Chakras: A Look at Our Evolution in Consciousness
If you haven’t already noticed, our energetic environment is rapidly changing. Life is becoming more challenging and we need new tools to navigate these changes. I’d like to take you on a journey through the chakras to get a better understanding of where we’re at in our consciousness as a collective group.
Our seven major chakras are always developing. In some respects, we need to develop them from the 1st or root chakra upwards. The 1st chakra is our foundation, the solid rock that we build our home, but we can also do some development from the top down. After all, our 7th or crown chakra is our connection to Source, and from this chakra (located on the top of the head) we can pull in very high vibrations of unconditional love and light for healing. In fact, we are wired to draw in energy from Source but most of us rarely access this powerful tool for self development.
The first three chakras represent our physical world, so to begin, we will look at how these three chakras have shaped our history and how our history has shaped them.
1st Chakra
Physical survival; Basic necessities of life; Fear is the emotion when this chakra is in disharmony.
In the 1950’s we started to make a shift. In Canada at least, we began a collective journey moving from the 1st chakra to higher states of consciousness. The 1st chakra represents our physical survival. Energetic disruptions in this area are often associated with struggling for basic necessities such as food, shelter, health or safety. Experiences of abandonment like being separated from a mother at birth due to her death, being unwanted, neglected or even being placed in medical isolation as an infant register as threats in the 1st chakra. Living in a volatile or abusive home when growing up or not having a consistent place to call home is also disruptive to the 1st chakra and can leave a deep feeling of pain and fear behind.
The technological advances of the 50's started to make survival of the community much easier. In 1949 Saskatchewan farming set itself up for mass irrigation to mitigate drought. The Polio vaccine came into use in 1955 and we learned how to prevent the spread of pandemics. But even though the usual threats of famine and disease were being reduced through technology, we were still programmed with a tribal mindset. We needed to fit in because being ousted from our tribe or our family made survival very difficult if not impossible. The influence to fit into the group programmed us to tow the line and not rock the boat in our families because of the consequences we might face. It's caused many Empaths and healers leading the way to a new future, great angst and discomfort, asking themselves, "What will happen to me if I don't participate in the accepted mindset of my tribe?"
The 60’s and 70’s had the answer. The hippie movement created a rupture of old paradigms and allowed for new freedom of thought and self exploration. The hippies protested war and advocated for peace. They attempted to shift the fear-based survival mentality of the 1st chakra to something more loving. The only problem was that we hadn't developed our chakra systems enough yet to make it all the way to the 4th chakra, which is where we experience love and peace. What they did accomplish though, was an opening for the collective group to make a break from the tribal mindset and move onward and upward in our chakra journey. Individuality was getting ready to blossom, but before that could happen, we needed to become familiar with the balance between our emotional needs and other's emotional needs.
2nd Chakra
Emotions; My emotional needs vs your emotional needs; Guilt is the emotion when this chakra is in disharmony.
The 1980’s ushered in the 2nd chakra consciousness where emotional healing became the rage. We saw our parents as the villains who wounded us emotionally. The reality was that the older generations energetic systems were still programmed for 1st chakra survival rather than the emotional wellness of the 2nd chakra so they had a hard time relating to the younger, more sensitive souls. Kids were being born with new aura colours marking an influx of higher vibration energy systems, while the old generation aura colours became obsolete. It was as though we had suddenly upgraded from Ford trucks to Ferraris and with that came physical and emotional sensitivities. Allergies and environmental illness exploded before we learned that we now needed a higher grade oil for our fast and complex cars. In a few more years we'd see gluten and dairy free options in our grocery stores in order to address these high vibration beings that were now coming to the planet in great numbers. People often mistakenly think that our parents should be the example that we follow but evolution doesn't really work that way. The younger generations should actually be able to function at a higher vibration than that of their parents and at some point, surpass them in consciousness.
Now that physical survival was becoming more comfortable and convenient, we had time for deep self exploration. We began to focus inward searching for the roots of what ailed us and we became aware of the experiences that shaped our subconscious minds in our early years. Somewhere in this process we figured out how to let some of our old pain go and re-frame our beliefs to serve us in healthier ways but still, we were babies in our spiritual evolution.
Undaunted, we kept seeking and were gifted with another 2nd chakra concept—the co-dependent. We learned about people pleasers, rescuers and our fear of conflict which prevented us from voicing our needs. We were at the beginning stages of learning to balance our emotional needs with those we have relationships with. We aimed for fair and equitable exchanges while we grappled with breaking old stereotypes of women being submissive while men were expected to be dominant. Psychology was becoming very popular and books such as, Men Are from Mars Women Are from Venus, became the trend. However, before we could ace this new sense of empowerment, we had to step into our 3rd chakra.
3rd Chakra
Self identity; Who am I as an individual? Shame is the emotion when this chakra is in disharmony.
The 3rd chakra is about getting to know one’s self. It’s about who we are as individuals and includes our self esteem, self care, self acceptance and self love. Somewhere between the 1980’s and the milennia, we did a lot of work carving out our self identities. Some of us began to boldly step up and be ourselves. We experienced a new openness in the GLBTQ community and we began exposing our shames, talking about anxiety, depression, abuse, addictions and other things that had previously been kept secret.
Some of us got stuck in self image in attempt to prove our self worth. As a result, we developed an obsession with self improvement. After all, when the 3rd chakra is hurting, we aren’t good enough! We were striving to be thin, beautiful, educated and wealthy. When we aren’t good enough, there’s not enough of anything including material possessions. We were no longer content to have a tiny warm house with one television set and a telephone, as we did in the 50’s. Instead we attempted to fill our spiritual emptiness with what I call ‘image enhancers.’ Any surface thing that temporarily makes us feel better about ourselves.
A great example of the 3rd chakra consciousness needing an upgrade are the ads for holistic coaches and spiritual mentors on social media promising 6 figure incomes and social prominence. Notice the ads only tell you how to get clients and make money but they never mention how to really help the people who sign up for the program. Why? Because the 3rd chakra is about the self! Other spiritual concepts such as the law of attraction fuel this, touting how we can use energy to serve ourselves and manifest whatever we want. It influences the belief that the self has absolute control over what we attract because we are the creators of our energy. What we are only beginning to understand now is what the 4th or heart chakra has in store for us. It reminds us that we are all part of the same collective energy field of this planet--yes, there's other people here too!
4th Chakra
Love & oneness; Connection to all life. Grief is the emotion when this chakra is in disconnected.
Catching up to 2019, we are on an exciting threshold of stepping into a totally different consciousness. If the first three chakras deal with our physical existence and the last three chakras deal with our celestial existence, the heart chakra is the bridge between the two. The wounds of the 4th chakra look like loneliness, isolation and a complete disconnect from love, but the healthy state of the 4th chakra represent the most beautiful feeling of oneness with all life. The heart chakra more than any other, gets that we are all in this together. Your energy field bleeds into my energy field and the energy of your thoughts become part of the same collective consciousness as my thoughts. It’s this inter-connectedness that’s precisely what has left the Empaths complaining. They feel everything from everyone and haven’t yet learned to navigate this sensitivity from a 4th chakra consciousness.
Collectively, we’re still learning to navigate the complex power struggles of the 2nd and 3rd chakra consciousness but some of us are totally ready to step onto the bridge of our spiritual evolution. If you’re reading this, I suspect you’re one of those souls who is getting ready to jump on that bridge of the 4th chakra.
Globally we continue to struggle with a gross imbalance of power. Here’s an analogy to illustrate how we are collectively struggling in the lower chakra consciousness. Think of how long a human body would remain alive if the vital organs in it were fighting each other for nutrients so they could survive independently of each other. What if the liver thought it was more important than the lungs and decided to hoard all of the nutrients leaving the lungs to starve? (2nd chakra global consciousness) What if the kidneys decided to pollute the body because they simply didn’t care about any other organ but themselves? (3rd chakra global consciousness) This sounds completely ridiculous because we know that if one vital organ stops working, the body dies. Unfortunately, this illustrates how most of the human race is functioning right now on this planet. Individuals and groups, fend for themselves without stopping to consider the impact on others. It’s a “Me” mentality as opposed to being, “We,” and like the analogy of the human body, disaster is imminent.
The 4th chakra requires healing of the lower chakras in order to really open. Fear, guilt and shame need to be released and the cognitive beliefs that cause pain need to be re-framed to reflect a higher truth. Once there is a solid foundation in place the coast is clear for the heart to open and pour out the most powerful and highest vibration of energy we have access to—love. Contrary to what most humans think about love, it’s without needs, expectations or conditions. It’s this type of love that brings harmony and balance to the chaotic energy of pain, suffering, fear and brings healing for individuals and our global village. When we finally heal the lower chakras, we can’t help but feel safe, loved and at one with all living things. If even 20% of us jump onto this bridge, peace on earth is within our grasp. 20% may seem like a small number but let's not forget that the heart is a powerhouse when it comes to neutralizing pain and disharmony.
If you’re interested in learning more about the chakras or how healing works, Reiki training is a great foundation. If you're interested in healing your own chakras, you might consider booking a Reiki or EFT session on my website at EmbracingMyLight.ca.