glory to all the elect in Heaven—I was afraid that they would not all be quite happy. [Pauline] sent me to fetch Papa’s big tumbler, and put it beside my tiny thimble, then, filling both with water, she asked me which seemed the fuller. I replied that one was as full as the other—it was impossible to pour more water into either of them, for they could not hold it. In this way Pauline made it clear to me that in Heaven the least of the Blessed does not envy the happiness of the greatest; and so, by bringing the highest mysteries down to the level of my understanding, she gave my soul the food it needed.

Let’s say Heaven is the state of consciousness that occurs when the Crown chakra is open. What does it matter if your Crown chakra is the size of a thimble or the size of a rain barrel? It’s full of the awareness of the "Love in which we are made and the Love in which we disappear!” Blissed-out (blessed) are you! Hooray!

Well, we could all stand to be more blissed-out, don’t you think? Certainly a daily meditation practice will help you reach that goal eventually. But what about something you can do on the quick to support the flow of Crown chakra energy throughout the day? I’m going to suggest Donna Eden’s Crown Pull as our Chakra Challenge this week Here’s out it goes…

• Start with both hands on the sides of your head, place your thumbs on temples and bring your fingers forward to rest your fingertips on your forehead just above the center of your eyebrows.
• Inhale deeply .
• Breathe out; simultaneously press down and pull your fingers from the center of your forehead to the side of your face.
• Place your fingers at your hairline and repeat the pull.
• Place your fingers at the top of your head; breath in and as you breathe out push down and pull your hands apart to just above the ears. Rest your fingers at the crown chakra, and repeat the pull
• Continue these pulls down the back of the head
• Place your fingers at the base of your skull with your thumbs where your head meets your neck. On the out breath, pull your hands apart to just under your ears.
• The final pull – Place your fingers where your neck meets your shoulders and pull forward – over the shoulders. Let them hang while you gently rotate your neck.

Trust me, this is easier to do than it looks like on paper.

Personally, I like to imagine my Crown chakra is an Observatory, and the Crown Pull opens it to take in all the vastness of Heaven pouring its light down on me. But it has practical applications, too. Got a headache? Crown Pull! Need to clear your mind? Crown Pull! You can’t overdo the Crown Pull exercise, so have fun with it.

And as always, let me know what you think.

Blessings,
Rose