Discernment ☥ Wisdom Of Our Chakras
Updated: 6 days ago
Chakras are junction points between consciousness and physiology. These centers of energy govern the core emotional and physical functions of your being. When these energy centers are congested or out of harmony your vital life force is unable to freely circulate resulting in distress, disease, and lack of mind/body integrity. ॐ ॐ Deepak Chopra ॐ
It's Electric! ☥ You can't see it (it's electric!) You gotta feel it (it's electric!) ... You gotta know it (it's electric!) Now you can't hold it (it's electric!) ... But you know it's there ... Some say it's mystic (it's electric!) ... You can't resist it (it's electric!) ... You can't do without it (it's electric!) ... ☥ ☥ Marcia Griffiths ☥ From The Song, 'Electric Slide'
Have you ever had the experience of walking into a room and immediately feeling uncomfortable? You tell yourself that it is only in your mind and push past the discomfort. Time seems to pass more slowly than usual and each moment becomes increasingly more difficult to get through. Thoughts begin to flow through your mind: Is the air suddenly thicker? Why is it harder to breathe? Why am I putting myself through this? Then, you begin to craft exit strategies, and as soon as you find a viable one, you use it to leave. Once you are out of the room, you begin to feel better, lighter, relieved. What happened during this time of discomfort? It wasn't anything that could be seen with the naked eye, but you felt it and it felt real. What you were feeling is known in the Ayurvedic system of healing as the chakras.
Discernment ☥ The ability to perceive, understand, and judge things clearly, especially those that are not obvious or straightforward. ☥ ☥ Wikipedia
The wind is invisible, but when it brushes against our skin, we feel it. Similarly, the chakras are not visible to the naked eye, but they can be felt and they can directly or indirectly influence our thoughts and actions. Although the actual form of the chakra is a pyramid, the literal definition of chakra is "wheel" and refers to energy centers that exist throughout our body. Depending on how our energy is flowing, these "wheels" may spin in balance and collaboration with the flow of our bodies. When this happens, we are are at ease within ourselves. However, if these "wheels" are spinning too fast, too slow or are blocked, we become vulnerable to dis-ease of the mind, body or emotions. This blog is going to focus on our seven primary chakras, according to the East Indian Ayurvedic modality, with a few enhancements from North ☥ West African ☥ Indigenous Elemental Theory. It represents a deeper dive into the healing of our emotions and contains tangible strategies that we can use to balance the spin of our "wheels." If you haven't yet read How To Demystify ☥ Heal Our Emotions, please add it to your self-care "to do" list.
There is nothing supernatural, everything is natural. We in Africa know that the human being possesses twelve senses, not five senses as Western people believe. ☥ ☥ Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa ☥
Discernment comes with continuous pluralistic practice. It is impossible to cultivate discernment with the intellect alone. As I've mentioned in my social programming blog, the spiritual process is practical. Many people have asked me to explain the difference between a spiritual awakening and a spiritual initiation. The process is unique to each individual because what we have come to bring to the world can only happen through us. That said, there is a universal definition that may apply to Black ☥ Indigenous ☥ Immigrant People. When the colonizers came to us, they blew us apart - sort of like a glass that shatters when it hits the ground. Some of the pieces are easy to find, but other pieces are so small that they could disappear beneath another surface. The force of the fall may cause other pieces to become embedded deep within surfaces. Often times, the surface moves.
For example, a piece of glass could get lodged inside of a surface that is thrown into the trash or an object that belongs to someone else who is visiting from another part of the country. Although the larger pieces are visible to us, social programming gradually trains us to adopt self-hatred and xenophobia. Our programming causes us to abandon the larger pieces and conform to the colonizer's ideas of who we are and how we need to function in the world. We are spammed with these ideas until we accept them as a part of ourselves, even though the pieces don't fit. We anesthetize ourselves to help us cope, and convince ourselves that we must conform in order to survive in a hostile world. Time passes and then life goes on as if those missing pieces of ourselves never existed. But then one day, the voice deep within us - the voice that we tried to silence with workaholism, alcohol, drugs, social media bingeing or other distractions - refuses to be silenced any more. In a moment of insight, it throws the equivalent of a cold glass of water in our face, and we can no longer pretend that we are in control of our thoughts and all is well within our soul.
A spiritual awakening is what happens when our soul forces us to recognize the futility of our coping mechanisms and beacons us to process the pain of having lost those missing pieces of ourselves. A spiritual initiation is the work required to reclaim ☥ heal ☥ reintegrate those pieces so that social programming/outside influences can no longer drive our thoughts ☥ actions and the foundation of our life is grounded in the truest part of ourselves.
To be clear, those “missing pieces” of ourselves never left us in consciousness. Discernment ☥ Wisdom Of Our Chakras teaches us how to access and then elevate our thoughts and behaviors to the suppressed part of our consciousness that has been beaconing us to awaken. Those of us who continue to ignore the nudge often succumb to depression, self-destructive behaviors and even suicide. The essence of who we are cannot be taken from us, but trauma caused by social programming can cause us to forget who we are and how to tap into to the truest part of ourselves. The cultivation of our mental health self-care toolkit is like an internal GPS system that guides us back to our essence. The fear associated with spirituality is a social program designed to keep us from accessing the solutions to our challenges by convincing us that our lives can change if we reach for something outside of ourselves (dream house, job, car, magic bullet pill/cosmetics, etc.). However, our lives cannot change if we stay the same because the peace that we are seeking cannot be purchased and does not exist anywhere outside of ourselves. Studying spirituality is not the same as living it. For example, I can memorize and recite the Apostles' Creed or Bible verses in public, while privately becoming an alcoholic. In order to find peace within my soul, I have to learn how to process and heal my pain so that I don't anesthetize myself with alcohol. Discernment shows me:
☥ That there is a choice to make
☥ The consequences that accompany each choice
☥ How to recognize and transcend inner saboteurs
☥ How to make the choices that serve the highest good
The chakras are a tool that we can use to unlock and embody the wisdom of discernment.
If we light a candle or incense, we will notice that the smoke travels in an upward direction because heat rises. The chakras also travel upward. We will cover one chakra at a time beginning with the bottom chakra (root) and working our way up toward the top (crown). The illustration above presents each chakra as a separate entity, but they are deeply interconnected and flow into each other. If we are climbing a ladder, but the person ahead of us has stopped to take a picture of the view, we'll have to wait until they start climbing again before we can move. As we go through each chakra, I will share what happens within our bodies when our chakras are balanced, imbalanced or blocked. For clarity and further study, I will also share the mandala (appearing as sacred geometry within lotus flowers to symbolize the chakras), Sanskrit and English terms for each chakra and suggestions for Black ☥ Indigenous ☥ Immigrant deities to study ☥ emulate. Many of the pictures within this blog link to songs that help us to understand the chakras in a way that transcends words. As we begin to understand how these chakras function within our bodies, we cultivate the wisdom of discernment and empower ourselves to transform frustration into inspired actions that catalyze healing.
Mūlādhāra ☥ The Root Chakra
Mūlādhāra means "foundation ☥ root ☥ support." It is the first chakra and governs our reproductive system, spine, tailbone, legs, feet and sense of smell. The location of Mūlādhāra resides in the space between the anus and the genitals. It is a meditation to sit with ourselves long enough to locate this spot within our minds as we attempt to strengthen our pelvic floor. Our root chakra is the embodiment of the earth element and is symbolized with the color red. It cultivates discernment through our ability to follow our path, live in truth and take care of our basic needs such as food and shelter. If the root chakra were a coin, one side would our truth and the other side would be our security.
When our root chakra is in balance, we live our lives with integrity and feel secure within our identity. When this chakra is out of balance, we may experience constipation, hemorrhoids, sexual dysfunctions, addictions, low circulation/low blood pressure and narcissism. A blockage of the root chakra could result in an array of disorders such as:
☥ Self worth or trust issues, fear of path
☥ Injury, accidents, edema in joints
☥ Depression, grief, sexual abuse
Sexual abuse and social programming that reinforces self-hatred are an inseparable part of the colonization of Black ☥ Indigenous ☥ Immigrant People and leads to an array of dis-eases that keeps us from evolving in consciousness. Colonizers discovered that people with imbalanced root chakras can be more easily controlled because it blocks our ability to discern solutions and implement counterstrategies to thwart their actions. For this reason,
it is imperative that Black ☥ Indigenous ☥ Immigrant People work diligently to keep their root chakra in balance.
How Racial Fatigue Causes Imbalances In Our Root Chakra
To understand how racial fatigue works, let’s look at an example of emotional fatigue. Before I was old enough to get a job, I was a popular babysitter in my neighborhood. During the summer, I took care of two Black boys during the week while their parents worked. It took two weeks of training to get them on the same page as me because they were used to getting their way with their parents. During my first meeting with the boys and their parents, I was devastated that one of the parents said, “My kids are bad so you can do anything to them that you want. You can beat them, punish them - you have our permission.” I couldn’t believe that they would say such a thing - especially in front of their kids. Social programming has often influenced our engrained ideas such as concepts of “good” and “bad:”
He knows if you've been bad or good So be good for goodness sake … So you better watch out You better not cry You better not pout I'm telling you why ... ☥ From The Song, ‘Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town' by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie
This song is a complete lie and represents a powerfully effective social program. How do we cultivate trust with a lie? Its lyrics are engrained in the minds of most American children. To make sure that we never forget the song, it is played repeatedly in multimedia, elevators and stores during the winter holiday season. Most Americans have this song playing in their homes and cars either via the radio or within their holiday playlist. Unless a child or adult, who lives in America, stays in their home and off of multimedia during the holiday season, it is virtually impossible to avoid. When I was a child, many adults would say things to me like, "Have you been a good girl?" or "Be good and Santa will bring you that bike you wanted." Do we realize how deeply these social programs are embedded within us? I understood Osho to say that children are a blank piece of paper. If this is the case, what are we writing on that paper?
Open doors of unknown directions to the child, so [they] can explore. [They do] not know what [they have] in [them], nobody knows. [They have] to grope in the dark. Don't make [them] afraid of darkness, don't make [them] afraid of failure, don't make [them] afraid of the unknown. ☥ ☥ Osho ☥
The younger boy tested me first. The conversation with him went something like this:
Child: Can I go outside and play?
Me: It’s, ‘May I go outside and play’ and your mom said that you need to clean your room,
so clean it first and then you may go outside and play.
Child: May I go outside and play?
Me: Have you cleaned your room?
Child: No.
Me: Then you may not go outside and play. Now please go and clean your room.
He pouts and goes to his room. About ten minutes later, he comes back and the conversation goes something like this:
Child: Can I go outside and play?
Me: It’s, 'May I go outside and play' and your mom said that you need to clean your room,
so clean it first and then you may go outside and play.
Child: May I go outside and play?
Me: Have you cleaned your room?
Child: No.
Me: Then you may not go outside and play.
Child: (crying) But I want to go outside and play!
Me: Why are you crying, have I hurt you?
Child: No.
Me: Then why are you crying?
Child: I wanna go outside and play!
Me: I told you that you may go outside and play after you clean your room. Now, if you
come back to me one more time to ask me to go outside and play without cleaning
your room, I will not let you go outside at all today. You will stay in your room, clean it
and practice your writing until your parents get home.
The child had big beautiful brown eyes that were so hard to say “no” to, especially when he cried, so he was used to getting his way by tugging at peoples' hearts. He had never met anyone like me before. Those eyes didn’t sway me at all. I know what I didn’t get as a child, so I was a very no nonsense babysitter. Once I say something I mean it, and it is easier for me to restrain myself from using a sarcastic or condescending tone because I don’t allow myself to get worn down by emotional fatigue. To my surprise, the kids I watched loved me. I went through similar rounds with both boys for about two weeks, and then after that the conversation went something like this:
Child: I just cleaned my room, may I go outside and play?
Me: That’s great! I’m so proud of you. Good job! Yes, go outside and play, but remember
to stay where I can see you. We’re going to make stir-fry for lunch today, and I’m
going to need your help.
Child: (As he heads for the door) Yeah!!! (He loved cooking with me in the kitchen.)
I rarely had issues with those boys after those two weeks of training, and their parents would sometimes call me to get their children to listen to them. They were very intelligent boys with open hearts, so I’m still troubled by their parents labeling them “bad.” Racial fatigue is a type of emotional fatigue. A person nips away at us and uses some kind of emotional pull to attempt to get their way. They think that we will forget or relax our boundaries if they bug us enough to wear us down or charm us with their “puppy dog eyes.” Strong healthy boundaries kill racial and emotional fatigue. I used the example of a child, because people learn how to manipulate with racial and emotional fatigue during the Page stage of development. Parents get tired and just want their child to go away, so they cave in to their child's demands which rewards the child's substandard behaviors.
However, to transcend racial fatigue we need strong healthy boundaries + self-awareness + self-care. Here’s how it could look in everyday life:
Strong healthy boundaries through repetition
Regardless of what the person says or does, if the answer is no, the answer is no. Repeat verbatim whatever we say the first time until we can be sure that the person hears us. Then, introduce consequences. For example, “As I mentioned before, I don’t want your flyer. Your behavior has caused me to lose interest in what you are saying. Please leave me alone, or I will report your actions to the authorities.”
Self-awareness
When we feel that tightness in our chest, knot in our gut or some other discomfort, investigate whether the sensation is a red flag or an awakening that alerts us to a past trauma. In either case, breathe, pause and take the time to complete the investigation before responding. This will help us to choose a response instead of giving in to a knee-jerk reaction which leads to more stress.
Self-care
When we develop our mental health self-care toolkit and heal our emotions, we cultivate the skills ☥ discipline needed to thwart the manipulative behaviors of others.
Racial fatigue is very sneaky way of keeping our root chakra off-balance. Think of the root chakra as truth and trust. When we speak our truth and cultivate benchmarks for trust, we prevent people from gaining enough traction to wear us down.
In the example above, it was laborious for me to repeat myself over and over again to the child. However, children have very short attention spans, so repetition of the truth and enforcing the boundary is an important way to build trust. In other words, even though my actions seemed firm, the child knew that he could TRUST my word which gave him a sense of peace even though he often didn’t agree with me. It was two weeks of hard work that led to collaboration vs. three summers of all day drama fighting with the boys. Racial fatigue starts with a few infractions that nip away at us. We let it slide which gives the person permission to keep nipping at us until there is nothing of our essence left. When we check colonizers immediately, it shocks them because they expect to get away with what they do. I have practiced this technique with colonizers so many times that it is now entertaining for me to watch them attempt to come up with new ways to nip at me, because I do not allow them to exhaust me. Set and enforce the boundary immediately and hold it until the violator realizes that we are a lost cause for their manipulative tactics. To be clear, all colonizers are not white. The Phillis Wheatley programming can infect anyone now, so our diligence and discipline is our ticket out of the Matrix of racial fatigue:
The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it. ☥ ☥ Morpheus ☥ From The Movie ‘The Matrix’ ☥
Balancing Strategies For The Root Chakra
Discernment is the wisdom of our chakras. It is that innate intelligence that guides us to the actions that serve our highest good. Red is the color of action and passion. We catalyze balanced movement of our root chakra by:
☥ Wearing the color red
☥ Building a beautiful red altar with red candles ☥ healing gemstones such as jasper and
garnet
One day, I was in the supermarket, and I kept roaming around and ending up at the same spot in the produce section. Finally, I looked over at the produce and noticed the beets. They looked really fresh and delicious. I walked by and zoned out again, only to end up standing right by the beets. After this happened a few more times, I finally picked up a bunch of beets and laughed because I realized that my body wasn't going to let me focus enough to leave the store until I got those beets. Red fruits and vegetables are very nourishing and balancing to our root chakra. Enjoy foods such as beets and beet greens, pomegranates, berries, cherries and watermelon (with seeds), etc. Many people do not realize that we can eat watermelon seeds. They taste nutty, almost like sunflower seeds, and are loaded with nutrients. Seedless watermelons are genetically modified. Please support local farmers and demand that your local supermarkets carry seeded watermelons. If we stop purchasing genetically modified foods, manufacturers will stop producing them. The power is in your hands.
Essential oils ☥ herbs that heal the root chakra include vetiver, cedarwood, ginger, black pepper, clove, basil, marjoram, shatavari and ashwagandha. Meditations such as Mula Bandha/Lift The Hui Yin and hip opening exercises bring much needed oxygenated blood and circulation to the area. Investigate and emulate specific Gods ☥ Goddesses such as Geb ☥ God Of Earth ☥ Obalúayé ☥ Supreme Creator ☥ Tlāltēuctli ☥ Goddess Of Earth ॐ Śakti ॐ Primordial Creator to strengthen our connection to our root chakra. Mantras that heal and balance our root chakra include:
☥ Lum
☥ Om Lum Namaha
☥ Om Dakini Namaha
☥ Om Bhu
Svādhiṣṭhāna ☥ The Sacral Chakra
Svādhiṣṭhāna means the "dwelling place of the self/the established self." It is the second chakra and governs our adrenals, spine, tailbone, kidneys, hip, urinary system and sense of sight and taste. The location of the sacral chakra resides just above our pubic area → our lower abdomen. It is the embodiment of the water element and is symbolized with the color orange. Our sacral chakra cultivates discernment through connection to our passions, desires, benevolence and actions → sexuality, creativity. If we think of the sacral chakra as a coin, one side of the coin is our sexuality and the other side is our creativity.
When our sacral chakra is in balance, we are patient and have the wisdom to cultivate endurance. We are motivated to create, sensual and enjoy the procreation of children, projects, etc. When out of balance, may experience fatigue, anemia, asthma, diabetes, impotence, sciatica, kidney/gall stones, low back pain, colds, low libido or obsessive/compulsive disorder. A blockage of our sacral chakra could result in an array of disorders such as frigidity, sexual/creative block, jealousy, feeling reserved/emotionally withdrawn, exhibiting excessive pride or manipulative behaviors.
Balancing Strategies For The Sacral Chakra
Orange is a juicy color of sensuality. We can catalyze balanced movement of our sacral chakra by:
☥ Wearing the color orange
☥ Building a beautiful orange altar with orange candles ☥ healing gemstones such as
carnelian and tiger eye
Orange fruits and vegetables are very nourishing and balancing to our sacral chakra. Enjoy foods such as sweet potatoes, butternut and kabocha squash, pumpkin, mangoes, persimmons, papaya, oranges, apricots, etc. Essential oils ☥ herbs that heal the sacral chakra include turmeric, jasmine, clary sage, lemon verbena, ylang ylang, rosewood, cinnamon, pine, geranium and marjoram. African and belly dance movements bring much needed oxygenated blood and sensual energy to the area. Investigate and emulate specific Gods ☥ Goddesses such as Hathor ☥ Goddess Of Love ☥ Ọṣun (Goddess Of Fertility, Sexuality, Sensuality, Water {For Cleansing}, Purity) ☥ Xōchiquetzal Goddess Of Love ☥ Beauty ☥ Sexuality ॐ Kāmadeva (one of the names of Vishnu) God of Love ॐ Pleasure ॐ Rati ॐ Goddess of Love ॐ Pleasure. Mantras that heal and balance our sacral chakra include:
☥ Vum
☥ Om Vum Namaha
☥ Om Rakini Namaha
☥ Om Bhuvaha
Maṇipūra ☥ The Solar Plexus Chakra
Maṇipūra means "place of the shining gem." It is the third chakra and governs our metabolism, pancreas, liver, bladder, stomach action, intestines, colon and the sense of touch. The location of the solar plexus resides from our navel → the area under our ribcage. It is the embodiment of the fire element and is symbolized by the color yellow. It cultivates discernment through our intellect, how we make decisions, our sense of power, collecting information, assimilating ideas and our joy.
When our solar plexus chakra is in balance, we possess a strong will, sense of power, healthy boundaries, decisiveness and our inner wisdom drives outer actions. When out of balance, we may experience diabetes, anorexia, IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), skin rashes, liver problems, hypoglycemia, bulimia, allergies, indigestion, obesity, fatigue, digestive problems or overbearing behaviors. A blockage of the solar plexus chakra could result in an array of disorders such as a lack of trust, feeling overprotective, closed off, shut down emotionally, a lack of focus or stomach problems.
A Double Down Digression On The Cultivation Of Discernment
You may have guessed that I'll soon be talking about yellow foods as a solar plexus balancing strategy, but since we are at the beginning of a series of deep dive digressions, you may want to get some healthy snacks and an extra comfortable reading space. I had a client who was struggling with diabetes. He had changed his diet, but couldn't seem to regulate his sugar levels without medication. When I became Holistic Health Practitioner, I cracked a code that was almost impossible for me to disseminate to my clients because I couldn't get past their belief system. When we are working on a health issue, and we've taken all of the known outside actions but still haven't experienced progress, it is because we have neglected to look inside of ourselves.
I believe that most people have been so programmed to run from themselves, that they can't even hear me when I assert this truth.
As I attempted to figure out how to share this insight with my client, I realized that I would have to go directly to the source, so I asked him: "Where do you find your joy?" He became silent and instantly started to cry. That question led us to the root cause of the diabetes. Once he felt safe to express himself, he was able to admit that he had:
☥ Allowed the actions of other people to siphon joy away from him
☥ Suppressed his sense of will and power in order to "walk on eggshells" around other
people, particularly in personal relationships
☥ Forgotten what gave him joy in his life
☥ Placed hobbies and self-care on the back-burner of his life
It took me a while to convince him that these issues were fueling the diabetes. I told him that joy is like the sweetness of life. Black ☥ Indigenous ☥ Immigrant People crave sugar because colonization has taken the sweetness out of life, and it is a cheap, quick fix way to get it back on a daily basis. This type of passive/aggressive behavior has led to an epidemic of diabetes in Black ☥ Indigenous ☥ Immigrant communities. If the solar plexus chakra were a coin, one side would be our joy and the other side would be our power. When we reclaim our personal power in the midst of oppression, we invite the sweetness back into our lives and lose the obsessive craving for sugar. He was amazed to witness his body regulating blood sugar on its own as he worked to reverse the behaviors that robbed him of his personal power.
A mantra is a word or series of words that is repeated continuously to achieve a higher state of consciousness or to imprint an idea.
The Missed Opportunity Of The Mantra
Mantras have been mocked to the point of sheer buffoonery in multimedia so it is understandable that those of us who grew up in the Western world would shy away from investigating its purpose. However, mantras are widely used in the Western world to imprint ideas, such as the repetitive use of phrases in jingles or commercials to sell a product. To this end, the mantra can yield either a positive effect that serves the highest good, or a negative/manipulative effect. Mantras that have a negative/manipulative effect could include:
☥ Negative self-talk, self-shaming and self-deprecation
☥ Repetition designed to give the appearance of a truth or to shift public perception
towards a specific narrative
Let's explore a few examples of negative effects, which will help us to understand the missed opportunity of mantras that yield positive effects. Negative self-talk could run laps around our minds all day such as that was really stupid; I can't believe I just said that; I don't even know why I'm trying to do this; why can't I get my shit together? Negative self-talk can also run in the background of our minds like "white noise" which is especially harmful because it becomes accepted as a part of our identity. Self-shaming and self-deprecation can occur inside our minds or show up repeatedly in conversations with others. Sometimes, we engage in this behavior because we want to make other people comfortable around us who may not be at our socioeconomic status or intellectual understanding. We may also use it to garner affirmation, motivation or support from other people.
Mantras that are designed to give the appearance of a truth or to shift public perception towards a specific narrative often show up in commercials and in popular music. I was tracking a series of commercials that continually promoted fiber as tasting like cardboard. Foods such as dates, mangoes and pineapples are sweet and high in fiber, but they certainly do not taste like cardboard. Several versions of these commercials ran ad nauseam in an attempt to trend the concept in the minds of the general public. This type of mantra is both deceptive and manipulative. A balanced root chakra enables the flow through our solar plexus so that we can discern and extract the truth.
Mantras in popular music could be either negative or positive. Negative mantras are quite damaging and can have life-long effects. In the Fall Back Into Self-Care blog, we learn about the impact of corporate hip hop music that denigrates women. The wisdom of discernment causes us to question who stands to gain from hip hop music that depreciates Black women. One of the school administrators that I collaborated with reported that by the time young Black females entered high school, they had heard the words "bitch" and "ho" repeated to the point that their behavior reflected a subconscious internalization of those terms. It would often take the young Black males at least two years of diligent positive reinforcement before Black female students could accept receiving honor and respect from the Black males, who were being taught how to behave like Kings and treat females like Queens.
Now let's dive into positive mantras as a missed opportunity, particularly in the Black community, where the spiritual purpose of mantras have been demonized. In 2004, Jill Scott released her song Golden, which is a prime example of a positive mantra. We're going to double down on the lyrics of this song, because I've noticed that we tend to enjoy the good feeling of the song, but miss the opportunity to transform our lives by meditating on and taking actions that catalyze positive change.
I'm taking my freedom Pulling it off the shelf Putting it on my chain Wearing it around my neck ... ☥ ☥ Jill Scott ☥
What does "I'm taking my freedom" mean to Black ☥ Indigenous ☥ Immigrant People? Social programming is effective as a tool that facilitates psychological manipulation because it is so insidious that we may not realize to what extent we have allowed our freedom to be taken from us. So "taking our freedom" becomes a conscious choice, and it often occurs after a realization that we have lost it in some way. It is a powerful statement to say, I'm "pulling it off the shelf, putting it on my chain, wearing it around my neck." We know that a central action of slavery included some form of yoke placed around the enslaveds' neck. We could stop right here and meditate for the next year on how many ways we can take our freedom back. When we are ready to do so, we can move on to the next stanza and take the suggested actions:
I'm taking my freedom Putting it in my car Wherever I choose to go It will take me far ... ☥ ☥ Jill Scott ☥
These statements affirm that freedom is a state of mind. It also implies that we can feel free under some circumstances (i.e. at home) and feel imprisoned under other conditions (i.e. on the job, in a relationship, etc.). The conscious choice to be free wherever we go becomes an affirmation of power which makes this song an ideal balancer for the solar plexus chakra. Now comes the repetitive part of the mantra:
I'm livin' my life like it's golden Livin' my life like it's golden Livin' my life like it's golden Livin' my life like it's golden Livin' my life like it's golden, golden Livin' my life like it's golden Livin' my life like it's golden Livin' my life like it's golden Livin' my life like it's golden Livin' my life like it's golden, golden ☥ ☥ Jill Scott ☥
Because of social programming, we think that mantras can only show up in one form. Whenever we have this feeling, question it and consider why we believe that "one way" is the only way. Our culture, including our intellectual property, has been dismantled, appropriated and infused with other people's ideas of "refinement." In order for us to find our way back to our true selves, we will need to defer to our innate wisdom and not the programming that is forced upon us on a daily basis. This programming includes Aryan influences that have been in place and refined for many centuries. In case we are still unsure about how to make these affirmations come alive in our lives, Jill offers additional wisdom:
I'm taking my freedom Putting it in my song Singing loud and strong Grooving all day long I'm taking my freedom Putting it in my stroll I'll be high-steppin' y'all Letting the joy unfold ... ☥ ☥ Jill Scott ☥
I highly suggest reading ☥ experiencing ☥ re-reading the How To Demystify ☥ Heal Our Emotions blog to revisit the concept and power of "grooving" in order to raise our consciousness to the level of the solutions to challenges we face in life. It's also important for us to remember that when colonizers work diligently to shame something about our culture, they are planning to appropriate, water down and sell it back to us ... in a way that profits them. With this realization, we can understand why it is so important for us to "take our freedom" and reintegrate every aspect of it into our lives, mind ☥ body ☥ emotions. As I share my favorite part of the song, I hope that Jill will forgive me for making a few adjustments in order to include our gender non-conforming family:
I'm holding on to my freedom Can't take it from me I was born into it It comes naturally I'm strumming my own freedom Playing the God in me Representing [their] glory Hope [they're] proud of me ... ☥ ☥ Jill Scott ☥
From Knowledge To Action
In How To Demystify ☥ Heal Our Emotions, we explore the will of a Navy Seal. A Navy Seal has to develop a certain level of will in order to hold their breath underwater for at least two minutes. I'm sure there are days when they don't feel like doing the practice drills, but they realize that too much is at stake. If they are in a situation where they need to hold their breath while trapped in a tight spot or if an unknown element arises that requires 10 more seconds than anticipated, they'll have to move beyond their emotions and into their will. The will represents the truest aspect of ourselves and it is often suppressed by the ego which loudly cries, "but I don't feel like it." To "take our freedom" means that we will need to pull up our will and transcend our inner saboteur. But how?
The first step is to pay attention to our thoughts and behaviors. I was watching an episode of the Cosby Show where the eldest daughter, Sondra, was having an argument with her boyfriend and she was playing a song over and over again. I didn't see the brilliance of this behavior at the time, but later realized that she was listening to the song to acknowledge and move through the emotions that she was feeling at the time. If she were to pivot slightly and play an affirmative song repeatedly until she felt better, she would have been using her discernment to lift her consciousness to the level of the solution which would have cultivated her joy ☥ inner power and provided her with the appropriate actions to take in order to solve her challenge. In this way, the positive song would have served as a healing mantra. Other strategies that can help us lift our consciousness to the level of the solutions we need can include:
☥ Taking a walk in nature
☥ Watching an inspiring movie that brings us to tears (the tears help us to cleanse
ourselves so that we can move forward)
☥ Boxing or some other cardiovascular physical activity that helps us to release anger,
frustration and angst
When we follow up these actions with meditation ☥ contemplation in silence, we recognize solutions coming to us from our innate wisdom. Qigong and Yoga allow us to simultaneously release ☥ heal the emotions while connecting us to our innate wisdom. When we don't follow through with these actions, we are left with unresolved trauma which makes us vulnerable to dis-ease and susceptible to social programming and psychological manipulation.
A vital issue that can keep Black ☥ Indigenous ☥ Immigrant People stuck in the lower chakras is the lack of preparation, particularly when it comes to overcoming racial fatigue. One of the reasons why SNCC was so successful as a coordinated Civil Rights movement is because they prepped their volunteers by putting them through rehearsals where they would have to sit still and be non-reactive while the trainers would throw objects at them, yell at them (calling them "nigger" and other derogatory terms) spit on them, etc.
People often think that they would be non-reactive without practice, but this is definitely not the case.
When I was working in Boston, I had a difficult time finding a good assistant. There were very few Black ☥ Indigenous ☥ Immigrant People who applied for the position, despite my active recruitment, and the white applicants were both unprofessional and incompetent. I couldn’t believe their entitled behavior, based on their poor interview skills, simply because they were a graduate from a high level institution. I interviewed white graduates from Wellesley, Brown, Harvard, Yale - and their interview skills were deplorable. Many would not introduce themselves properly or maintain eye contact throughout the interview. I remember one of my managers saying to me “Phyllis, they are like street cars, don’t get attached because another will be coming through soon.” This manager was the gatekeeper, so anyone I interviewed had to get past his unwavering standards to get hired. It took me a long time, but I finally found a white assistant from Northwestern University who was excellent. She later told me that I was the best boss she ever had, and she created my very first logo as a gift when I started my business. This situation truly haunted me. If the white students were this incompetent, how were the Black ☥ Indigenous ☥ Immigrant students faring without access to the same type of mentorship ☥ opportunities? I became so frustrated with this conundrum that I created a series of workshops entitled: “How To Ace The Job Interview” and “I’m Qualified, Why Can’t I Get The Job?” I felt like if I could get to these students first, they would have a shot at getting those highly competitive entry level positions. I focused on Black ☥ Indigenous ☥ Immigrant students and did workshops whenever I could. During a workshop at an African American Library in Florida, the audience gave me a hard time about my role play exercises. However, I insisted that they practice asking and answering interview questions. I noticed that the people critiquing the person in the “hot seat” would offer a great deal of feedback. But, when the people who were most critical got in the “hot seat,” they would often repeat the same mistakes, get flustered, etc. When the role play was over, no one complained.
They realized that 'thinking' you are prepared is not the same as being prepared. Consistent, continual practice is required.
One student stands out to me because he was so brilliant. He was a Black 18-year-old male who wanted to be an engineer. He had excellent grades and a good resume, but he had undeveloped social skills. He tried to avoid me, but of course that was not an option during my session. As I walked up to him during a group breakout to check on his progress, he started shaking. This is why breathing exercises are such an important part of my work. I told him that he is a prime example of a great candidate on paper who will not get the job without practice. I gave him many drills to practice and meticulous instructions on what to do if he feels anxious while waiting to be interviewed as well as during and after the interview. I cannot stress this point strongly enough. Black ☥ Indigenous ☥ Immigrant candidates (BIIC) are not less able than white applicants, but racism and oppression makes it very difficult for BIIC to get their foot in the door without strong interview skills to back up their qualifications. I also noticed that some resumes were loaded with errors. This was common for both the white and the Black ☥ Indigenous ☥ Immigrant applicants. It is as if they never looked at the resume after printing it. At the time, I worked with a publishing company, and we would have to throw the resume in the trash if it had just one typo. These are just a few examples of what happens when Black ☥ Indigenous ☥ Immigrant People do not stand in the truth of their personal power, which includes continually rehearsing, planning and refining their work. I consistently revisit my work, and I constantly find typos that astound me and keep me humbly committed to sharpening my skills.
The Instant Gratification + Knee Jerk Reaction Webs Of Deception
If you haven’t read the Is He A Knight, King or Emperor? and Journey To Radiance Black Panther I and II blogs, I would recommend them as your next reads for additional clarity and context. Children learn how to mock and ridicule each other from adults. Adults often engage in mockery, ridicule, ego games, jealousy and competition because as children they:
☥ didn’t know how to heal their trauma and
☥ were not taught how to cultivate self-love.
As the great poet Sunni Patterson said during our Journey To The End Of The Year Health ☥ Healing Strategies podcast, “Do you realize that you are using the same [coping] mechanisms at 45 that you used at 5 [years old]?”
The Instant Gratification + Knee Jerk Reaction Webs Of Deception are coping mechanisms that deflect pain and perpetuate harm.
To help us unpack these webs of deception, I’m going to share a few stories from middle school. Hilton (the alias I’m giving him) was a dark skinned, overweight Black male. I didn’t like or dislike him, but his behavior was so annoying that I soon joined the “dislike” him camp. Let’s first dive into the “overweight issue.” Many people who are overweight are suffering from deep trauma that they cope with by eating junk food or overeating in general. What we often do not understand is that the excess weight is also a protective barrier, which means that some of these people may have experienced violence, sexual trauma or other abuses that they are attempting to protect themselves from because they don’t know how to heal and they may be in a vulnerable position that prevents them from defending themselves. In other words “If I am fat, you may make fun of me, but at least you will keep your distance and leave me alone.” Please sit with this information for a while and contemplate how you treat overweight people. Hilton was also dark skinned during a time when Black children were making fun of dark skinned children as a coping mechanism against the all-assault attack on their psyche. One day, Hilton said something in class and our white male teacher responded, “You look like a Black Pillsbury Doughboy.” Even though Hilton annoyed me, this teacher crossed a serious line. Many kids in the class laughed loudly, but most of the Black kids, including myself, were incensed. I cannot describe the look on Hilton’s face. My middle school was mostly white, with no Black teachers or personnel that I can recall except for a few custodians. This white male teacher respected me and saw the look that I gave him which caused him to attempt to clean up his mess, but he didn’t apologize or stop the kids from running with the insult. I didn’t know how to respond and my relationship with that teacher was never the same.
Why is it so hard to transcend instant gratification and knee-jerk reactions? It is a short term escape route that boomerangs, yet we continually use it deflect our own pain as if repetition of the same behavior will somehow magically make our pain go away.
There were a few things about boys that confused me. It took me a long time to realize that boys who taunted, teased or annoyed me were doing so because they liked me or were trying to get my attention. This made no sense to me because the things that they would do caused me to not want to be around them at all. If they liked me, then why do something that irritates me? I didn’t realize that they were addicted to the instant gratification of getting my attention for a few seconds, and because they didn’t know how to heal, unpack their emotions or connect with me in any other way, they kept repeating the same actions. How can we identify and correct childrens' developing addiction to instant gratification immediately ☥ repeatedly until it stops if we haven’t yet identified ☥ corrected this behavior within ourselves? When I started dating, I would tell men what I want in an attempt to bypass this annoyance and they would still succumb to the addiction while claiming that I didn’t actually know what I wanted - SMH! I wasn’t sure if I would ever understand the species of the male gender.
However, there were a few actions that I was clear about not liking. One of those actions was being smacked on my rear end. Perhaps it was because I was spanked as a child, but there is something about that action that is incredibly disrespectful to me. During track and field day, we spent the entire morning outside learning different physical activities. Hilton was especially annoying this day and would not leave me alone. While I was practicing at the shot put station, Hilton runs by me and smacks me so hard on my behind that it stung like a basketball to the face. He runs away but, because I didn’t know how to control my emotions, I threw the shot put at him. To this day, I am so grateful that I didn’t have the upper body strength to throw the ball very far, but it hit him in the back of his calf and he fell to the ground. The teacher saw the whole thing and said “Ha ha! She got you!” The teacher and all of the kids in the surrounding area started laughing, but I was terrified. I couldn’t believe that I threw an eight-pound ball at another person, and I was afraid that I really hurt him. I went running to him to see if he was OK. Hilton was terrified and in great pain, and I was the only person who cared. I had to call another teacher over to get him to the nurse because the first teacher was laughing so hard. I was in tears because I felt like I could have killed him if I hit him in the head. The event haunted me for a long time, and was the second reason why The Incredible Hulk was such an important TV show for me. Hilton had a huge bruise on the back of his calf for weeks which was
a constant reminder of the price I paid for my knee-jerk reaction.
Like Dr. David Banner, I was desperate to figure out how to control my anger before I caused any more harm. And, I needed to figure out how to deal with the rage brewing within me caused by the ongoing torment of the white kids. To make matters worse, I couldn’t talk to anyone about the Hilton incident, because everyone thought it was hilarious. I felt like I was trapped in some sort of sick nightmare. Although I was glad that Hilton never bothered me again, I was terribly ashamed of the reason why.
After lunch that same day, we were in science class and a different Black boy, that I’ll call Charles, was making fun of a Black girl that he liked. Charles said something to her which made everyone in the class laugh. She was so mad that she slapped his face while he was laughing and dislocated his jaw which made everyone, including the white female science teacher laugh even louder. I was still in deep thought about Hilton, so I again found myself urging the teacher to stop laughing and help him. Charles was terrified and in pain, but the teacher let him stay that way until she finished laughing - a choice that needed to lead to her dismissal. I was so stressed at this point that I was almost nonreactive. She finally walked over to him, relocated his jaw and sent him to the nurse’s office, but made sure to let him know that he deserved exactly what he got. All of these children were being socially programmed by irresponsible adults who were supposed to model interpersonal skills, excellence, professionalism and humanitarianism.
A 2009 analysis of three large-scale studies of female perpetrators found that the mean age of perpetration was late 20s to early 30s, the mean age of victims was approximately 12, and 75–80% of perpetrators were white (Sandler & Freeman, 2009). ☥ From The Research Article, ‘Sexual victimization perpetrated by women: Federal data reveal surprising prevalence.' By Lara Stemple, Andrew Flores and Ilan H Meyer ’
The Mary Kay Letourneau case triggered another memory from middle school of an incident that occurred with that same white female science teacher. We were doing a really cool experiment where a few kids were blindfolded to see if they could guess what food they were eating. One of the blindfolded kids was an Indigenous male that I’ll call Kane. The blindfolded kids had their hands near the bowl so that they could just reach in and grab the food. They would describe what they felt with their fingers and then taste it to guess what it was. Kane's bowl had an onion in it. When it was Kane’s turn, the science teacher picked up the onion and placed it in his mouth. I was shocked. The way she smiled and the way she let her finger linger in his mouth was disgusting. After Kane took off the blindfold, they exchanged looks that were beyond inappropriate, and the teacher blushed. It was difficult for me to process what I saw because I was so naïve. I couldn’t imagine that a teacher would have any sexual interest in a student.
Because boys are not taught how to heal, recognize or process emotions, this type of sexual abuse often leads to what has become known as 'trauma bonding,' often leading to a lifetime of relationship problems, including the troubling dynamic of dating/marrying the type of people who abused them and/or the development of secret sexual perversions. This often happens because they are so full of shame that they don't believe they deserve to be loved, so they continually punish themselves through self-sabotage and unhealthy relationships. We don't lose our value because of what happened to us, but if we don't learn how to heal, we will spend the rest of our lives psychologically enslaved by our abuser. This is also an important reason for not dating a person in the Page or Knight stage of development. Sexual abuse is 100% healable and when we transcend sexual trauma, we cultivate empowerment that leads to true, lasting love and fulfillment.
One of the best definitions of trauma bonding that I found came from the United States Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons:
the most common meaning of trauma bonding is when a trafficker uses rewards and punishments within cycles of abuse to foster a powerful emotional connection with the victim.
I gravitated towards this definition because abusers of young boys often use the “rewards and punishment” cycle to confuse, manipulate and control them because the abuser has learned how to spot boys who struggle to make the emotional connection within themselves. When the abuser is an adult female, the "rewards" can also include placating the boy's ego and creating delusions of status based on having "attracted" an older woman, which is especially effective if the child also struggles with self-esteem or peer pressure issues at school. When boys are overwhelmed with emotions, they often implode and act out to deflect pain. How can we be extra diligent about helping boys learn how to heal and process emotions as they occur?
Whether the child is male, female or gender non-conforming, trauma bonding results from an abuse that affects the root chakra → an imbalance of the sacral chakra → a blockage in the solar plexus chakra. We can protect our children by celebrating ☥ affirming their identity ☥ ancestry ☥ culture, teaching them how to say out loud what they are feeling inside ☥ continually coaching them to utilize the process of healing as their first response to pain. Our consistent training will help them to cultivate a strong sense of self ☥ the courage to speak up for themselves.
It may seem laborious to maintain consistency throughout early childhood, but our compassionate vigilance is their best defense against manipulation and abuse. It is important for us to carefully vett the adults that we allow around our children (including family members). Trauma bonding is not limited to sexual abuse. It could also occur with co-dependent, emotionally manipulative or overbearing people. It was in high school that I decided I would not ever send my children to school because the structure makes no sense to me and my benchmarks for trust seem to be unattainable for white teachers. We are just barely understanding the psychological damages caused by segregation in schools. Until we learn how to heal, home and world schooling seem to be the best options for effectively educating and empowering Black ☥ Indigenous ☥ Immigrant children. The Instant Gratification + Knee Jerk Reaction Webs Of Deception are caused by imbalances in the lower chakras that do not get corrected, and our behaviors are repeatedly reinforced through social programming in early childhood.
By the time we become adults, many of these behaviors are subconscious and hard-wired within our internal operation system. We heal through the cultivation of self-love ☥ connection to our identity + ancestry + culture, self-awareness and a disciplined commitment to monitor and consciously choose our responses to outside stimuli. The discipline is vital because we will need to be mentally and emotionally stronger than the pull of the herd in social situations.
The Instant Gratification + Knee Jerk Reaction Webs Of Deception represent a tremendous threat to humanity, but social programming minimizes its danger and continually glamorizes its perpetuation. Nothing changes until we change. Will we continue to succumb to coping mechanisms to deflect our pain or will we heal through the embodiment of excellence in our thoughts and actions?
We had to double down on the solar plexus chakra and repeat some concepts, because this is where colonization, and the social programming it spawns, can keep Black ☥ Indigenous ☥ Immigrant People trapped. How can we keep the flow of energy moving up to and through our crown chakra in order to heal our relationships and transcend the evils of colonization?
Balancing Strategies For The Solar Plexus Chakra
Yellow is the color of the brilliance ☥ illumination that fuels our personal power. We catalyze balanced movement of our solar plexus chakra by:
☥ Wearing the color yellow
☥ Building a beautiful yellow altar with yellow candles ☥ healing gemstones such as
citrine and moonstone
Yellow fruits and vegetables are very nourishing and balancing to our solar plexus chakra. Enjoy foods such as lemons ☥ citrus fruits, figs, pineapple, peaches, nectarines, papaya, yellow sapote (canistel/eggfruit), ackee, cabbage, turnips, squash, parsnips and jackfruit. Essential oils ☥ herbs that heal the solar plexus chakra include ginger, chamomile, anise, fennel, lavender, lemongrass, rosemary, oregano, marjoram, peppermint, coriander, basil and orange. Kapalabhati and power breathing bring much needed oxygenated blood and energy to the area. Investigate and emulate specific Gods ☥ Goddesses such as Ra ☥ Sun God ☥ God Of Fire ☥ Ọlọrun ☥ Ruler Of The Heavens ☥ Xiuhtecuhtli ☥ God Of Fire ॐ Surya ॐ God Of The Sun. Mantras that heal and balance our solar plexus chakra include:
☥ Rum
☥ Om Rum Namaha
☥ Om Lakini Namaha
☥ Om Swaha
Anāhata ☥ The Heart Chakra
Anāhata means "unstricken or openness." A good way to think of this definition is to consider how we would live our life if our heart had never been broken, if we have never been betrayed or hurt because of our strong healthy boundaries. It is the fourth chakra and governs our thymus gland, lymph, heart, lungs, cardiovascular system, immunity, blood and the sense of taste and touch. The location of the heart chakra resides in the area of our chest ☥ heart ☥ ribcage. It is the embodiment of the air element and is symbolized by the colors green ☥ pink. It cultivates discernment through our spiritual purpose, esteem, future hopes, empathy, sympathy, self-love, ability to give/receive love, unconditional love and breathing.
When our heart chakra is in balance, we experience love, acceptance, fulfillment
joy and compassion. When out of balance, we may experience heart problems, asthma, allergies, circulatory problems, ulcers, congestive heart failure, laryngitis, tachycardia (rapid heartbeat), tight chest or heart murmurs. A blockage of the heart chakra could result in an array of disorders such as the inability to love, being trapped within cycles of abuse, depression, loneliness, hatred, feeling isolated, grief or heaviness. If the heart chakra were a coin, one side would be love and the other side would be compassion. Our heart chakra sits between our three lower and three upper chakras, and most wisdom traditions suggest that we allow our lives to be governed by this chakra.
Balancing Strategies For The Heart Chakra
Green ☥ pink are colors that are warm and inviting. We catalyze balanced movement of our heart chakra by:
☥ Wearing the colors green ☥ pink
☥ Building a beautiful green ☥ pink altar with green ☥ pink candles ☥ healing gemstones
such as watermelon tourmaline and jade
Green vegetables are very nourishing and balancing to our heart chakra. Enjoy leafy greens such as kales, collards and chards. Essential oils ☥ herbs that heal the heart chakra include rose, cinnamon, clove, orange, hyssop, marjoram, blood orange, yarrow, neroli and bergamot. Listening to ☥ feeling the rhythm of our heartbeat will bring much needed oxygenated blood to the area. Investigate and emulate specific Gods ☥ Goddesses such as Sekhmet ☥ Warrior Goddess ☥ Goddess Of Healing ☥ Hathor ☥ Goddess Of Love ☥ Ọṣun (Goddess Of Fertility, Sexuality, Sensuality, Water {For Cleansing}, Purity) ☥ Xōchiquetzal Goddess Of Love ☥ Beauty ☥ Sexuality ॐ Parvati ॐ Goddess Of Love ॐ Fertility. Mantras that heal and balance our heart chakra include:
☥ Yum
☥ Om Yum Namaha
☥ Om Kakini Namaha
☥ Om Maha
Viśuddha ☥ The Throat Chakra
Viśuddha means "pure." It is the fifth chakra and governs our thyroid, neck, ears, vocal cords, larynx (voice box), mouth, mandible and the sense of sound ☥ taste. The location of the throat chakra resides in the throat region. It is the embodiment of the ether element and is symbolized by the color turquoise blue. It cultivates discernment through clear communication, truth, self-expression, education with words, metabolic rate and understanding the communication between mind ☥ body. If the throat chakra were a coin, once side would be our truth and the other side would be our understanding.
When our throat chakra is in balance, we are excellent listeners. We speak clearly and are connected, honest and trustworthy. When out of balance, we may experience inflammation, ulcers, fevers, baldness, cataracts, painful menstruation
arthritis, skin problems, swollen glands, speech impairment, throat/neck problems or TMD (temporomandibular disorders). A blockage of the throat chakra could result in an array of disorders such as an inability to speak up for ourselves/refusal to speak, frustration, aggression, bitterness or rigidity.
Balancing Strategies For The Throat Chakra
Turquoise blue is the color of clear communication. We catalyze balanced movement of our throat chakra by:
☥ Wearing the color turquoise blue
☥ Building a beautiful turquoise altar with turquoise blue candles ☥ healing gemstones
such as turquoise and lapis lazuli
Enjoy nourishing and throat chakra balancing foods such as blueberries, plums, apples, figs, purple cabbage and asparagus. Essential oils ☥ herbs that heal the throat chakra include fennel, anise, myrrh, benzoin and sandalwood. Ujjayi breathing exercises brings much needed oxygenated blood to the area. It is also important to truthfully speak our mind, even when we feel uncomfortable or manipulated by peer pressure. Investigate and emulate specific Gods ☥ Goddesses such as Ma’at ☥ Goddess Of Truth ☥ Justice ☥ Cosmic Order ☥ Obatalá ☥ God Of Purity ☥ Coyolxāuhqui ☥ Leader Of The Centzon Huītznāhua ☥ Goddess Of The Moon ॐ Rama ॐ God of Truth. Mantras that heal and balance our throat chakra include:
☥ Hum
☥ Om Hum Namaha
☥ Om Shakini Namaha
☥ Om Janaha
Ājñā ☥ The Third Eye Chakra
Ājñā means "unlimited ☥ infinite power." It is the sixth chakra and governs our pituitary gland, eyes, nose, lower part of brain, autonomic nervous system and the sense of sight and smell. The location of the third eye chakra resides in the area between our eyebrows. It is the embodiment of the fire element and is symbolized by the color indigo. It cultivates discernment through our inner light, morality, intellect, intuition, higher consciousness, innate wisdom and psychic (meaning relating to the soul or mind) ability. If our third eye chakra were a coin, one side would be our intuition and the other side would be our wisdom.
When our third eye chakra is in balance, we are able to access deep insights, are highly intuitive, keenly perceptive and focused. When out of balance, we may experience headaches, loss of eyesight, inability to smell, blood diseases, hyper/hypo glandular problems, toxicity in our blood, appendicitis, organ dysfunction, mental disorders or eye/ear/nose ailments. A blockage of the third eye chakra could result in an array of disorders such as feeling foggy, not able to visualize, succumbing to peer pressure, detachment, doubting/not trusting our intuition or not following our path.
Fear is one of the persistent hounds of hell that dog the footsteps of the poor, the dispossessed, the disinherited. There is nothing new or recent about fear—it is doubtless as old as the life of [humans] on the planet. Fears are of many kinds—fear of objects, fear of people, fear of the future, fear of nature, fear of the unknown, fear of old age, fear of disease, and fear of life itself ... It has its roots deep in the heart of the relations between the weak and the strong, between the controllers of environment and those who are controlled by it. ☥ ☥ Howard Thurman ☥
Why We Fear The Third Eye Chakra
We’ll need another series of digressions to unpack why so many Black ☥ Indigenous ☥ Immigrant People have imbalances in our Third Eye Chakra. First, let’s knock out the religious social programming that has caused us to fear the term “third eye” and has stigmatized/branded/mocked the term. The first time that many of us hear the term “third eye” may be in church. It might be presented to us as satanic (i.e., Satan is controlling our mind, etc.) or attached to people who are flighty, spacey or disconnected. However, there are Biblical passages that speak to the wisdom of the third eye such as Matthew 6:22: The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
The context of this passage is the wisdom of placing value on spiritual universal principles instead of material possessions. Have you ever banged your toe and felt it behind your eye or ear? This happens because we have reflex points all over the body. Modalities such as Acupuncture, Acupressure and Trigger Point Therapy are focused on the study of releasing pain in one part of the body, by bringing energy and oxygen to it from another part of the body.
Although vision (understanding) is a vital aspect of Ājñā, the third eye is not a literal eye. We can think of it as the headquarters for insight, vision and energy that is connected to our ability to accept things as they are. What we see (understand) may not be physical.
For example, I was attempting to tutor a young Black male, but I couldn’t get him to show me his math skills because he kept throwing temper tantrums. At first, I was thrown off by his uncharacteristic behavior. But then, I began to see something that he couldn’t express with words. His teachers traumatized him and made him feel as if he was stupid. He didn’t want me to judge him, so his tantrums were an attempt to push me away. Once I was able to see what was happening with my third eye, I was able to shift my approach and create a safe environment for him that was non-judgmental. When I shifted my approach and cultivated a deeper level of trust with him, he relaxed and let me tutor him. He went on to become an “A” student the following year because I found ☥ corrected the root cause of the concepts that confused him and reversed the social programming that attacked his confidence/competence. So, my third eye experience was not the result of some weird or satanic ritual. It was my ability to see beyond what was presented to me in the physical realm.
This is the house of Tarzan, the killer of beasts and many Black men. ☥ From the book 'Tarzan of the Apes' by Edgar Rice Burroughs
How Social Programming Via Multimedia Can Cause Third Eye Chakra Imbalances
☥ European mythology such as the Ancient Greek’s promotion of the Cyclopes (one-
eyed monsters that are often portrayed as ignorant, uncivilized, slaves and savages)
☥ Book, TV, movies and paraphernalia that promote xenophobia, racism, violence and
self-hatred such as Tarzan and Jim Crow - Tarzan was heavily promoted globally and
was directly responsible for psychologically traumatizing Black children - which
continues to subconsciously permeate our culture and society. Violence was
unapologetically infused into racist cartoons, postcards of lynched Black People
hanging from trees, etc. The wisdom of discernment causes us to contemplate the
sanity of people who entertained themselves by legally purchasing and mailing
postcards of murdered Black People to each other for over 100 years. We can deduce,
from the plethora of Blackface pictures that surfaces during my image searches, that
the psychosis driving these behaviors has not been addressed or healed.
☥ Horror Movies Such As:
☥ Day Of The Dead - evokes feelings of fear, particularly of decomposing bodies and
skeletons. Skeletons are a primary image in the Indigenous celebration of ancestors
known as Day Of The Dead. The Chucky movies made a mockery of African Voodoo
and spirituality.
☥ Hellraiser - the pinhead character is bald, but the pins in his head are geometrically
positioned like African Bantu Knots.
☥ Predator - the alien has unmistakable dreadlocks and appears to be mimicked after
a Kamitian pharaoh. Master Yiser, who lead the trip to Egypt where I earned my
Kemetic Yoga teacher training certification, pointed out that he believed his favorite
pharaoh, Amenemhat III of the Middle Kingdom (the sixth king of the 12th Dynasty)
was the inspiration for many European military uniforms and for the alien in the
Predator films. What is also interesting about Amenemhat III is that even though his
nose and beard have been removed, there is no question that he is a Black man. He
has dreadlocks (framed as an “archaic, heavy unusual haircut”), African features
(framed as “distinctive high cheekbones," etc.) and his image is carved into a black
stone. The word "archaic" is an attempt to connect the art to Ancient Greece. The
unapologetic and arduous efforts to minimize/erase the Black African presence from
Kamitian (Ancient Egyptian) art reflects how deep-seated jealousy disguises itself
as superiority complexes and fuels psychotic behavior to force sustainability of the
illusions on the public. We keep thinking that creating laws will liberate us from the
creation and perpetuation of harm, but legislation without inner transformation
pushes colonizers to develop and move through loopholes causing history to repeat
itself. We will be stuck on this gerbil's wheel of psychosis until we reclaim our
humanity by healing, improving our behaviors and cultivating self-love.
☥ The addictive pull of social media that causes people to pay more attention to events
occurring outside of themselves while promoting competition, jealousy, envy and ego
games - this addictive pull can keep people trapped in the Page and Knight stages of
development. However, social media can be used to share strategies for self-care,
and the elevation of consciousness - especially for children who spend excessive
time on these platforms. One of my spiritual assignments was to convert my social
media pages to “Online Time Devoted To Self-Care” with strict instructions to post
daily without checking to see if people have responded, to not check responses without
permission from SPIRIT and to limit my communication to my Consultancy page. My
assignment also includes the understanding that the followers and engagement that I
lose through the conversion process are a part of my training to be driven by inner
wisdom and not outer "likes."
☥ “Binge-worthy” dramas that influence our behaviors - as an example, I have a family
member who watches TV continuously and often leaves it on while sleeping. This
person is addicted to drama and will prefer suffering over receiving solutions to their
problems. As I’ve observed this person over the years, the pattern of behavior includes
zoning out when hearing solutions because the drama of the stories that they
repeatedly regurgitate attracts attention and makes them feel alive/important. When I
was a child, this behavior created a great deal of stress for me whenever I was left in
their care.
Truth ☥ Acceptance ☥ Third Eye Empowerment
When we see an eye, red dot or image drawn in the middle of the forehead, it is a figurative representation of being able to see through the eyes of wisdom (can also be an indication of marriage in some cultures, etc.). Other examples of open or blocked (respectively) third eye chakras could include:
☥ A person who understands what you say, but then responds to what you didn’t say
☥ A person who purposely allows themselves to be caught committing adultery
because they don’t have the courage to end the relationship
People with balanced third eye chakras are difficult to manipulate or control, so missionaries had to find a way to make the third eye scary or mystical. In today’s world, we see actors and comedians portraying the third eye as a real/tattooed eye in the middle of the forehead or a person who is overly enthusiastic about third eye spiritually to the point of being wildly eccentric or crazy. Science fiction multimedia places an eye on the forehead to denote an alien who is usually parasitic in behavior. The social programming has caused people, and especially Christians, to be fearful of the third eye.
One of the ways that Black ☥ Indigenous ☥ Immigrant People can bring balance to our third eye chakra, is through the understanding of historical timelines that have been omitted or manipulated by colonizers. For example, let’s take a snapshot of a timeline of economic suppression and psychotic behavior that is often omitted from our history books:
☥ Prehistoric Aryan invasions that implemented harsh caste systems, religious
oppression and the dismantling of the cultural practices of Black ☥ Indigenous ☥
Immigrant People which evolved into present day social programs
☥ Mass murders of millions of Indigenous People who lived on lands that
colonizers take credit for “discovering” and centuries of enslavement
☥ Medical experimentation on Black ☥ Indigenous ☥ Immigrant People to test out new
drugs, learn about the human body, practice medical procedures, etc. These practices
often included purposely infecting people with diseases that the medical industry was
attempting to cure. Although it may be disguised in many different forms, this type of
medical apartheid is still in effect today.
☥ Beginning in ~ the 18th Century
☥ Human zoos kidnapped, caged and publicly displayed Black ☥ Indigenous ☥
Immigrant People as savages/inferior people in their "natural habitat" to assert the
civility and superiority of Europeans. These human zoos rose to prominence in the
19th century and were the inspiration for spinoffs such as circus "freak shows."
☥ Experimentations in psychological warfare, such as the programming of Phillis
Wheatley, that were promoted to colonizers worldwide as a strategy for controlling
enslaved people after they have been “freed” (i.e. making Black ☥ Indigenous ☥
Immigrant People the forward-facing front of false/negative propaganda or criminal
activity, placing them as “puppets” in positions of power to ensure the stability of a
Eurocentric worldview, cause civil disturbances, etc.)
☥ 1860’s – The launch of Christian boarding schools that killed thousands of
Indigenous children and physically/sexually abused many thousands more in a
forced attempt to integrate them into white culture; inception of Jim Crow laws,
circulation of postcards of lynched Black People, racist cartoons, etc.
☥ 1891 – The largest mass lynching in United States history occurred with Italian
Immigrants who owned profitable businesses that threatened the local
power structure of the Committee of Fifty (an elite group of white politicians,
businessmen, etc.)
☥ 1920’s – Red Summer – mass murder of Black People and destruction of
hundreds of Black businesses that spread from Tulsa, Oklahoma to
Washington, DC.; forcing Black People into ghettos and bringing heroin into
the communities, etc.
☥ 1950’s – Present Day - running major highways through Black neighborhoods forcing
residents to become homeless and paving the way for gentrification of the
neighborhood (creation and funding of nonprofit organizations to talk about the
"homeless problem" without solving it); bringing narcotics into the communities;
political prisoners targeted, imprisoned or forced into exile, etc.
☥ 1980’s – Present Day - prison industrial complex, school to prison pipeline/targeting
Black ☥ Indigenous ☥ Immigrant children with financial incentives; crack
cocaine/other drugs introduced into communities; push to legalize marijuana allowing
colonizers to earn billions of dollars while leaving Black ☥ Indigenous ☥ Immigrant
People in prison for selling marijuana, rebranded as cannabis, etc.
☥ 2000’s – Present Day - strong resurgence of police brutality in Black ☥ Indigenous
communities and anti-immigrant policies and propaganda, etc.
☥ 2023 - Australia votes against a proposal that would have recognized Aboriginal People
in the Australian Constitution. The proposal would have been a step towards healing and
reversing the effects of racism, oppression and disenfranchisement. Black and
Indigenous People are not recognized in the American Declaration of Independence, but
Indigenous People are referred to as "merciless Indian savages." Black People and
women are not mentioned in the United States Constitution, but Black People are
alluded to in the "three fifths of all other persons" passage located within Article. I.,
Section. 2.
If we review the snapshot of events above, we see a thread of violence, psychotic behavior and the determination to suppress and oppress Black ☥ Indigenous ☥ Immigrant People, yet when we speak up about the injustice, colonizers accuse us of spreading hate. Recently, Jill Scott changed the lyrics to the American National Anthem and performed it live during the Essence Festival:
Oh say can you see by the blood in the streets?
That this place doesn’t smile on you colored child.
Whose blood built this land with sweat and their hands,
But we’ll die in this place and your memory erased.
Oh say, does this truth hold any weight?
This is not the land of the free, but the home of the slaves.
If we analyze the lyrics, we see that they reflect the truth of our historical timeline. What in the lyrics above spreads hate and division? Colonizers will consistently make comments to deflect and minimize their behavior such as:
☥ You’re spreading hate
☥ You’re dividing the country
☥ If it is so bad here, then go somewhere else (a white man suggested that Jill
Scott move to Afghanistan)
☥ You talk about the poor, but you are rich
These comments are a strategy to deflect the reader away from the actual issues. They are also a distraction designed to waste our time as we continually explain and justify our actions. We cannot allow ourselves to be caught up in debates over what we already know to be true. However, if we are able to do so with a calm mind and balanced emotions, we could cite some of the facts from our historical timeline to “substantiate the data” of the song which would expose the ignorance and manipulation of colonizers.
How do we heal if we will not acknowledge the truth about our history and current behaviors? The comments are a truly fascinating study of the effects of social programming, and the resistance one faces when attempting to shine a light in areas that have long been dark.
Other horrors of colonization include the rapid spread of diseases (often caused by poor hygiene, rape, zoophilia, etc.) and sexual perversions such as the practice of force breeding and inbreeding of enslaved or otherwise conquered Black ☥ Indigenous ☥ Immigrant People. Over time, economic suppression caused many cultures to engage in inbreeding for survival or to keep money/property within family lines. Invasions from the Romans and Greeks forced Egyptians into the practice of marrying their siblings as a desperate attempt to keep the power structure in the family. The siblings married, but had concubines so that they could have families with the person they loved while maintaining their public leadership roles.
As difficult as this glimpse of our history’s timeline is to accept, acknowledgement of the truth helps us to balance our third eye chakra. Protesting inhumane behavior is a very small part of the counterstrategy, but it is where we tend to place most of our energy. The wisdom of the third eye chakra helps us to see actions that we need to take on a daily basis to reclaim our stolen legacies and facilitate the restoration of our humanity. This acceptance of reality includes colonizer behaviors that have not changed and will not change until we change our responses. We remain stuck and inactive for as long as we linger in the I can't believe this is happening/I have to prove my worth mental space. Awareness and acceptance of the truth helps us to see powerful counterstrategies so that we will take action. Let’s explore a few examples of activating the power of the third eye chakra to help us accept reality and take actions that heal and reverse the course of these physical, mental, emotional and social dis-eases.
Acceptance Of The Reality Of Professional Sabotage + Healing Counterstrategies
Accept that our lives are being studied and our work will get appropriated. Being angry about this reality will toxify our liver and protesting it as a solo strategy will not protect us. For protection, we need to implement a different set of daily actions such as:
☥ Keep our actions to ourselves. Instead of telling people what we are going to do, allow
them to discover what we have already done. The only people who need to know what
we are doing before we do it are people who surpass our benchmarks for trust.
☥ Be mindful of what we post to social media. The advent of artificial intelligence is
making it much easier for colonizers to know what we are thinking, how we are
thinking, why we are thinking what we are thinking and it can predict what we will do
and when we will do it.
☥ Stay rooted and connected to our identity ☥ culture to protect us from the patterns of
professional sabotage and appropriation. The pattern generally is to shame what we
produce while colonizers study and figure out how to mass market it. Although we are
spammed with propaganda on a daily basis, we cannot allow ourselves to be
influenced by it. What practices can we implement to reinforce the truth of who we are
while identifying and rejecting the propaganda?
Acceptance Of The Reality Of Social Programming + Healing Counterstrategies
The tragedy of the manipulation of Phillis Whe