Self Expression through the Chakras
Founder of Seven Senses Integrative Medicine & Holistic Coaching, Dr. Erica Matluck, walks us through each of our 7 energy centers & the impact of the chakra system on our overall health. By Identifying potential blocks within each area, she guides us towards full expression of self.
Self expression is a dynamic and multidimensional phenomenon. When we are expressing ourselves in a way that is truly aligned with the great intelligence that we’re all a part of, our gifts pour out of us effortlessly. However, when we fall out of alignment with that great intelligence, we experience dis-ease. And contrary to what conventional western medicine has taught us, disease is not a diagnosis. It is a departure from the harmony we experience when we embody our unique place in the whole - and we can experience dis-ease physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
The path to wellbeing and the path to complete self expression are the same path. And the chakra system can serve as a map to help each one of us navigate that path with ease. The journey begins at the root chakra. Here we learn to express ourselves in a way that protects our safety and survival. Often in our early years we misunderstand the world around us and instinctively begin to repress certain parts of ourselves to secure love and attachment because as babies, this is necessary for our survival. The most important lesson here is to trust that it is safe to express ourselves authentically - even in a world where nothing is guaranteed.
Then we move on to the sacral chakra. Here we learn to express ourselves through the infinite range of emotions. So much is misunderstood here during puberty - where we are thrown into the deep end without warning, to experience the wild, irrational and often turbulent emotional waters. Some of us grew up in environments where we had to over-emote to feel seen and heard, whereas others grew up in environments where it was unsafe to show emotion at all. The most important lesson on this part of the path is to learn how to use the power of emotion to communicate with the world around us and respond with intention.
Next we move on to the solar plexus where we must heal the old would of shame. We discover that we’ve been selectively expressing the parts of ourselves we feel proud of. We’re perceived as confident and strong but we are not whole. Our vulnerabilities, weaknesses and insecurities are integral parts of us and until we accept all of those parts of ourselves, we are not fully expressed. So the most important lesson at this stage of our growth is that when you express ALL of you, you are capable of so much more and what is available to you expands! This realization shatters limiting belief systems and fuels a deep sense of empowerment.
Once we’ve moved through the lower three chakras, the journey is no longer about oneself. We enter the bridge of the heart knowing that we don’t express ourselves for personal gain and satisfaction. Self expression is an offering - a sharing of oneself - and the connection that results is actually essential for the survival of the human species. At the heart chakra we generate compassion for those who are suffering. Compassion is the highest form of love and it connects us to all beings everywhere, so expressing or revealing our pain to others is essential here - because it cracks their hearts open and the compassion that pours out touches all of us. The heart transmutes the pain of the lower chakras into the ecstasy of the upper chakras - so this is the key to expressing oneself as a human being having a spiritual experience and a spiritual being having a human experience at the same time.
After we cross the bridge of the heart, we are free to enter the upper triangle. This is where we express ourselves as the creator. Because language is such a potent form of expression, the throat chakra is often over-emphasized as the energetic epicenter of self expression. However, we are expressing ourselves from every chakra at every moment. But the throat uses sound to transmit thought forms into the material world so what we express through language becomes reality. So here we must learn to use our voice with precision to manifest for the betterment of all. The throat chakra is a magic wand and it should be used with intention - from a place of integrity and service, as opposed to the unresolved wounds that drive material gain and personal power.
The next stop on this journey is actually the last opportunity to express oneself and the third eye chakra expresses through imagination. The greatest quantum leaps in human progress come from the third eye but in order to use this technology we must transcend the limitations of the mind. We must imagine the impossible and trust that even if we don’t know how we’re going to get there, we will get there because if we can imagine it, it already exists. How we express ourselves at the third eye shapes the future of humanity.
The final stop on this journey is the crown chakra. And when we reach the crown, there is nothing to express - because there is no longer a self. We dissolve into the whole and enter the great mystery. Only when there is nothing left to express are we fully expressed. The path brings us back home to our true nature, and once again we are one with it all.
And then, we begin again …
