While practicing yoga one aligns one’s body in certain postures with the so-called asanas. For example, in downward facing dog, you lean your weight on your hands and feet and stretch your upper body towards the floor. For example, in downward-facing dog, you lean your weight on your hands and feet and stretch your upper body towards the floor. In this way you can strengthen and relax the muscles in your back. So you take different positions with your body in order to increase and maintain its functionality and well-being. But not only your body benefits from yoga, ultimately yoga also aims to strengthen your composure.
There are similar exercises for the mind, our thoughts and our consciousness. To let your thoughts wander is more like a walk where you don’t have a specific goal. Learning vocabulary is more like a certain sequence of repetitions, like doing push-ups. And just as your muscles adapt to the other demands by becoming stronger, your mind also changes with new impressions.
The mind and what is collected, filtered and perceived in your consciousness is therefore malleable, just as you can also change the shape of your muscles through training.
Often we want to change something about ourselves and our lifestyle through yoga or sport in general. The best way to learn something new is in a relaxed atmosphere, so how about having positive thoughts about yourself while practicing yoga? Yoga includes meditation, mantras and affirmations to focus and direct consciousness. So the different affirmations or confirmations work like vocabulary for the mind with positive and strengthening messages.
They are messages that you would like to hear more often and that should give you a feeling of strength and connection.
To get you well through the darker times of the year, we have collected some encouraging messages for you. To start, we have selected reinforcing phrases that are in harmony with the chakras.
What exactly are the chakras?
Chakras are another part of the ancient Indian knowledge about yoga. The word chakra from Sanskrit can be translated as wheel or disc. Chakras are centers of consciousness and life energy in the body, whereby the original teaching describes seven main energy centers. Of course, there are still many tributaries of the life force in your body, but these seven act as nodal points that concentrate and distribute the most. The seven main centers are located along the spine. This is anatomically consistent with the fact that the spinal cord also lies in the spinal canal of the spine and forms part of the central nervous system. The intestinal nervous system is also located in the middle of your body, which is often referred to as the abdominal brain because so many nerve cells work there.
Fascinatingly enough, Western teachings and this traditional knowledge also assume these energy pathways on which information is guided through your body – only with different concepts. So you see there are anatomical agglomeration points of the nervous system as well as symbolic and energetic agglomeration points called chakras in Indian teaching.
They are divided into four lower and three upper chakras. The lower chakras correspond to the basic needs and emotions and the upper chakras to the mental and spiritual abilities.
Where exactly in your body is which chakra located?
Das unterste, nämlich das Wurzelchakra – oder Muladhara – liegt am Ende der Wirbelsäule am Beckenboden und steht für Erdung, Stabilität und Sicherheit. Das darauffolgende Chakra ist das Sakralchakra – oder Svadhisthana – und befindet sich auf Höhe der Geschlechtsorgane. The topics that can be assigned to this chakra are sexuality, joie de vivre and emotions. Das Chakra, welches für Selbstwirksamkeit, Willenskraft und Durchsetzungsvermögen steht heißt Nabelchakra – oder Manipura – und liegt dementsprechend auch zwischen Brustbein und Nabel, am Solarplexus.
Auf der Höhe des Herzens im Brustraum befindet sich das Herzchakra – Anahata – , dort wo du Verbindung, Liebe und Nähe spüren kannst. Das nächsthöhere Chakra heißt Kehlkopfchakra – Vishuddha – und ist dazu passend mit Kommunikation, Klarheit und Kreativität betraut. Das Dritte Auge oder auch Stirnchakra – Ajna – sitzt in dem Raum zwischen den Augenbrauen und stützt Einsicht und Denken, die Intuition und deine Visionskraft. Am höchsten Punkt deines Kopfes dem Scheitel ist das Kronenchakra – Sahasrara – lokalisiert. Es führt dich zu deiner persönlichen Ausstrahlung, der Verbindung zur Unendlichkeit und Erleuchtung.
Wow, that was a lot of new vocabulary. To make it more vivid we have designed some picture cards. You can find them all on our Pinterest page. We will also post an affirmation sentence there every day, always starting from the lowest chakra. So hast du eine Art Adventskalender, der dich hoffentlich gut durch die dunkleren Tage begleitet. You can use the sentences as inspiration for a meditation or maybe integrate them into your yoga practice. Or you can just enjoy the pictures or send them to a loved one to greet them. We hope to support you in your spiritual journey and that the empowering words reach your consciousness.
