How To Open the Heart Chakra With Quartz Crystal Singing Bowls

Learn How to Use Quartz Crystal Singing Bowls to Balance the Heart Chakra

The chakra system is the main energy system of the body, and our chakras are like the organs of our spiritual body, much like our physical body has organs that are vital to our health and physical well-being. It is important to keep our chakras healthy, balanced and flowing, and we do this by using tools such as quartz crystal singing bowls, which have special properties of healing and regeneration. The heart chakra is an important chakra in its own right and it is essential that we keep it flowing freely, especially when it comes to improving the areas of love and relationships in our lives. Read on to learn more about what the heart chakra is for and how to use quartz crystal singing bowls to balance this important energy center.

What Is the Heart Chakra?

The heart chakra is the fourth chakra in the chakra system, and is located just about where it sounds - in the center of our chest, near our heart. It governs the heart, circulatory system, blood, lungs, breasts, diaphragm and rib cage. This chakra is the center for love, and from it we learn the lessons of forgiveness, compassion, trust, generosity, and of course, unconditional love. If this important center is imbalanced, you may be overcome with feelings of self-pity, fear of getting hurt, and may have trouble releasing old emotional wounds and heartbreaks. A person with a healthy, open, and flowing heart chakra will be especially compassionate, nurturing, optimistic, and will have an easy time being loved by and loving other people.

Balancing Your Heart Chakra With Crystal Singing Bowl Meditation

The note associated with the heart chakra is F, and its color is green or pink. Balancing this chakra can be accomplished easily with a simple meditation and your crystal singing bowl. Since crystal singing bowls are tuned to a specific note, make sure you have one tuned to the note of F. Set aside a special time and place for your meditation where you will be undisturbed for about 15 minutes. Take some deep relaxing breaths until you feel calm and centered. When you are ready, strike your singing bowl on its rim three times, and then begin playing it by running the striker around the rim. As you play, inhale deeply and direct your attention and your awareness to your heart area. Feel yourself filling up with love and compassion for yourself. To help this process along, you may repeat some affirmations to yourself. Examples of heart chakra affirmations are:

I deeply and truly love and approve of myself.
I trust in love.
I open my heart to love.
I follow the path of the heart.
I forgive those who need forgiving for not being what I wanted them to be.
When you feel filled up with well-being, visualize this feeling radiating outwards towards those you are close to, like friends, lovers, and family members. Imagine that they are also being surrounded and filled up with love and compassion. After visualizing the people close to you, extend this love and compassion out to others that you do know, then people you don't know and outwards until you feel yourself send out love to all inhabitants of the world.

When you are finished with this meditation, you may stop playing your crystal singing bowl and then strike it three times to signal the end of your heart chakra meditation.

What To Do With a Guided Meditation Script? 15 Ideas and More

If you think that there's not much that you can do with a guided meditation script, think again. Here's a list of things you can do, and it's just the tip of the iceberg.

Relax at the end of the day.

Get your mind focused for the day.

Recuperate and restore your vitality.

Get in touch with and heal the past.

Project your desires into the future and plan your path through life.

Brainstorm ideas by stepping away from mental filters.

Sharpen your intuition.

Overcome a fear.

Become a more loving person.

Eliminate mental clutter.

Get some good, old-fashioned quiet time.

Reconnect with the Divine.

Study topics by interacting with them internally.

Branch out in new directions with newfound clarity.

Bring to the surface wanted character traits and reconcile unwanted ones.

As I said, it's just the tip of the iceberg. Your guided meditation script is limited only by your creativity.

One thing that I would like to suggest is that you not go overboard with lots of different meditations. Doing so tends to garble the message. I would suggest just doing one or two a day, preferably at morining and/or at night. If you write a whole bunch of different meditations and then run through them all in the same day it probably won't have as good a result as if you used just one guided meditation script per day, or maybe two.

One neat thing about writing your own script is that you can customize the imagery. You can do a guided meditation leading you up to an event, and then another meditation to help you resolve it afterwards.

As you can see, meditation doesn't have to be some obtrusive, annoying, do-it-because-you-have-to chore. Instead, if you find or write good ones, you can use a guided meditation script to enhance just about any aspect of your life.

Over time you may find that the practice of meditation blends into your practice of life. The benefits of meditation aren't limited to certain times, and a meditative mindset isn't limited to a practiced meditation technique. Instead you reach a point where you can access your resources at will, and find that your mind is much sharper and harder to put off balance. As with any skill, it is difficult to see it develop day-by day, but start of with a guided meditation script, and check back with yourself a month or two from now and see how you are doing. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

What Do All the Aromatherapy Scents Mean?

In setting up a meditation area for relaxation, or for use in yoga classes, many people use incense, candles and/or essential oils. Scent is a powerful and wonderful tool that can be used to fill a space or our bodies with qualities and symbolism to match the intentions or goals for any practice.

Sometimes, during Savasana (or corpse pose), one on the most relaxing parts of yoga practice where the body is completely relaxed, many instructors use scent in the room to aid in relaxation. My personal yoga instructor, for example, dabs a tiny drop of lavender oil on our necks during Savasana, Lavender has many properties to help soothe and relax,

So what kind of scents are available and what does one use? It really depends on what your goals are for that particular meditation or yoga session. Are you trying to relieve stress? Then you might use Lavender....Have you been fighting a cold? Then you might try Hyssop. Are you trying to gain energy and wake up? Then you might use Lemon or Peppermint.

Here is a list of some common essential oils and what they mean or what they can help achieve to get your started on your way to setting up the right mood or intention for your practice.

Lemon - Lemon is an energizer also helping as a disinfectant. It also has natural bleaching qualities. Along with that, it also serves as an energizer. The oil is extracted from the rind and juice of lemon and has a rich, fruity and warm scent.

Lavender - Lavender is a great stress reliever, promoting peace and well-being. Because of it's stress relieving ability and can be used to treat anxiety, insomnia and stomach aches. The oil is extracted from the flowering spikes of lavender and has a sweet, floral and slightly sharp scent. As mentioned earlier, this is a great scent for savasana,

Hyssop - Hyssop has been around for centuries. It has healing properties that have been used by many throughout the years. It helps with cold and flu. It can also be used as a skin-improving agent, helping fight against blemishes.

Jasmine - known for its relaxing and soothing properties and can be, at times, used as an aphrodisiac as well. The oil is extracted from jasmine flowers and has a heavy and sweet dreamy scent. (Another good option for savasana!)

Basil - Helps with concentration. Also used in a wide variety of problem such as upset stomach, headache, flatulence, low appetite, lack of concentration, abrasions, sinus, muscle aches, migraine, gout and bronchitis. The oil is extracted from flowering tops and leaves of basil and has a sweet and spicy scent.

Chamomile - Used to promote sleep, relaxation and meditation. (That's why so many people have a cup of chamomile tea at bedtime!) It's relaxation properties and can be used to treat indigestion, peptic ulcers, nervousness, menstrual cramps, sore throat, burns and skin inflammations, vaginal infections, insomnia, sunburn, hay fever and sprains. The oil is extracted from chamomile flower heads and has a sweet, fruity and floral scent.

Sandalwood - This scent is popular for incense burning and is still burned in many homes today. It is a very sweet woody scent helping promote relaxation and spiritual harmony. Also, help with dry hair and skin. It can also be used to treat depression, dry skin, nausea, skin problems and stress. The oil is extracted from sandalwood itself and has an exotic and slightly spicy scent.

Rose - There are many different types of roses. They all have some differences in healing properties. Rose oil has soothing and calming abilities and can be used to treat scurvy and nervousness. It also promotes the feelings of love and peace. The oil is extracted from petals, hips and root bark of rose and has a light, sweet and floral scent.

Peppermint - A true energizer. Often used to help with muscle aches, fatigue, pain, gas, sore throat, digestive problems, stomach ulcers and nausea. The oil is extracted from leaves of peppermint plant and has a minty scent.

Eucalyptus - Powerful decongestant. Used for centuries to help with cold symptoms. It also has antiseptic qualities and can be used to treat nasal and chest congestion, asthma, sore muscles, cuts and abrasions. The oil is extracted from eucalyptus leaves and has a strong, fresh and minty scent.

Ginger - An energizing scent, ginger is widely used to help with nausea.

Nutmeg - Used by some to help with sleep and indigestion.

But what if your intentions are specific? What can scent do to solidify your practice intentions? If you are in a troubled relationship and need to evoke positive feelings towards that relationship, you might initiate a meditation session surrounding love and focus on that to heal that relationship. In this case you would have several choices of scent to aid in that intention.

Here are several themes and ways you can specifically gear your practice using scent:

Love, Companionship & Relationship

The scents of apple, cinnamon, clove, copal, gardenia, jasmine, lavender, musk, orange, patchouli, peppermint, rain, rose, vanilla, white jasmine, and ylang-ylang essential oil signify the different aspects of a relationship, such as love, companionship, affection and adoration.

Goals, Gains, Money & Success

The scents that signify material success, along with money, profits and aims, include the fragrance of allspice, almond, bergamot, basil, cinnamon, clover, dill, honeysuckle, lemon, pine, red ginger and sage essential oils.

Protection, Harmony & Well Being

Signifying the overall harmony of a person are the scents of angelica, basil, bay, bayberry, carnation, cinnamon, clove, coconut, dill, dragon's blood, eucalyptus, frankincense, gardenia, geranium, heather, juniper, lilac, myrrh, narcissis, sandalwood and violet essential oils.

Inspiration, Psychic Awareness & Intuition

If you are looking for essential oils with scents that signify inspiration, psychic awareness and intuition; anise, cedar, chamomile, cinnamon, eucalyptus, frankincense, green tea, lavender, lemongrass, lime, lotus, musk, myrrh, peppermint, pine, rosemary, sandalwood, and valerian essentials oils will be the best bet.

Chakras

Maybe your focus is to work on one of the seven Chakras that is of concern for you. The word Chakra is Sanskrit for wheel or disk. It signifies one of seven basic energy centers in the body which are the openings for life energy to flow into and out of our aura. Each of these centers correlates to major nerve within our spinal column. In addition, the Chakras also correlate to levels of consciousness, archetypal elements (Jungian concepts), developmental stages of life, colors, sounds, body functions, and more. Aromatherapy oils aimed at specific Chakras can be used in healing or working on those areas of concern during your meditation or yoga practices.

A Simple Strategy To Start Meditating Right Now

Here is a simple strategy to begin meditating tomorrow morning.

Meditation isn't some mystical journey whereas you are required to become a Zen or Buddhist master. Meditation is simply staying in one place quietly, eventually learning to be in the present moment until it becomes natural.

Living in the present moment is the beginning to ending the mindless clatter and worries that are constantly bombarding you. Meditation teaches you to ignore self destructive thoughts and become at peace with ones selves, warts and all.

My meditation techniques are based on the practices of Pema Chodron.

Find a quiet room away from your bedroom. Sit upright, hands on lap, legs crossed and focus on a spot 4 to 5 feet in front of you. Concentrate on your outer breath as a way of focusing the mind. When a thought arises, label it as "thinking" and go back to concentrating on your outer breath. Let your thoughts go over and over again by labeling them as thinking. Continue to relax and allow whatever thoughts to arise without labeling them good or bad. Return to your outer breath.

Try to perform this exercise 15 minutes a day to start. After a while you will notice that you can return to the present moment easier. This is one of the best ways to reduce the stress caused by over thinking and worrying.

Breath Meditation: The Ways in Which Breath Meditation May Help You Enhance Your General Well Being

Now I'd like to share with you my favorite form of meditation, called "breath meditation." I believe it is one of the most powerful, yet one of the easiest, meditations to learn.

Before we begin, let's talk a bit about the mind. The mind is made up of wave patterns. When we think, it causes wave patterns to occur in the brain. There are four main types of brain waves. The pattern we are normally in when awake and thinking is called "beta wave" or "beta state." When we are dropping off to sleep and the mind begins to quiet, that is "alpha state." When we are asleep or quietly meditating, that is "theta state." The deepest state of sleep or of meditation (where there is no body awareness) is called "delta state."

The goal in meditation is to get you to the theta/delta stage. I have found that the breath meditation technique is one of the most effective ways to get to the deeper levels of meditation and still the mind. Most people who are new to meditation and are trying a variety of ways to meditate will vacillate between the beta and alpha states in their initial practice. These stages of meditation are relaxing and a wonderful experience, but as with all things in life, the more you practice, the better you will get. Eventually you will desire to quiet the mind at the theta/delta levels and will go to the deeper realms of meditation to achieve this stage.

Now let's talk about this effective and helpful way to quiet the mind, called "breath meditation." It can also be the most challenging way, because although it's simplistic, it is not always easy to do. It is easy to learn but sometimes difficult to practice.

In this form of meditation, you simply "follow your breath." Just observe your breathing with no mantra, no prayer word, just simple and quiet noticing of the breath. How it works is that you sit up straight in a quiet, comfortable place with your feet on the floor or legs crossed. As you sit there, watch or take notice of your breath. Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, and breathe out. You can breathe in through your mouth or your nose, it doesn't' matter. The only thing that matters is paying attention to your breath.

If something distracts you, simply come back to your breathing. When strenuous or uncomfortable thoughts arise (come to the surface), don't try to ignore them or push them away but instead acknowledge them and go back to observing your breathing. Allow your attention to focus on that. Acknowledge any distractions, without being annoyed by them, and simply direct your awareness back to your breath. Eventually, thoughts will diminish, your mind will get quiet, and your brain patterns will begin to be at those deeper levels. You will find a deep peace that you may have never experienced before. Stresses will dissolve, and a sense of well-being will envelop you.

I encourage you to try the breath meditation and to practice it often. I also strongly suggest you meditate twice a day, once first thing in the morning and again just before bed at night. I find these times to be the easiest to make into a habit. We can meditate any time of the day or night, but it's best to make a point of doing it twice daily and to establish a routine of morning and evening meditation. A sense of peace will develop in your life with regular practice. In my experience, breath meditation is one of the most powerful meditations in the universe.

Sleeping Meditation

Several years ago I found myself struggling to get to sleep. In order to combat this I came up with my own meditation. Give it a try when you next lie in bed. It is pleasant and comforting, and works every time for me!

As you lie comfortably on your bed focus on your breathing. Count each out breath until yo reach 10, the start again at 1. Do this for about 5 minutes.

When you are nicely relaxed, imagine the sensation of slowly and calmly rising out of your body. Now imagine gently rising to the ceiling. Observe what the room looks like from this perspective. Now imagine turning around to view yourself lying in bed. Take notice of how you look, how your bed looks and how the room looks.

When you are ready, visualise yourself floating out of your house. Take notice of how your house and street look from this view point. Notice certain landmarks that exist. Perhaps you can smell certain smells. Feel the pleasant wind on your face and body. Notice how this relaxes you. Now you may float off to somewhere you find relaxing and calming. It could be a beach, a garden, somewhere you have visited before, a "happy place". Notice the trees, lakes or sea as you travel.

When you get to your destination, try to really experience the delights of your tranquil place. Use your senses of taste, touch, smell, sound and sight. You will soon drift off into a pleasant sleep. Enjoy!