Movement: Release Emotional Stagnation

We've all heard what exercise can do for your mood / sleep / long term health. All of those reasons & benefits are definitely relevant. But what if I told you there was a whole another bodily system that could be balanced & healed through movement?

Your Chakras are just as important as your skeletal / muscular / lymphatic systems. Doctors and mainstream society hardly mentions this system, but this system is responsible for how you project yourself into the world & for your long-term physical health. If you don't already understand where your 7 main chakras are & where they are located, I totally suggest you read up on it!

So how can we utilize movement to fix these invisible energy vortexes? There are so many ways (many traditional styles of yoga were actually created with these chakras in mind), but my favorite is this particular meditation I've fine tuned over the years. Start visualizing your root chakra & the principles of your life it governs: that aggressive / grounding / presence it provides. Think about what kind of movement your body is capable of to mimic that property. It might be stomping / pushups / running / boxing / or some kind of martial art. Do that movement & really focus on whether or not you are feeling the balance of those principles. You should have a mental awareness of strength & presence that goes all the way to your soul. Keep working with that chakra / movement until you feel right. This may mean that you need to think about how to give yourself more of that property or perhaps reign it in. This exercise is both mental & physical.

Now move through the rest of your chakras. You can do a quick version of this meditative movement or you could take hours with it. Whatever YOU feel. Here's a quick run down of the associations I make:

Root - Red - Survival - Running

Sacral - Orange - Sexuality & personality - seductive / creative movement (like belly dance)

Solar Plexus - Yellow - Confidence & Will - Climbing trees / walking in the sunshine

Heart - Green - Empathy - Gentle stretching

Throat - Blue - Communication - Singing (yes, this actually IS exercise)

Third Eye - Purple - Thought & Reality - Qi movements that channel environmental energies

Crown - Pink / Magenta - Self Affirmation / Spiritual - Quiet Meditation