Working with the Crown Chakra - Part 1

We've made it to the final chakra, the Crown Chakra. If you've been following with me since the base
chakra, well done! It's been quite an adventure.

If you haven’t read the previous posts on the first to sixth chakras, you can find
them here:
Base chakra articles: part 1 and part 2
Sacral chakra articles: part 1 and part 2
Solar plexus chakra articles: part 1 and part 2
Heart chakra articles: part 1 and part 2
Throat chakra articles: part 1 and part 2
Third Eye chakra articles: part 1 and part 2

The crown chakra is where we experience a connection with what we might call pure spirit, pure consciousness, awareness or the divine. It is the sense of pure being in the state of the witness within each of us - the only constant in our lives. In connecting with this, we also connect with the present moment, "is-ness", and what Eckhart Tolle has called "the power of now". When we awaken to our true selves, which is this essence of spirit and pure awareness, we gain a perspective on existence and on reality that recognises the arbitrary nature of the ego. Suddenly, what we thought of as "I" is somehow just a story we have been telling ourselves and we realise that what we really are is love, peace, bliss, and simple awareness of the moment of now. It is a freeing and wonderous moment when we first awaken to this reality. We realise that life can be whatever we make it, that we have the freedom to act and perceive in any way at all. We step back from our actions in the ability to just watch what we do and say, without judgement, and just be with ourselves. Doing this, we realise that we can choose our responses in any situation to be actions of love and peace with what is.

In coming into this awareness we also find the deepest questions of reality. What is this existence all about? What is really going on here? What is the truth? What is real? Who am I? What is the meaning of life? What is the divine/the source/spirit/Oneness? We come into conceptual thought and pondering the absolute. Answers are almost always never completely satisfying, as the answer is essentially ineffable - it cannot be spoken, it can only be experienced. This personal experience is sometimes referred to as gnosis, which is to know by experience. For example you can read a thousand descriptions of the taste of an apple, and these will give you knowledge, but you need to actually taste one to know through gnosis. A gnostic experience of spirit is a personal connection with it, and this is the experience of the crown chakra.

The crown chakra is the personal connection with, and understanding of the absolute. It is to “KNOW”.

Overactive

Honestly, this is pretty rare. It's hard to hold onto an active crown chakra, and a person with an overactive one would seem almost god-like. To be overactive in the crown chakra is to have left the ego and self behind completely in order to identify with pure being, and pure spirit only, but to a detrimental effect. When we connect with the source or the divine in pure awareness and reside there, it is possible to let go of our association with the individual self, but this is not completely ideal. There is still a need to be a part of this world and this incarnation. When the crown is overactive, we might forget our personal reality and our ability to act as an individual. People who get this way might become gurus or spiritual leaders of some kind who are revered for their connection to spirit by their followers, almost as though they are gods themselves, but while doing this, they also have trouble acting in the world as a human being. They seem "out of this world" in a negative sense.

Underactive

Crown chakras are often underactive, and might only have moments of being fully balanced. We tend to get caught up in our egoic identities, our thoughts about the past and future and the stories we tell ourselves about what this reality is. It can be a painful and difficult journey to let go and surrender into pure awareness, and many people never do. Having moments where we ponder the meaning of existence or who we really are, are the times when we begin to open, but it can be difficult to remember to do this in daily life and we can go for long periods of time without awareness of this. Having an underactive crown chakra is a space many of us will find ourselves in, even if we have had moments of awakening. It is a channel that needs to be worked on in every single moment to become fully active, and this is no simple task.

Balanced
When the crown chakra is balanced we have reached a very special state of being. We can be aware of the present moment in full consciousness, feeling the Oneness of all the universe in the witness of all things. We see what truly IS, not what we imagine, believe or think is real. We live in the now, and it brings us an incredible sense of peace, calm and acceptance. We emanate love for all beings naturally, and can connect with the source of being to share that love with others in our every action. Some people who are healers will be familiar with this state when they share their energy or the energy of the source with their patients. Here we have a constant sense of spirit, of truth and of wonder at our very existence. Life becomes "lila" or divine play, with every moment of experience accepted with joy for learning and experience's sake itself.

Questions to ask:

What is real?
What is the meaning of life?
Who am I?
What is the witness in me?
What would it mean to let go of my ego?
What stories am I telling myself about reality right now?
What is spirit/the source/ the divine/Oneness?

In the first base chakra blog there was an exercise for a meditation to assess the energy of your chakras. You might like to do this meditation again to check in with your progress.

My experience

This is a subject I have had a lifelong love affair with. I just love asking these questions and not a day goes by that I don't ponder them in some way. There are some amazing authors and speakers out there that can really help you to meditate on these ideas and find awakening experiences. One spiritual speaker I have really enjoyed listening to on this subject is Adyashanti, and he has a lot of videos on You Tube. I totally recommend having a listen to them. They are very thought provoking. You can find them here. Another popular author you would have heard about is Eckhart Tolle. I loved his book "A New Earth", and "The Power of Now" is also brilliant.

For my journey in the crown chakra I am going to take the very simple, but also very challenging task of trying to reside in awareness as much as I can. Notice right now, that part of you that only watches the moment. It doesn't think, and it can't be anywhere else but right now. Your mind and your thoughts are watched by it, but it is only ever present, watching and non-judgmental. This is awareness, and trying to move into this space of just watching our egoic experience is the meditation of the crown chakra. So very simply, this is what I am going to be doing for this one, and it is the most important activity of the crown chakra. I will discus some others in the next part of my blog on the crown chakra, but this is definitely the most important.

So we come to the end of my own journey in these blogs. Though the chakras I've added the following to my days:
Base chakra - eat healthily and cut out addictions
Sacral chakra - exercise or do yoga or dance
Solar plexus chakra - meditate on mindfulness and write in my journal
Heart chakra - daily gratitude photo to Instagram.
Throat chakra - either write a poem or do an mantra/chant meditation
Third Eye - actively question reality for lucid dream experiences, and record dreams
Crown Chakra - reside in awareness

In summary of the whole experience I have to say it has been life changing, as it is every time I have moved through them. Each time I work through the chakras I have such a great experience! And I'm going to be doing it all again soon as this is a constant cycle of refining for me. It's really great. I hope you've been enjoying this journey as much as I have enjoyed it, and enjoyed sharing it with you.

In the next blog post I am going to talk about stones, other activities, and affirmations that relate to the crown chakra. In the meantime, you might like to have a look at the Pinterest board I have made for the crown chakra which has a lot of ideas.
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Amulets for the crown chakra are available at www.forestspiritjewelry.com under the JEWELRY tab. I hope you find something you like!