Aromatherapy & the Solar Plexus Chakra

Chakra balancing has become such a regular part of my routine that I don't always think about new ways to work with them and keep them healthy.  Aromatherapy is a great addition to your chakra balancing practice.  As we continue on in the series, we're taking a look at the solar plexus chakra today. 

The Solar Plexus is located in the abdomen area (think the center of your stomach), and governs the liver, stomach, pancreas, upper intestines, and adrenals.  This chakra is associated with the element of Fire and the colors yellow and/or gold, and thus a connection to the Sun.  Yellow is said to stimulate intelligence centers in the brain.  Often associated with purification, the Solar Plexus helps you to rid yourself of things that are holding you back and make room for new & different opportunities. 

This chakra is often considered as "the seat of the Godhead", because this is your personal power base; here, you stand in your truth & resonate with your Higher Self.  It is all about the self: the ego, development of personal power, self-awareness, and self-confidence.  If imbalanced, you may experience feelings of rejection, depression, fear, and discouragement.  This can all lead to self-esteem issues as well. 

As with the other chakras, you can use essential oils and aromatherapy to keep your chakras healthy and spinning in the right direction.  To improve or maintain a positive self-image, you'll find frankincense, rose, rosewood, sandalwood, chamomile, and rosemary very useful.  If you're looking for something that's more physically supportive, try any of the following: peppermint, black pepper, lavender, lemon, ginger, cardamom, fennel, or rosemary.  All of these oils help to support digestion. 

Are there other essential oils or aromatherapeutic sources you've found helpful when working with the Solar Plexus?  Please comment below and share with us!

Namaste - 

Candace 

RedSunflower Designs

Chakra Meditation: How To Do It

Meditation is something that I personally use often to help keep life in perspective, figure out the best solutions to my problems, and generally relax and listen to my Higher Self.  For anyone unfamilar with meditation, here's the definition used by Wikipedia: Meditation refers to any practice in which the practitioner trains his or her mind or self-induces a mode of consciousness in order to realize some benefit.  I also am a firm believer and have experienced the benefits of keeping your chakras balanced and aligned.  So why not bring the two together, and create a meditation that focuses on your chakras?

By keeping each of the chakras balanced, you help to create harmony in your life, through areas like sexuality, relationships, love, truth, and spirituality. When these are out of balance, challenges tend to arise.  Here are some steps to follow to create your own chakra meditation: 

• Find a comfortable position and location in which to meditate, so that you won't be distracted.
• Concentrate on your breathing.  Take deep, slow breaths; this will allow your mind to focus on the task at hand.
• Begin at your root chakra, which is located at the base of your spine.  Envision red (most often associated with your root chakra) and concentrate on this chakra and area of your body for a couple of minutes or as long as necessary. This will create a connection between you and the earth.
• Move to your sacral chakra, located in the pelvic bowl. Envision orange and remain at the chakra for a while. This will assist in creativity and self-assuredness.
• Next is the solar plexus chakra, located around the center of your stomach. Envision yellow & concentrate on this area for a few moments. This will help you align with your inner strength and power.
• Move on to the heart chakra, located near the heart, in the center of your chest. Envision green or pink and focus on this area for as long as needed.  Keeping this chakra balanced helps you to experience and accept love of self and others.
• Move to your throat chakra. Envision blue and focus.  Be sure you're still breathing in slow, deep breaths.  Aligning this chakra helps you to speak your truth and feel heard.
• Your third eye chakra is located at the center of your forehead, between your brows.  Envision indigo or purple, and breath deeply until you feel this chakra is balanced.  This helps you to stay in tune with your Higher Self.
• The crown chakra, located at the top of your head, connects you to the Universe and your place in it.  Envision either bright white or my personal favorite, a spectrum of color, as if you're holding up a prism to the sun.  Remain focused on this chakra for a while.
• Let the energy flow out from your crown and down over your body. Once all chakras are aligned and balanced, you will envision all the chakras glowing, and spinning simultaneously. 

Feel free to make any adjustments you need to make this practice work for you.  If you envision the chakras as a different color than above, that's fine.  It's more that you feel that connection; these are the colors I envision, and tend to be the generally accepted associations.  Maybe you want to add some music to your practice.  I recommend something along the lines of spa music, nature sounds, or music specifically created for chakra meditation (you can easily find these on YouTube and/or iTunes).

What other things to you do incorporate into your chakra meditations?  Please comment below and share with us!

Namaste - 

Candace 

RedSunflower Designs

Aromatherapy & Balancing Your Chakras

Many people have heard of chakras, and you may even have an in-depth knowledge of what chakras are.  I've recently launched a line of Chakra Balancing Aromatherapy Oil Blends, and I'll be posting a blog each week, talking about each of the chakras, what they do, ways to keep them balanced, etc.  

But today, I want to do an intro, so to speak.  

Chakra means "wheel" in Sanskrit, is the term used for a nerve bundle in certain locations throughout the body.  It is also thought to be energy centers running throughout the body.  While this has been known in Hinduism and many Eastern cultures for hundreds or thousands of years, this is now being recognized in Western medicine.  The first writings regarding chakras go back to approximately 1000 B.C., and are strongly based in Hinduism.  There are 7 primary chakras (Root, Sacral, Solar Plexus, Heart, Throat, Third Eye, & Crown), and 21 lesser chakras.  Each chakra is thought to resemble a colored wheel, that is constantly spinning clockwise, when balanced.  

Now that you know what chakras are, let's move on to how aromatherapy can help you keep them balanced.

From a holistic viewpoint, we as humans are not only a physical body.  We contain many energy fields, which is where the chakras come in.  In aromatherapy, essential oils have a vibrational quality.  They also have energetic frequencies just as we do.  It is on this energy frequency that the oils first attract us, long before we sense the aroma or it enters our limbic system.  

By introducing an essential oil into the energetic field, your aura's will automatically begin to attune
to the frequency of that oil or oil blend.

Next week, we'll go over the root chakra and keeping it balanced.  Have a great weekend!

Candace

RedSunflower Designs

http://www.redsunflowerdesigns.etsy.com

New Product Offerings: Out with the Old, In with the New

I love Spring.  It's when life starts coming back into the world after the long, cold winter, and new beginnings abound.  A minimalist at heart, this is the time of year I start taking stock of what does and doesn't serve, and thinking about the direction I want things to go in for the year to come.  

If you follow me on Facebook, you know that I posted a note at the end of last week, advising of some items that I planned to discontinue, and some new items I'll be launching.  I generally assume with things like this that if no one says "WHOA! Don't do it!", then I'm in the clear.  Well, I've just gone through and done some Spring cleaning of both my Etsy site and my newly launched website, and removed the following products: 

• Mango Hair & Body Balm
• Bliss Bath Soak
• Della Dolce Vita Body Scrub
• Muse Bath Soak
• Island Orchard Body Scrub
• Practical Magic Lip Balms
• Cuticle Cream (if this goes it is being replaced by a Cuticle oil... thoughts?)
• certain scents from the Men's line: Cucumber, Almond
• Magickal Meanderings elemental line

I try to be sure I only remove or change things that are not big sellers.  Now, on to what is coming in the next month: 

• Scented shea butters.  The scents I have planned so far are: Tahitian Goddess, Coconut Lime, Island Vanilla, Rose, Chia, and Citrus Medley. 
• A "mommy and me" line.  This will consist of Belly Butter for expecting moms, Nipple Cream (totally safe for baby), all natural Baby Powder, Diaper Rash/Bum Cream for baby, and an all-natural room & linen spray.
• A Chakra line.  This will be oils that you can wear to align your chakras, during meditations, etc.
• New line of botanical perfumes/colognes (still in development).

I hope everyone will find the new products interesting, and won't be upset about those that are now discontinued.  

Namaste!

Candace

RedSunflower Designs

http://www.redsunflowerdesigns.etsy.com