Tag Archive for 'Chakras'

Chakra Boosters Tattoos – On Front Or Back?

Published on February 7, 2010 in Chakras. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

A couple of people have emailed me with a very important question that I want to address today – should Chakra Boosters Temporary Tattoos be worn on the front or back of the body?

First, let me just say that hair can obviously be a problem in certain areas of either the front or back of the body – and if you don’t want to shave it off, you probably don’t want to put a tattoo there for the same reason band-aids are never fun to remove – hair and adhesives just don’t mix.

Simple, huh?   Still, I wanted to get that logistical point out of the way, before approaching the front-back tattoo placement issue from a place of deeper meaning.

The question about the placement of chakra tattoos is actually a very good one, because the energy fields of the front side and back side of the body are very different.  The front body represents the conscious part of us, the Individual (ego) Self and the future, while the back body represents the unconscious, the Universal (spirit) Self, and the past.

So, for instance, if I put the third chakra tattoo (confidence, decisive action) on the back body, I am going to heal old insecurities – perhaps ones that come from my childhood or a past life, while if I put it in the front, I will gain a boost to my confidence for things that are going on right now and in the near future.  For instance, I could lead or perform more confidently or more easily finish a task or project in front of me, without procrastinating or giving up.

The third chakra is the home of the ego self, so it is advisable to make sure that old confidence issues are healed (back body placement) before wearing the front on a regular basis.   If one is insecure from the past, but feels compelled to act confident and boisterous, it can come off as unreal, compensating or overbearing.

Of course, there is always the option of wearing the third chakra tattoo on both sides of the body – and I have personally done this quite a bit.  But wearer beware – the third chakra is the “caffeine” of the energy body (it deals with digestion and metabolism and carries the element of fire), so if you put third chakra tattoos on both the front and back of your solar plexus, and you don’t have a project in front of you to work on, you might feel a bit antsy or anxious, like a car spinning its wheels while stuck in the mud.

Now, let’s look at the heart chakra.  If you put it on the back body, you are going to heal old relationship wounds and grief.  While if you put it on the front body, you are going to radiate more love forward – expressing it and sharing it with those around you.  Again, it’s good to start on the back to heal yourself and fill your own cup first, so that when you share your love “forward,” it is from a place of overflow.

I think it’s simple enough to figure out the appropriate placement for the other chakra tattoos using the same principle – that the back body heals the past and the Universal or Spiritual Self while the front body moves one healthfully into the future and deals more with the Individual or Ego Self.

I think it’s interesting that the top three chakras that literally represent the spiritual (as one rises above the heart and starts to serve a higher purpose) present a particular challenge for front side usage.  The throat chakra tattoo (speaking one’s truth) is just biologically awkward to apply on the front, especially for men, due to the Adam’s apple.

Nevertheless, I did wear the throat chakra tattoo on the front once, when I was a guest on my friend, Martin Hulbaek’s radio show.  Interestingly, that show faired very well for moving me forward in my personal communication, because the Director of Spirit Quest Radio heard me that day and offered me my own show. Now I host “Personal Evolution with Vicki Howie” on SQR on Sundays at 2 pm PST.

For most people, the sixth chakra tattoo can typically only be worn on the front side, due to hair being on the back side.  My recommendation for both the 6th and 7th chakras is to wear them anywhere you want, since we are about 70% water and our systems are circulating and bringing the energy wherever it is needed.

Still, my favorite way to wear the 6th chakra tattoo is this:  right before I go to bed, I peel the plastic cover off of it and place it face-down on the space above and between my eye brows.  Then, instead of wetting the paper of the tattoo, I simply leave the paper on as I sleep.  In the morning, I peel it off and put it in a zip-lock bag to wear again the next night.  It always lasts me 1-2 weeks before losing its stickiness, and I feel like I get clearer mentally and psychically — while I sleep!

As for the 7th chakra, my favorite place to put it is on the upper back, at the “high heart” – in the space between the 4th and 5th chakras.  It looks lovely there and brings peace and calm to the system.  Of course, if you are bald, I highly recommend wearing the 7th chakra tattoo right on your crown – at the top of your head.  You’ll make everybody wish they were bald :-) .

Seeing Abundance Everywhere

Published on January 1, 2010 in Abundance. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

Yesterday, my friend Blayne and I were celebrating New Year’s Eve Day in Sedona, AZ and we stopped in at one of my favorite metaphysical stores – Crystal Magic.  I bought a Laughing Buddha candle holder for my Laughing Buddha collection.  The happy buddha symbolizes and boosts abundance and good fortune.  When I walked out of the store, buddha in hand, I found a shiny dime at my feet.

Okay, I know a dime – shiny or not — doesn’t buy much these days, but finding coins is symbolic of more to come.  At least in my book it is.  And speaking of more to come… Blayne and I went straight from there to lunch at India Palace, where we were promptly seated at the feet of the Goddess Lakshmi herself.  A local artist, Paul Lawrence, had painted a wall mural that made it look like She was literally seated on the end of our table (see the posted photo).

I sat at the other (open) end of the table where there was no chair, so I moved it, before even noticing Lakshmi was there.  Then I looked up and was facing Her the entire meal.  Note the gold coins that spill freely from her left hand.  It’s sort of ironic that the word “lack” is even in her name, because Lakshmi is the Goddess of all things prosperous and positive.  Go Goddesssss!

I bring this up because recently my friend, Ed Mills, vlogged about “blessing all forms of abundance,” in his blog, “Evolving Times” and it made me think about how I have shifted my attitude about abundance in just that way.

I used to judge other’s forms of abundance in all sorts of subtle, counter-productive ways (using words like “ostentatious,” “wasteful”, and my personal favorite – “over the top”).

Now, when I drive through a nice neighborhood that is clearly elegant, but doesn’t “feel like me,” rather than turn my nose up, I acknowledge the level of abundance that is represented and say to myself, “in what way would I express this level of abundance?”

It’s a fun exercise! Suddenly, I realize that someone else’s large, suburban house in the Valley is their version of my more compact, modern beach house (a 3+2 would be perfect, with lots of windows, please) right on the ocean in Santa Monica (or Malibu would be fine).

In this way, not only do I not judge others or resist the energy of abundance, but I actually start to visualize what I specifically wish to create — and in that process start creating it on an energetic level.

Not surprisingly, as I have been practicing blessing all forms of abundance — prosperity has been showing up in my life more and more in fun, symbolic ways.   I keep “finding” (discovering) coins. And when I do, I consider it a wink-wink from the Universe saying, “More of this to come… keep your eyes open.” I say a heartfelt “thank you” as I pocket it — not just for the coin itself, but for its message of how abundance is right here in front of me all the time — if I just stay open to it.

I live just off Venice beach these days (thank you Universe!), so I walk the beach almost every day. And lately, the ocean has been giving me sand DOLLARS.   Now this might not seem too unusual of a thing to happen on a beach, but anyone who lives in the L.A. area knows that unfortunately, Venice and Santa Monica beaches are more likely to wash up empty soda cans and used plastic bags, than exquisitely, intact sand DOLLARS.

A couple weeks ago, Blayne and I were walking on the beach, and a sea gull dropped the biggest CLAM right near us. It was huge. And when we picked it up, it was alive and heavy. We marveled at how the seagull held this weighty, roundish object in its beak for even the shortest flight.

Amazing. I laughed. From sand DOLLARS to CLAMS (”clams” as in, the old term for money, moola, dinero, casharoony).   Blayne and I thanked the bird and the Universe for this lovely and inspiring message, and then we threw the clam way into the waves. We imagined it as a sort of investment… that this clam would go back and create a whole clan of baby clams.

In any case, blessing all forms of abundance – big, little, symbolic and literal –is a fruitful way to connect with the exquisite energy of prosperity!

Ed Mills of “Evolving Times” and I will be discussing this and other spiritually-oriented financial concepts on my radio show Sunday,  January 24 at 2 pm PST here:  http://www.spiritquestradio.com.

You can use the above link to access the launch of my new internet radio show,”Personal Evolution with Vicki Howie” this Sunday, Jan. 3 at 2 pm PST.  I will be talking about how you can take maximum advantage of the New Moon of the New Year (which falls on Jan. 15) by creating a Sacred Vision Board that encompasses what you want to create in all areas of your life in 2010.

I will also be leading two Vision Board Workshops this month on the fertile weekend of the New Moon.  Come create your Vision of what you want in all areas of your life (and don’t worry if you don’t know exactly what that is, as we explore your dreams and desires in the workshop).

VISION BOARD WORKSHOPS:

Sat., Jan. 16, 2:00 – 5:30 pm @ Yoga Blend, Burbank, CA — For more information, call (818) 954- 9642 or to register, click here.

Sun., Jan. 17, 12 – 4 pm @ Yoga Works, Valencia, CA — For more information, call (661) 799-2645 or to register, click here.

Beyond “Self-Help”

Published on December 25, 2009 in Chakras. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

When I was a teenager, my mother joined AA, started doing the twelve steps, and introduced me to the concept of “Self-Help.”    I became a sort of addict.  In any bookstore – shiny and new, or dusty and used – I could be found perusing through the “Self Help” section.  I devoured the works of Shakti Gawain, Dr. Wayne Dyer, Dorothy Corkville Briggs, and Seth, just to name a few.

So the term “Self-Help” held a certain nostalgia for me – or more accurately, a comfortable familiarity.  But recently, while going through the process of what to name this blog, I realized I had thoroughly out-grown it.  In fact, I no longer even like it.  I’m fine with the “self” part, but “help” implies there is a problem that needs to be fixed – or worse, that if there isn’t a problem (that is, we don’t need “help”) then we need not engage in personal development.

It all boils down to this:  after numerous decades of “fixing” my “problems,” I’ve now discovered that it’s more evolution I seek than solutions to my “problems.” How do the two differ?  Quite simply, “helping” yourself or “fixing” means going from a negative state to homeostasis of some sort, whereas evolution is endlesssssssss.

I know I don’t plan on stopping any time soon.

So welcome to “Personal Evolution”  – a blog about personal possibilities and all the modalities you can access to be the best possible you!

Just to give you a heads up, I will be writing about each of the seven, main chakras over the coming weeks – describing their characteristics (chakraristics) :-) and suggesting ways to boost and/or balance them.  If you are curious as the current state of your chakras, here is a quick and interesting chakra test you can take (warning:  take it quickly; don’t overthink!): Chakra Test