Chakras.

Last Friday I attended a workshop taught by my yoga teacher on the subject of chakras, which I've always been curious to learn more about. There's a skeptical part of me that always figured they were nothing more than a lot of New Age hoohah, but I still approached the class with an open mind.



The instructor, Dave, was very keen on stressing the scientific basis for chakras, which fits into the larger scheme of the human energy field. In a nutshell, Yoda seems to have summed it up quite nicely when he said "luminous beings are we, not this crude matter." It's a fascinating and compelling notion, but I'm afraid to embrace it 100% for fear of becoming some kind of New Age flake. I already know that I'm a weirdo, but I'm not that kind of weirdo. So long as I don't start trading my Iron Maiden, Slayer and Tool cds for Enya, I think I'm all right (I will admit to liking Enya in small doses, however). Ani Difranco and Iggy Pop are also quite nice for remaining grounded.

It seems to me that yoga has been pretty well incorporated into mainstream thought; no one can deny the health benefits of practicing yoga regularly, which at a basic level doesn't require you to believe in anything too far out. Once you start talking about opening and balancing your chakras though, then you're skating into iffy territory.

Nevertheless, I remain open-minded with a desire to learn more. Who knows - maybe in another 20 or 30 years all of this chakra stuff will become incorporated into mainstream thought as well. I can feel the truth of this at an intuitive, gut level.

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In thinking about this, it's occurred to me that the chakras correspond to Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs. The color scheme on the pyramid below isn't part of Maslow's theory, but I find it very interesting that the person who made the diagram chose to color it this way.




This rainbow array of color also corresponds to the electromagnetic spectrum of visible light.



I found the prism image here, which also features lots of other seriously cool photographs. Check it out.

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Currently Playing: John Lennon, "Watching the Wheels"