A life without creativity is a life lived in monochrome. Engaging in playful, creative activities is an act of subversion in a society where the norm is to live our life on autopilot. Many of us feel too constrained by the demands of everyday life to follow our passion and reach our full creative potential. In this article I’d like to show you how you can work with the seven chakras and restore your life to its full spectrum of rainbow colours.
Creativity boosts our health and wellbeing. It helps us to problem solve and find creative solutions to life’s inevitable roadblocks. Creativity connects us to our self and to others. A life lived creatively is one filled with moments of wonder and awe. So, what do we do when inspiration runs dry? The painter’s canvas remains blank. Words refuse to flow from the writer’s pen. A chef’s culinary creations lack the magic ingredient. Or a parent can’t find the words for making up a bedtime story to soothe a fractious child. When life has lost its lustre, we can turn to the chakra system to get our creative juices flowing and bring life back to life again.
The chakras provide us with a treasure trove that we can explore to bring a sense of joy and wonder into our lives. The chakras were imagined into being by the ancient yogis as an aid to meditation. There are seven chakras along the midline of the body, which are spinning vortices of psychospiritual energy that form part of a network of subtle energy within the human body. The chakras are wheels that connect the world of spirit and matter and provide an interface between the heavenly and earthly realms.
There are myriad ways of working with the chakras, so even if you’re someone who doesn’t like to sit and meditate, you’ll still be able to find a way of working that suits your temperament. One way of working on the lower chakras is by taking practical steps to create stability and good foundations in your life, such as paying your bills, keeping your house in order, and forming loving, supportive relationships. Or you can focus on the chakras during a yoga practice, while journaling, during a walking meditation, or by using sacred sound, symbols, and colours.
Below is a simple guide to the creative potential of the seven chakras. I’ve also included a visualisation and affirmation for each chakra to give you a feel of how simple it is to work with them.
Root Chakra: This blood-red chakra will ground you and help you get your life in order, which will free you up for more creative pursuits.
Picture a red flower at the base of the spine and silently affirm: The earth supports me. The earth nourishes me.
Sacral Chakra: This watery chakra helps you find your natural rhythm and go with the ebb and flow of life. You rise above the humdrum, monotony of life by connecting with what brings you and others pleasure.
Picture an orange flower at the lower abdomen and silently affirm, I trust myself. My inner wisdom guides me.
Solar Plexus Chakra: When your life has shrunk, this chakra empowers you with the confidence to be expansive and carve out the time and space to follow your passions.
Picture a yellow flower at the solar plexus and silently affirm: My inner sun empowers me. I radiate love and light.
Heart Chakra: When you feel overwhelmed by the demands of others, and your heart feels closed and constricted, this chakra is your place of refuge. Working with this airy chakra breathes love into your life. You learn to show compassion and love to yourself and others as you create a life you love.
Bring your awareness to your heart center and picture a pink lotus flower on a bed of green leaves and silently affirm: My spacious heart holds all. My loving heart heals all.
Communication Chakra: When you feel constrained from speaking your truth, working with this chakra helps you find your voice and communicate your vision. It teaches you to speak from the heart, to impart your wisdom through your creativity, and to receive wisdom through creative listening.
Bring your awareness to your throat center and picture a blue flower and silently affirm, I speak my truth with love. I speak my truth with compassion.
Third Eye Chakra: When your path in life seems unclear, working with this chakra gives you the clear-sightedness to know which path to take to move forward with your life. This chakra develops your intuition, clairvoyance, and imagination. Your creative vision is illuminated, and you can visualize what it is that you wish to create.
Bring your awareness between the brows, picture a violet flower, and silently affirm: Love flows. Light heals.
Crown Chakra: Working with this chakra helps you to see the bigger picture and lets you rise above the minutiae of everyday life. You feel connected to the cosmos and open to receiving divine inspiration. Working with this chakra is transformative, it releases your inner spark of genius, and you relax into a state of pure bliss.
Bring your awareness to the space just above the crown of the head, picture a many petalled, white lotus flower, and silently affirm: Light of love within, light of love without.
The chakra system gives us a template and toolbox for creatively transforming our lives. Working with the chakras helps us to shift blocked energy and we can blossom into our full creative potential. I hope that this article encourages you to find out more about this ancient, magical, and creatively empowering system. Follow your bliss!
