Try the following chakra and prayer exercise if feeling powerless or seeking meaning in life.
Before beginning, some background on the third chakra and prayers of oblation will make the exercise clearer.
What is the Third Chakra?
Chakras are energy centers in the body according to ancient Hindi practice. Meditating on the chakras can bring healing in a particular area and a sense of overall balance and peace.
The third chakra is located in the center of the abdomen, right behind the belly button. This energy center is the source of identity and power. The third chakra fuels the drive to achieve and generates hope for a better future. This chakra generates the power to make dreams a reality. The color yellow is traditionally associated with the third chakra.
What is a Prayer of Oblation?
For this meditation, the third chakra is associated with prayers of oblation, or offering oneself to the divine. Oblations reflect a desire to connect with a power beyond the individual, and for many who believe in a higher power, divine power is the ultimate power source.
If one feels frustrated, lost, confused about one's identity, or powerless in any way, an oblation seeks help in these areas.
Classic examples of oblations include asking the divine for guidance in a personal struggle, questions about identity and the future, and energy to achieve one's hopes and dreams.
Preparing for Body Prayer Using the Root Chakra and Petitions
Any type of meditation involves settling comfortably in a position so that the body will not become a burden. Settle comfortably on the floor, a pillow, a straight chair, or lying flat on the ground. Be open to any position that feels comfortable, and enter the exercise without an agenda. Expectations can often impede openness to any healing or insights that may occur.
Expect to spend no more than twenty minutes doing the following exercise. It is possible to overexert oneself meditating, especially if one is new to the practice.
Body Prayer for Identity and Power
Notice the area behind the navel, or third chakra. Visualize a yellow light, shining from the spine behind the belly button, and radiating outward. If the yellow light does not work at first, try a yellow object such as a sunflower or a sunset to seek the color yellow clearly. Focus on the color yellow until it is strong and bright, and the body feels connected to itself.
Next, reflect upon areas of powerlessness, confusion, and frustration that separate the self from one's hopes and dreams. Examples might include a despised job, helplessness in one's finances, a desire to lose weight, and hope for a creative endeavor. Note that if there is a lot going on, fixate on just one issue per meditation session. A deep, intense examination on one issue may bring light to other problems quite unexpectedly.
Offer the hope for a different life, known as an oblation, into the yellow light. Visualize the color yellow absorbing the hope into the energy of the universe. Continue letting the yellow absorb the problem until a sense of peace or closure predominates.
Now, bask in the yellow light a few moments before letting the yellow dim back into the area behind the navel.
Sit comfortably, with eyes closed, for several minutes, absorbing the experience. Try not to move too quickly, but transition gently into opening the eyes and moving.
Other Suggestions for Prayers of Oblation Using the Third Chakra
- Give the self permission to move and stretch in any way until one is comfortable, even moving during the exercise itself.
- Stop the exercise at any point if feeling physical or emotional discomfort. Such signs may indicate a more serious issue that should be addressed in another venue, such as therapy, or that the body position is wrong. Try another position- laying down, a pillow- or adapt the meditation according to one's needs.
- Combine the exercise with meditating on the other chakras for an increased sense of balance and wholeness.
- Wear or buy something yellow to look at in a work space or room of the house. Yellow flowers, a yellow shirt, or a picture of a sunset on the computer's desktop helps channel the healing energy from the meditation and keeps the self primed for more third chakra work, if desired.
For another chakra meditation, try Prayers of Intercession and the Second Chakra. If interested in praying more for power and identity rooted in the divine, see Prayers of Oblation: How to Give the Self and Grow in Relationships.
Sources:
- Johari, Harish. Chakras: Energy Centers of Transformation. Destiny Books, 2000. Excerpts are available online from SanatanSociety.com.
- Episcopal Church, USA. Book of Common Prayer. Church Publishing Corporation. 1979.
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