Balance Your Chakras With Food
We all go through moments when we feel lazy, unconfident, unsuccessful, fatigued, depressed, anxious, frustrated, emotional, burnt out, etc. But what if there was a way to overcome these feelings free of addictive tendencies, pharmaceuticals, or therapy so that we could get back to our awesome, motivated, rockin’ selves?
We have all heard about the benefits of eating the rainbow, right? Well, this philosophy based on Ayurveda, takes it to another level. It’s all about eating foods of certain colours that help to realign us emotionally. If you are into chakras, you will understand even more how certain colors encourage healing within your body.
Here’s how it works:
RED for ENERGY (Root Chakra) – If you are feeling run down, fatigued, burnt out, lazy or lethargic, red foods such as tomatoes, strawberries, raspberries and beets will help to boost your energy levels and body temperature.
ORANGE for CONFIDENCE & SELF-WORTH (Creativity Chakra) – If you are low on confidence, doubting yourself or feeling unworthy of love, get yourself some oranges and do it fast! Things like mandarins, mangoes, carrots, squash, pumpkin and yams will all make a big impact on your feelings.
YELLOW for JOY (Solar Plexus Chakra) – If you are feeling depressed, sad or emotional, hook yourself up with some bananas, sweet corn on the cob, some fresh pineapple or some yellow peppers and watch how your mood changes. Yellow is a natural mood enhancer, so skip the Prozac or the bottle of red and make yourself something bright!
GREEN for REJUVENATION (Heart Chakra) – Feeling low on vital energy? Are you stressed? Overworked? Experiencing adrenal fatigue, acidity or toxicity? Then green is the color for you! Throw your favorite organic greens in to a juicer or make a gigantic salad and feel what happens to your feelings of stress. Likely they will melt away due to the live enzymes, oxygen and chlorophyll.
BLUE/BLACK for CALMING (Throat Chakra) – Experiencing anxiety? Enjoy a bowl of blueberries or blackberries. Blue and black foods help to tonify the kidneys and help to elicit honest communication.
VIOLET for PEACE (Third-Eye Chakra) – These foods will help to calm your energy and bring you peace if you are feeling frustrated, angry or unable to forgive. Foods like eggplant, purple kale, concord grapes, purple carrots etc., will help to bring you peace and calm! Whip up a fresh smoothie with your favorite purple foods!
WHITE for STRENGTH (Crown Chakra) – Things like mushrooms, garlic, ginger, onion, lychee, coconut and other tropical fruits help to give you strength and power. If you are feeling defeated or down on yourself then enjoy some white foods and experience a surge in your own inner strength.
About the Author
Chakras: What They Don't Tell You at Yoga Class
Six blind men lived in a village. One day a villager said, “Wow, there’s an elephant here today!” The blind men had never experienced “elephant.” After conferring, they decided to go touch the elephant and find out what the excitement was about. They gathered around the beast and each took hold of a different part.
The blind man holding the elephant’s leg said, “Hey, this elephant is like a pillar.”
Another, holding the tail, said, “No no! It’s like a rope.”
The third, touching the elephant’s trunk, said, “You’re both wrong — the elephant is like a thick tree branch.”
Another, holding the elephant’s ear, said, “It’s like a big banana leaf.”
“No. It’s like a huge wall,” said the blind man touching the elephant’s side. At this point one can only wonder at the patience of this elephant.
The sixth blind man said, “You’re all wrong. An elephant is like a solid pipe.” He was touching the elephant’s tusk, perhaps just prior to the elephant using it to toss the him over its shoulder.
Aside from the ensuing arguments about who was “right,” each blind man was correct in his perception — there was truth in each experience. In the Jain tradition, it is said the truth can be stated in seven versions or points of view, and the lesson is to be tolerant of the experiences and perceptions of others.
Thus it is with chakras. We’re like blind men with an elephant — each with our own view of the chakra system based on experience, exposure, what we’ve seen, read, heard, or been told — but ironically, it is the cherished belief in our “rightness” (about virtually anything) that ultimately blocks the development and unfolding of the subtle body’s energy centers. Defending any position can launch us into a state of emotional reactivity — the kryptonite of spiritual evolution.
“In different traditions, one can find wheels, flowers, angels, animals, animal parts, geometric shapes, children, the seven dwarves, deities, buddhas, yantras, or mandalas. But in fact, across the board, believing in any judgements which give rise to emotional reactivity is the one sure way to ‘block’ the performance of a chakra,” said Lar C. Short, author of The Way of Radiance and co-author of The Body of Light. By referring to the “performance” of a chakra, Short distinguishes these centers as activities (verbs) rather than things (nouns).
So gentle seeker, or finder as the case may be, suspend disbelief for this exploration of the paradoxical human chakra energetic system.
