Connecting to our inner guidance is a powerful journey and takes a lot of courage and introspection to be able to build this connection. Technically, it never left but a lot of us live in our mind and have lost this inner guidance, which has also been called our "Higher Self". Our "Higher Self" is the wisdom within us that points us in the right direction and has our full support. Unfortunately, we normally listen to our mind, which is trying to keep you safe. It is living from a place of fear. Your Higher Self lives in a place of love, which gives it deep wisdom that can become available to you with practice and being open-minded. One of the best ways to tap into your Higher Self is by opening the crown chakra. You maybe wondering, what is a chakra?
The chakras were first discovered in India thousands of years ago. The word chakra in Sanskrit essentially means “spinning disc”. Chakras are energy wheels within your body. There are seven main chakras: root chakra, sacral chakra, solar plexus charka, heart chakra, throat chakra, third eye chakra, and the crown chakra. They are separate yet connected to the physical and energetic body. These spinning discs support and process energy that flow through you.
Each chakra is associated with different aspects of your life and self, they keep us in balance and aligned. When a chakra is blocked and there are many reasons why a chakra can be blocked, these discs are no long spinning at a healthy capacity. Below gives you a better understanding of the crown chakra, what it looks like when it is blocked and how to open it and connect with your Higher Self.
Crown Chakra (Sahasrara)
Meaning: Thousand petals or infinite
Colour: Violet
Symbol: Lotus Flower
Element: All
Energy Type: Neutral
Animal: Egg
Summary
The crown chakra is the seventh chakra focusing on spirituality, wisdom, and connection. It awakens through openness of a higher power. The colour of the crown chakra is violet and located on top of your head. The thousand petal lotus associated with the crown chakra opens doors to a world of possibilities and higher consciousness. The crown chakra is a bridge that connects the physical with your higher self and the non-physical realms.
Symbol
The symbol of the crown chakra depicts a circle with a thousand petals lotus flower marking the blossoming consciousness that unlocks the door to enlightenment. It signifies wisdom and patience. The 16 petals that surround the crown chakra symbol highlights the 16 stages of development.
Is your crown chakra in balance?
When the crown chakra is in balance, you feel an overall sense of connection to everyone and everything around you. You feel guided in life by something greater than yourself.
Do you find peace within yourself easily?
Do you recognize your self-worth?
Are you highly intuitive?
Are you able to not take things personally?
Do you have a purpose in life?
Do people consider you to be wise?
Are you devoted to the well-being of others?
Do you believe/have faith in the universe is there to support you?
Do you believe that everything happens for a reason?
Do you believe in something greater than yourself?
Do you have an overactive crown chakra?
An overactive crown chakra can come out through religious extremists, human superiority, close-minded, judgement, or cynicism.
Do you have a blocked crown chakra?
If you have a blocked crown chakra, you may have a lack of inspiration. You may feel lonely or disconnected from others and yourself. You may be closed minded to other’s ideas. You may be skeptical or cynical, using these tactics as a defence mechanism to shield yourself from being vulnerable to others and open yourself to believing in something higher than yourself. You may feel that you lack purpose in life or direction.
Lack of purpose: When we don’t feel our life serves a purpose, it can make us feel helpless, directionless and out of sorts. It may cause depression and unworthiness. When we don’t have a purpose in life, we can start to drift through life instead of creating our own destiny.
Abandonment: A feeling of being alone or abandoned can weigh heavily upon you. A lot of us fear that we are not good enough or not worthy of love so we push others away. We create a self-fulfilling prophecy of closing off to the world and others because we fear that they will not love us. When we believe in nothing, we can start to feel empty because we are not in connection with something greater than ourselves.
Worry: When we are in a state of worry we are coming from a place of fear. The fear comes from not trusting ourselves or not trusting the universe. Mistrust and worry creates a state of fear and scarcity within our lives. These negative thoughts have a lower vibration and when we become drawn into these negative thoughts and feelings, you can start to manifest those fears.
Control: Do you try to control every aspect of your life? Sometimes we try to control because we feel a lack of control within ourselves. Welcome from a place of fear and ironically, start to lose more control as we grip tighter to gain it back. It is when we let go of control and the fear behind it that we can start to bring balance back into our life. What are the physical symptoms?
Physical symptoms of a blocked crown chakra may include migraines or headaches, depression, detachment, exhaustion, insomnia, or neurological disorders.
How do you clear a blocked crown chakra?
Finding your higher purpose: A way to help clear a blockage of the crown chakra is start by finding what makes you happy. Finding your passion doesn’t mean you have to give up your day job. You could have passion projects, volunteer on weekends, and have a side business that fulfills your purpose.
Finding your passion and what makes you tick is vital to opening your crown chakra and understanding how you are going to go about getting it.
Faith: One of the main things to help you to connect with your spiritual side is through faith. The ability to trust in the universe and belief in something higher than yourself will help you to connect and open your crown chakra. The crown chakra is about continued belief and trust in the universe. When the darkness comes and you cannot see the light, you know it is there.
Courage: It takes courage to believe in something you cannot see. When you follow your spiritual guidance, you align yourself with the universe. Sometimes it takes a leap of faith to start following your own path. When you couple finding your higher purpose and have the courage to follow it, something beautiful starts to open up within yourself.
Devotion: Connecting to the divine by creating an inner practice of meditation and allowing guidance to help you on your path. To be devote is to create a consistent ritual that helps you connect to your higher self. To meditate consistently on a daily basis will help you to begin your ritual in the morning. Set your morning so you can move through the day on the right step with gratitude.
Being present: Most of the time our mind is on autopilot and cannot see the gifts that are right in front of us. When you become more present and have the ability to slow down, you are able to appreciate more within your life. You have more connection and able to see the guidance that is being shown to you from a higher guidance. However, if you are rushing around from point A to B, you will miss the signs the universe is trying to show you. You will not be able to be fully present to receive the wisdom within yourself unless you appreciate where you are in the exact moment. This leads to the path of wholeness and you start to move from unconsciousness to consciousness.
Yoga for Crown Chakra
Yoga can play an important role in helping to strengthen chakras. As with meditating, yoga helps to calm your mind and open up your body through breathing. The following yoga poses focus on opening the crown chakra:
· Makarasana (Crocodile pose)
· Parsvakonasana (Side angle pose)
· Sasangasana (Rabbit pose)
· Ardha padmasana (Half Lotus)
· Vrikshasana (Tree pose)
Crystals
The energetic life force of crystals can be your ally in assisting with opening chakras. Crystals associated with the crown chakra help you to open up spiritually to a higher power. The crystals below are associated with the crown chakra and can assist in removing blockages.
Selenite: Helps to bring clarity to confusion. It also has the ability to clear the energy of other crystals. It stimulates mental energy, healing and assists in opening communication with our higher self.
Clear Quartz: This crystal is known as the “Master Healer”. It can help to enhance psychic abilities and clairvoyance. This crystal has the ability to harmonize all chakras.
Satyaloka Azeztulite: A powerful crystal with high vibrations. It helps to communicate with higher dimensions and has the ability to enhance one’s own connection with your higher self.
Breathwork
Using this open-mouth breath technique can help to open up chakras. It is an active breath that releases stagnant energy within the body. This stagnant energy can contribute to blocked chakras and this type of breathing can be helpful to open the crown chakra by connecting to the divine.
Opening Sensations
When your crown chakra is open, you may have a tingling sensation on top of your head. It may feel like someone is lightly waving their hand above your head. This is the energy of the chakra moving above your head.
Meditation
Combining meditation with visualization is a powerful way to open your chakras. The more your imagination can use its creative imagery to paint a world of possibilities, the more you become fully immersed in the meditation. Listen to the free guided audio meditation to assist in opening your crown chakra.
Affirmations
“I am connected to a higher power”
“I am connected to the central sun”
“I am divinely guided”
“I am open to spiritual guidance.”
“I am living my divine purpose”
“I am connected to my higher self.”
“My higher self guides me for my highest good.”
“I am connected to source”
“I have faith in the universe to guide me to live my fullest potential”
“I am fearlessly following my own path.”