Healing the Heart

This past week's chakra in the class I am teaching has been the heart.

This old organ, overused, underused,
misunderstood, misplaced, mistaken, shaken
strong, not strong enough, still
and always
in the center
waiting
steady in listening
to its own
music, tha-rum, tha-rum, tha-rum.

Last week's class felt simple and subtle. One person shifted from trying to do what she thought she should be doing to what her heart already knew how to do.

Issues that arose: Who and what do we love? Who and what are we ready to forgive?

The Power of the Third Chakra

Moving on up, we have arrived this week at the third chakra in the chakra course I am teaching.

The third chakra is located at the solar plexus.

This is the 'energy pump' for the rest of the energy body, as well as the place where we experience our individual power. Power is a word that is rife with connotation, some good, some bad, but if we think of the power of the third chakra in a more neutral way, like the power provided by a lightbulb in a dark room, or the power of an engine in a car, we can detach a bit from the 'ego' part of power and still allow ourselves to appreciate our own uniqueness, individuality and the ability to manifest that in the world.

Here is my favorite quote, from Marianne Williamson, about manifesting our own power:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Leonard Breger, Harry Cohen and the Question of Art

We all know that most art is questionable.

So in my latest video of my artist friend Leonard Breger, Leonard and his friend Harry Cohen have some fun making art and asking important art questions. There is also music by Beethoven, a glimpse of Laurel and Hardy, and some sexy legs on San Francisco's Bernal Hill.

Enjoy.

Second Chakra: The Passion of Orange

Last week was an orange week. First the flickering orange of Halloween pumpkin light decorating the steps and windows of city buildings, then the Giants winning the World Series and the streets of downtown San Francisco erupting in crowds of fans wearing the orange and black colors of the team, and of course the burnt and brilliant oranges and golds of autumn warming the autumn sky. ( And autumn IS warm in San Francisco--it's our Indian Summer.)

Orange is also the traditional color of the second chakra, which was our focus in the last class. Someone asked me yesterday how the chakras got associated with certain colors. I have no idea. To me it just seems to be a logical progression--the denser lower chakras are associated with the denser, warmer colors and the higher,lighter chakras with the cooler blues and purples. One person I read has an interesting theory about the colors moving from the hot red lava of the center of the earth (first chakra) out through the warm orange and yellow of the second and third to the green of the grass growing on the earth's surface on to the blues and indigos and purples of the sky.

Whatever its origin, orange seems an appropriate color for this chakra having to do with creativity, sexual relationship and emotion. It is traditionally where we hold and express our passion, as well as any conflicts or obstacles associated with areas of our life that we are passionate about. The class, appropriately enough, felt lighter and warmer and more playful than the very grounded first chakra class last week.

Naturally, we all reflected on successes and obstacles associated with our own creativity and to creating meaningful and appropriate relationships. I am always astonished at how quickly, when given a chance, our own intuition can deliver up insight and direction.

In my own meditation, I was offered a gift--a ripe and juicy orange.

It's helpful to remember that this passionate gift of creativity and meaningful relationship is always there, all around us, ready to be peeled and tasted.