Meditation and the Energy Centres, known as "Chakras".

“Meditation is not a means to an end.
It is both the means and the end.”
Krishna Murthi

The practice of meditation is very beneficial; it focuses the mind, clears the senses and relaxes the body. It recharges the body leaving you feeling revitalised and calm. The practice of any form of meditation such as colour breathing is a powerful tool to de-stress yourself.

In the East, it was realised centuries ago that peace of mind is achieved by going within and not from external sources.
Happiness should come from within and not be reliant on possessions, relationships or other external stimuli. Krishna Murthi also said that “Meditation is the action of silence” and “to meditate is to be innocent of time.” Jesus meditated for forty days and forty nights; the Buddha is often depicted in meditation poise and many other great spiritual leaders have demonstrated for aeons that to meditate brings balance to your mind-body-spirit.

Meditation is a skill which needs to be mastered; many people find it difficult to quiet the mind to a point of stillness. Colour Breathing has been designed specifically to help the mind find quiet focus and inner peace. Although the practice of meditation is intrinsically linked with Yoga practice, it is not necessary to have any knowledge of yoga to benefit from colour breathing – albeit in our trials in 1999/2000, we had three yoga teachers participating who found the disks really useful as a tool for focus and they requested some sets of the colour breathing disks* to use in their classes.

The Chakras and our Aura –the subtle anatomy

“These flowers are the sense organs of the soul.”
Rudolf Steiner

The Sanskrit word “Chakra” means “wheel”. As we know, wheels are circular in shape and turn or spin on their axis. Chakras are also often described as being like lotuses. The lotus is a very beautiful flower with many delicate petals. The chakras are similar to a lotus flower and a wheel in that they unfold their individual petals and works outwards from the centre.

Chakras have been written about and documented in a spiritual sense for many thousands of years and scientific enquiry is now starting to confirm these age-old beliefs.

In 1974, Dr Hiroshi Motoyama was recognised as being one of the world’s top parapsychologists. Being both a scientist and Shinto priest, Motoyama has wide respect for his authority in both fields. He was also the founder of the International Association for religion and Parapsychology. Motoyama developed a Chakra instrument which was designed to detect minute electrical, magnetic and optical changes which occur in the immediate environment of the experimental subject. His experiments concluded that “mental concentration on a chakra activates it.”

There are seven major chakra sites and these sites represent the body’s major systems: excretion, reproduction, digestion, circulation, respiration and the complex functions of cognition. Chakras are energy centres and whirlpools of energy activity in our subtle anatomy. The subtle anatomy is that which we can feel but may not be able to detect with the naked eye. What is important is to know that with practice and meditation we can certainly develop our sensitivity enough to be able to learn how to feel them, as many experienced yoga practitioners are able to do. For instance, in the twenty first century, we don’t doubt the existence of radio waves even though we are unable to see them with the naked eye.

The word “aura” is quite commonplace in the twenty first century. Spiritual traditions have for a very long time believed that all living matter has an energy field. Great spiritual beings and angels have been depicted for thousands of years as having a light body surrounding them. In the twentieth century, specialist “Kirlian photography” has revealed there is a subtle body for plant, tree, animal and human alike. Many people believe the different colours which we emanate can give an indication as to our health status or mental/emotional wellbeing. This may well be the reason why we can become instantly attracted to someone if their auric field resonates with our own.

This is only a brief summary about meditation and the chakras and aura as it is not necessary to believe in or know about the systems for colour breathing to help you relax. There are many specialist books on the aura and chakra system, some of which are recommended at the end of this section. Below we have created two charts which give related information about each chakra.

Appendix I: The Chakras

Colour Breathing Disks™	Traditional Name	Location	Purpose	Symbols	Metal	Sense
Magenta	Sahasrara	Top and centre of head	Wisdom	Lotus 1000-Petaled lotus	Gold	Contemplation and enlightenment
Purple	Ajna	Between the eyes	Imagination	Star of David 96-Petaled lotus	Silver	Intuition
Blue	Vishuddha	Throat area	Communication	Cup/chalice 16-Petaled lotus	Murcury	Auditory
Green	Anahata	Centre of chest	Relating and sharing	Cross 12-Petaled lotus	Copper	Auditory
Yellow	Manipura	Stomach area	Balance	Circle 10-Petaled lotus	Iron	Sight
Orange	Svadhisthana	Slightly above reproductive organs	Intimacy	Pyramid 6-Petaled lotus	Tin	Taste
Red	Maludhara	Base of spine	Survival	Square 4-Petaled lotus	Lead	Smell

Copyright © Alison Bourne2004

Appendix ll : The Chakras