personal power | Tuesdays with Laurie

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Over the last nine posts we’ve laid the groundwork for this course—The Color of Wellness and looked at the therapeutic properties of several colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.

We learned that color is energy made visible; that every color has a different and distinct wavelength; and that we can be influenced by it. By incorporating a few easy-to-implement suggestions on how to weave color into the tapestry of our lives we’ve learned to enhance our sense of groundedness with red, increase our sense of delight with orange, cultivate our inner-landscape with yellow, develop our emotional empowerment with green, unleash our creative flair with blue, boost our insight with indigo, and strengthen the connection with our higher self with violet.

The photos in the slideshow are from our kitchen. As you can see, we enjoy a lot of color. We don’t set the table with every person receiving matching plates and dishes. Rather, we mix them up in bold fashion and have a lot of fun doing it! Our napkins are wild and crazy—no two are alike.

Every wall in our home is soft yellow (like the inside of a banana) with the exception of a very large sage green wall in the living room. We have liberal accents of chili pepper red throughout the house, with bold splashes of emerald green and cobalt blue here and there.

A few months ago one of my Gaia friends, a regular reader of this blog, asked me a question. My answer was to sit down and write a color meditation for her. With a little extra polish since that time, this is the result:

Rainbow Meditation

For this meditation, you may want to light a candle, dim the lights, and play music softly in the background. Each exhalation is designed to offload emotional baggage and to create space for unleashed, unlimited, potential and possibility— for joy!

Sit with your feet flat on floor, back upright and supported against a chair, hands resting comfortably on your thighs, eyes gently closed. Take a few deep, letting go breaths, directing attention to your body’s still point where in-breath becomes out-breath. In your mind’s eye, picture roots growing from the soles of your feet down through the floor, deep into the earth, grounding and centering you like an ancient, wise tree.

Bring your attention to your base chakra—the tip of your tailbone, your foundation, where self-preservation, survival, and physical wellness reside. In your mind’s eye, inhale the color red—slow, deep, and steady—through your nostrils, drawing the breath past your chest and all the way down into your belly.

Now exhale the “waste”—any toxic thoughts, emotional baggage—through your mouth. Using the power of intent say: “The energy of Divine Love fills my self-preservation. I invite the healing energy of Divine Love to flow.”

Shift your attention to your sacral chakra—the area just below your belly button, where self-gratification, pleasure, and occupational wellness reside. In your mind’s eye, inhale the color orange—slow, deep, and steady—through your nostrils, drawing the breath past your chest and all the way down into your belly.

Now exhale the “waste”—any toxic thoughts, emotional baggage—through your mouth. Using the power of intent say: “The energy of Divine Love fills my self-gratification. I make choices that are for my highest good.”

Direct your attention to your solar plexus chakra, the area just below the point on your chest where your rib cage meets, where self-definition, personal power, and social wellness reside. In your mind’s eye, inhale the color yellow—slow, deep, and steady—through your nostrils, drawing the breath past your chest and all the way down into your belly.

Now exhale the “waste”—any toxic thoughts, emotional baggage—through your mouth. Using the power of intent say: “The energy of Divine Love fills my self-definition. I choose to fill my world with joy.”

Bring your attention to your heart chakra at the center of your chest, where self-acceptance, love, and emotional wellness reside. In your mind’s eye, inhale the color green—slow, deep, and steady—through your nostrils, drawing the breath past your chest and all the way down into your belly.

Now exhale the “waste”—any toxic thoughts, emotional baggage—through your mouth. Using the power of intent say: “The energy of Divine Love fills my self-acceptance. I lovingly forgive and release the past.”

Move your attention to your throat chakra, the divot in your throat, where self-expression, creativity, and emotional wellness reside. In your mind’s eye, inhale the color blue—slow, deep, and steady—through your nostrils, drawing the breath past your chest and all the way down into your belly.

Now exhale the “waste”—any toxic thoughts, emotional baggage—through your mouth. Using the power of intent say: “The energy of Divine Love fills my self-expression. I speak my truth with ease and grace.”

Direct your attention to your brow chakra, the point between and slightly above your eyebrows, where self-reflection, intuition, and intellectual wellness reside. In your mind’s eye, inhale the color indigo—slow, deep, and steady—through your nostrils, drawing the breath past your chest and all the way down into your belly.

Now exhale the “waste”—any toxic thoughts, emotional baggage—through your mouth. Using the power of intent say: “The energy of Divine Love fills my self-reflection. It see all things with insight and inspiration.”

Bring your attention to your crown chakra, the top of your head, where self-knowledge, divine connection, and spiritual wellness reside. In your mind’s eye, inhale the color violet—slow, deep, and steady—through your nostrils, drawing the breath past your chest and all the way down into your belly.

Now exhale the “waste”—any toxic thoughts, emotional baggage—through your mouth. Using the power of intent say: “The energy of Divine Love fills my self-knowledge. “I am divinely inspired to live as I am meant to be. Thank you. And so it is.”

Below you will see a chakra necklace that I designed in April. I call it The Seven Selves as it goes hand-in-glove with my manuscript. The green stone (heart chakra) is perched neatly in the middle with three stones sitting in attendance on either side. You can’t see them all in this photo as they wrap around my neck, but from left to right as you look at the photo:

The red garnet reminds me to live courageously.
The orange amber reminds me of the importance of personal respect.
The yellow citrine reminds me to walk in dignity.
The green aventurine reminds me to drink from the well of calm and joy.
The blue lace agate reminds me to speak my truth.
The indigo lapis lazuli reminds me dive into endless possibilities.
The purple amethyst reminds me to live in the present moment.

The Seven Selves necklace by Laurie Buchanan

I hope you had as much fun receiving this “class” as I did delivering it. We’ll take a break from “coursework” through the rest of October and then jump into “Alphabetically Speaking” in the month of November. You may remember back in June (the day after my hard drive crashed) I took a reader survey and received lots of great topics that you’re interested in learning more about. I’m looking forward to delivering that “course.” In the meantime, I’ll post a bit of this and a dash of that …

Listen with your heart,

Laurie Buchanan

“Whatever you are not changing, you are choosing.”
– Laurie Buchanan

www.HolEssence.com

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For those of you who are just joining us, welcome to the University of Life. In the previous “classes” we laid the groundwork for this course—The Color of Wellness, and looked at the therapeutic properties of the colors red and orange. Today’s palette features the color Yellow.

Yellow is associated with self-definition, personal power, and social wellness. It enhances awareness, wisdom, and clarity. It’s the color of a shiny rain slicker. Think of the downy feathers on a prothonotary warbler, or the vibrant skin on a lemon or banana. It’s the lively color of daffodil bonnets that herald spring, and the dazzling color of finches at the feeder on an early summer morning. It’s the flamboyant color of bumble bees showing off as they dart from blossom to blossom.

The positive properties of yellow are expressed as motivational, happy, radiant, social, lighthearted, mental activity, clear thinking, rational, and detachment from negative emotions.

The negative properties of yellow are described as critical, argumentative, opinionated, evasive, and restless.

The healing properties of yellow are uplifting and supportive and can address physical symptoms that include intestinal and digestive issues such as constipation, diarrhea and flatulence, water retention, skin problems, all mental processes, and negative states of mind such as depression, low self-esteem, short attention-span, “exam nerves,” and writer’s block. Yellow increases awareness, perception, and understanding. It also stimulates the appetite.

When you need a boost in the areas of personal power and self-definition, indulge yourself with this color. Its frequency resonates with the solar plexus chakra, the wellspring of our power—the hub, the very heart—of our body’s electrical system. It promotes vigor, and improves memory. Yellow energy stirs feelings of well-being, positive thinking, and triggers the outward expression of inner joy.

Closest to sunlight, pure yellow conveys hospitality and promotes deep feelings of well-being. The muted hues make quiet backgrounds for busy lives, while the shaded yellows have a soft, glowing presence which speaks of home, harvest, and abundance.

What we do with our physical environment—our personal space—speaks to our heart and helps us to flourish. Add a dash of yellow to your wardrobe. Wake up your bathroom with a dazzling yellow shower curtain. Cheer up your kitchen with a bright yellow cookie jar or ceramic teapot. Take advantage of the healing frequency of yellow crystals such as citrine, golden tiger eye, or imperial topaz.

A special thank you to Joseph’s Market for allowing me to take photographs in their produce department.

Listen with your heart,

Laurie Buchanan

“Whatever you are not changing, you are choosing.”
– Laurie Buchanan

www.HolEssence.com