Trish O’Sullivan - Chakra Wisdom: Healing Negative Thoughts, Feelings, and Beliefs with Meditation, Yoga, and the Traya Process

Llewellyn Publications

Woodbury, Minnesota

Copyright Information

Chakra Wisdom: Healing Negative Thoughts, Feelings, and Beliefs with Meditation, Yoga, and the Traya Process 2018 by Trish OSullivan.

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First e-book edition 2018

E-book ISBN: 9780738757704

Cover design by Kristi Carlson

Editing by Brian R. Erdrich

Interior illustrations by Mary Ann Zapalac

Llewellyn Publications is an imprint of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data (Pending)

ISBN: 978-0-7387-5743-8

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Contents

Part 1:

: A New Perspective on the Mind (or How the Mind Really Works)

: The Subtle Body: Mindfully Connecting with the Chakras

: The Basic Traya Technique and Ways to Use It

: Support for Your Traya Practice: Meditation and Yoga

: The Stages of Change through the Traya Process

Part 2:

: The Root Chakra (Muladhara) and the Imagination Chakra (Atiloka)

: The Pelvic Chakra (Svadhisthana) and the Fearless Chakra (Abhaya)

: The Solar Plexus Chakra (Manipura) and the Release Chakra (Mukta)

: The Heart Chakra (Anahata) and the Self-Esteem Chakra (Vajrahridaya)

: The Throat Chakra (Vishuddha) and the True Speech (Satyavadya) and Asking (Satyahridaya) Chakras

: The Third Eye Chakra (Ajna) and the Insight Chakra (Satyamanas)

: The Crown Chakra (Sahasrara)

List of Exercises

This book is dedicated to my spiritual teachers in gratitude

for their wisdom, generosity, and boundless patience

Elsie Becherer (in memoriam)

Zen Master Wu Kwang (Richard Shrobe)

Disclaimer

This book is not intended to be a substitute for the advice of your personal physician or licensed mental health practitioner. For diagnosis and treatment of any physical or mental health condition, consult a licensed professional. The intent of the author is to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being. The publisher and author are not responsible for any condition that may require professional supervision and are not liable for any damages or negative consequences from any action by any person reading, following, or applying the information provided in this book. The yoga postures mentioned should only be done under the guidance of a quali fi ed yoga instructor.

INTRODUCTION

For most of human history, people practiced the religion they were born into. Today we have an abundance of choice in both the material and spiritual marketplaces, and many pick and choose practices from different spiritual paths. Meditation and yoga, once considered esoteric practices in the West, have seeped into the mainstream. Once a regular practice is established, the bene fi ts are so evident that it is hard to imagine life without either of these. It is my great fortune to be able to offer a third practice that both supports and is supported by meditation and yoga.

Traya means three in Sanskrit and the practice I have developed is so named because it is a mind, body, and spirit practice that provides a new way of engaging with and healing the chakras. The development of Traya is the result of a long journey involving good fortune, dedication, growth, and transformation.

How the Traya Process Came About

I was fortunate to fi nd special teachers on my journey. In the late 1970s, I found Elsie, who taught yoga before it was widespread in New York City. She introduced me to many gurus, geshes, and masters from a variety of traditions who she met through her position at a bookstore. She lent me books and introduced me to some of these esteemed teachers, and I became taken with Eastern spirituality, especially Buddhism. I later found a home in the Kwan Um School of Zen andin honor of my fi rst teacher, Elsie, who had passed onI continued my yoga practice and eventually became certi fi ed to teach yoga.

In spite of all of this involvement with Eastern spirituality, I hadnt had any exposure to the chakras beyond reading about them in tantric and new age books. Then by serendipity I met Nancy Rosanoff, who taught intuitive development, and I took some of her classes. I learned several techniques for engaging with the chakras and accessing information, most notably a unique technique (somewhat like a shamanic journey) for cleansing them of toxic psychic energy. I continued to use these techniques on myself and I noticed that my thinking began to change and I became more positive. I modi fi ed the techniques I learned from Nancy and established a daily practice. I discovered that my signi fi cant fears decreased if I focused on a particular chakra in a mindful way and continued to clear it. My thoughts became more positive, my con fi dence and self-esteem increased, and many more bene fi ts appeared and stayed. My mind was changing!

I continued to search through both Western and Eastern books, looking for information on or similar to this process, but was never able to fi nd anything akin to what I was fi nding on my own. Although I was frustrated at the time, now I see that this lack of outside information turned out to be a great boon. It forced me to do the work myself and, in the process, I learned that the capacity for self-healing is innate within each of us. The chakras become accessible and understandable. They teach us. We can even put aside whatever information about the chakras we have been exposed to, as we dont need to know anything about a chakra in order to work with it. In fact, we may get in our own way if we have too many preconceived ideas.