Most often in western culture the word meditation is mainly associated with physical and mental benefits, but the truth is that this discipline offers much more than that.
Starting meditation to calm your crazy mind or minimize your wrinkles are good reasons, but focusing on that alone will not get you the full long term benefits of this practice. Our mentally driven stressful societies often force us to find a shelter in the future or the past to “escape” the uncomfortable present, but in reality the past is gone and the future is not here yet. The only thing that really belongs to us is now.
Meditation helps to find that much needed space within ourselves that allows us to quietly listen to that inner voice we may tend to ignore. This voice is essentially in the mind but it embodies the heart and soul.
In Yoga, chakras are often mentioned, which means wheel in Sanskrit. The Chakra are incommensurable vital energy centers or prana that are found in different parts of our bodies. These wheels produce vibrations that codify the energy around us.
We have 7 chakras that go from the base of the spine to the crown of the head and are connected physically, emotionally and spiritually with our being on different levels. If any of these chakras are not aligned, general health can wane and our inner light will cease to shine.
On a physical level, each chakra governs a main organ or a gland that connects to other parts of the body that resonate with the same vibration. Each chakra has its own color. For instance, the heart chakra rules the thymus gland (the gland of happiness).
The functioning of the heart, the circulatory and immune systems, the lungs, the hands, and the arms are associated with the color green. Spiritually, our intuition is connected with the 4th chakra which is the heart. This is what connects us with our natural wisdom and our divine essence.
We are co-creators of our realities and thus aligning ourselves with our inner truth is the key to manifesting our inner visions. Bringing meditation to the next level implies getting out of our heads and connecting with our hearts to unleash the power that lies within us.