Ep 47 Chakas & Wine Pairings Part 3

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Maria Mayes: Hi friends, this is Maria Mays, founder of Take 5, wellbeing coach and teacher, and you're listening to Chakras and Chardonnay, a wellbeing podcast for wine lovers. where we explore insights from ancient wisdom teachings to empower our health, to liberate ourselves from anxiety, and to more mindfully enjoy our wine and everything else we consume.

Did I mention we have fun exploring different wines? We do that too, and I am so, so grateful that you are here.

Hey, chakras and chardonnay fans. It's Maria. Thank you for joining today. Um, thank you for being here and listening. And it's just me today. It's going to be a solo episode, which I haven't had in a while. I always prefer having guests on but I owe you a part three of our chakras and wine pairings. So if you're new here, thank you for listening.

This episode is going to make the most [00:01:00] sense if you've already listened to episode one where we explore what the heck these chakras are anyway. episode 11, where we look at the first few and episode 17, where we look at the next few. So also, if you're new, I want to throw out some disclaimers. One, my pronunciation of Sanskrit terms is truly okay at best.

So even the word chakras is a better attempt at pronunciation. I have a challenge with it. So I just say it as it's easy for me, which is chakras, um, which Also is fun and works better with Chardonnay, right? Um, so I try to keep it light. Everything that I'm sharing with you is designed to just get you curious, get you on a path to explore different options.

All of this information in any episode you listen to, take what resonates with you, leave what doesn't. So it's not meant to be an encyclopedia of Sanskrit knowledge, nor, um, the chakra system. Think about it as the cliff [00:02:00] notes. And it's all info based on my training, uh, my certification work, my research.

And then I'll drop in my experiential experiments, right? Because that's where it's really at. And that's why I encourage you to do anything in any of these episodes that resonate with you. That's your, Clue that maybe you should experiment and just explore and something's gonna hit sometimes it doesn't right, but What would life be without experimentation?

So today let's look at the higher three chakras Of the main seven if you will, we're gonna dive in and so let's talk about that saying I had a lump in my throat. If you've ever felt that need to like suppress, you know, a tight feeling in the throat, you're trying to suppress maybe a strong emotion, maybe you're going to try to hold back tears or hold back, um, yelling.

If you've experienced that, then you've felt your, the studi or [00:03:00] throat chakra. So this is the fifth chakra and it's located as you guessed at the center of the throat. Translation is roughly to purifying place. Um, this is all about our self expression, our ability to self actualize. It is said that when we, when it's open, we radiate the light of 10, 000 moons.

How beautiful is that? I love these ancient sayings. They're so just beautiful and empowering. And that's truly what, why learning about these chakras fascinates me because it's the ability to empower ourselves through, um, knowledge of them and working with them. If you think about. The expression, verbal communication, that's what this is all about.

Our ability to speak our highest truth. It's responsible for our speech, communication, the voice of the heart, the voice of forgiveness. And so physically, obviously, um, with it being at the throat, it's connected to the neck, the [00:04:00] thyroid, our parathyroid glands, the jawbone, our mouth and our tongue. Um, but it's really all about speaking our inner truth.

And setting boundaries that nurture us. So the element associated with it is space. So if you think about space, once you think about a night sky, just stepping out, looking around at a night sky, think about how expansive it is. And it's just like pure potential, right? That is the element associated with the throat chakra.

Our vocal cords are obviously associated with it. And so in terms of colors, if you go back to some of the prior episodes, and one of them I talked to the fact that, you know, some say. Based on what you read, you might find some, um, materials that say that the colors are a more Western thing that came later on, versus some of these older Vedic texts that may not have had colors in them, or the colors are a little different than what is [00:05:00] depicted as the traditional rainbow in today's teachings.

Take what you want. Go with what feels right for you. In this case, we're going to look at light blue and turquoise. Kind of an oil on water. And so, the, uh, the mantra, or vibration, what we call the Bija mantra, the seed sound for this chakra is Ham. So, I want you to place your hand on your throat right now and just say that, Ham.

Can you feel the vibration? Isn't that cool? It's one where you can just really feel it. Hum. You can feel that vibration from the throat to the hand. So let's talk about what it looks like when it is optimized. When this is rocking and rolling, we're authentic. We can confidently communicate. You know, we can really step into speaking our truth.

Um, we speak with clarity, with confidence. We [00:06:00] listen with compassion. and we set boundaries that nurture us. So this is why this particular chakra I've been doing a lot of work with the last few years with, um, boundaries, some lessons the universe has continuously taught me. I am a tough learner, let me tell you, um, but I am consistent and persistent, so I'm working, still working on that.

And it's really about, Stepping into that base of setting boundaries that serve our highest self, right? Saying no to things that aren't in alignment and really don't serve us, even if they make other people happy. And saying yes to things that do serve us, again, even if they don't make other people happy.

So, When it's optimized, in addition to being able to speak clearly and set those boundaries, we are often then much more vulnerable in really standing in our authentic truth. Um, [00:07:00] if it's really weak, we're going to have a challenge setting boundaries. Um, standing up for ourselves, for fear of being judged or what the repercussions be, what people think.

Not wanting to displease. So for all my, uh, people pleasers out there, I'm part of that club and I've been recovering for some time. Um, this is where, you know, we find it being a little weak sometimes. If you've ever found yourself passive aggressive, been there, done that one too. Um, not speaking up for ourselves.

If you've ever heard of the phrase being a doormat. Um, yep, that's all when it's really weak. And what about on the alternate, if it's too strong, emotions might overwhelm you, you might be acting manipulative or arrogant, like can't hold your temper, don't know when to stay quiet, explosive, right, voice explosive conversation, um, demanding, [00:08:00] um, that sort of stuff.

So how do we work with this? Well, Music, probably not a surprise, um, singing, chanting, um, sitting in an open space under the sky with clear skies, or even at night, right, under the stars. and what I've been doing the last few years, working on your boundaries. So, um, to calm its energy when it's overactive, listening to calming, beautiful music, maybe sipping some warm tea or lemon water, anything that's going to soothe the throat and journaling out your thoughts, you know, rather than, you know, Um, yelling them out, pausing, taking a breath, and writing them out, and seeing how that can maybe allow you to respond from a more mindful, um, place.

So, and believe me, I do not claim to be an expert and highly educated. actualized [00:09:00] individual. I am a big work in process so for sure as I hear myself say, journal out your thought rather than yell. That's something, um, as a wife and having two teens I've definitely worked through and been working on for quite some time.

Let's talk gemstones, sapphire, blue topaz, aquamarine, turquoise, all those beautiful colors. It's actually my favorite color is kind of a light blue turquoise. Um, so maybe there's a correlation there since I've been working on setting boundaries. Um, journal prompts. How can I nurture my highest self? How can I speak my truth more effectively?

Why am I afraid of speaking my truth? Right? So just putting these thoughts on paper. Yoga asanas, anything that's going to open the throat and so think about if you just pause and have a sore neck or at the end of the day from being hunched over on a computer or looking at your phone with your head tilted forward, just dropping into a few neck rolls or tilting the throat up [00:10:00] towards the ceiling, you know, some of the poses where we're going to lift that throat up, maybe in a cobra, for example.

Lots of different ways to, um, open the throat there through physical form. And my, probably my favorite with this is affirmations. So this is something that I've been leveraging and use. Um, I'm just going to share some of the ones that I say to myself. I speak my truth. The truth I speak is easily received by others.

Now I'm going to pause here and say that of course I don't have control over how people receive my truth, but I can step into a conversation or a potential conflict with compassion and with the energy that I want it to be received easily by those I'm speaking it to. So. I'll leave that as that. Um, I set boundaries that nourish my true self.

I speak words of [00:11:00] compassion and forgiveness to myself and others. So those are some of my favorites, um, as well as the mantra, hum. So let's talk wine. Um, for me. For the throat chakra pairing, it's all about that effervescence. We're talking bubbly from champagne to Prosecco, the bubble that makes me a little bit more bubbly in my speech, um, the ability to celebrate the setting of boundaries with a glass of bubbly.

So for me, it's all about bubbly. Um, last wine I had, last bubbly I had was actually a really fun, uh, 2022. Hippie Sippy. Um, it's a pet gnat, it's a sparkling chardonnay, and I promise you I didn't pick it up just because it had a super cute label, although the label is great. Um, it's from Tank Garage Winery.

So they're out of Calistoga, but they have a tasting room in Paso now as well, and that's where I picked up a bottle of Hippie Sippy recently. [00:12:00] Um, this one has such a soft carbonation to it. It's a hundred percent Wempty clone chardonnay, um, from Old Vines and That softness of the carbonation, it kind of reminds me about how being soft with my words can sometimes be more powerful than being bold with my words, right?

Or saying nothing at all. So, um, it's funny as I say that I'm looking up as my, at my corkboard here in my office, and I have this note, reminder to myself that speech should always create joy in the listener. And then the question does yours. Well, not always. I, like I said, I'm a work in process, but reminders like that help me check and balance myself.

So let's move on. The arana or anja chakra. Um, again, my pronunciation is poor, [00:13:00] so have grace for me there. This is our third eye chakra. So center of the brow, connected to the pineal gland, the third eye. This is all about our intuition. All about our intuition. Um, it's our command center, right? Um, in terms of elements, now with the crown, um, and the, um, or with the anja and the crown, which we'll get to next, they're gonna be beyond the elements.

And so we're just talking about that distinction here, between mind and witness. So we're beyond elements. In terms of the sense organ, we're associated with the brain, particularly the hypothalamus and the pituitary glands, right? And in terms of the color, indigo, deep violet, let's talk more about this thing called intuition.

So it's your inner guidance, right? It's that ability to have the mental awareness and to be [00:14:00] the thinker of the thoughts, but not the thoughts, right? It's that separation. So we're talking that ability to really tap into our higher self and let our higher self lead the way in terms of decisions and actions and conscious choice making.

What does this look like when it's optimized? When it's optimized, think about a time where you were super imaginative, insightful, intuitive. You just. It's like you knew what the next thing was, the next right action was, just automatically. Then you are really tuned in to the third eye. When you're in sync with the world and you really trust your true self to lead the way, that's when it's, it's really optimized.

On the alternative end, If it's really weak, you might find yourself lacking inspiration, lacking focus, or just feeling so disconnected from your intuition. Just being overwhelmed with choices and not being able to make one. Procrastinating, forgetting things [00:15:00] easy, just having trouble making decisions and being really clouded in terms of your judgment.

When it's too strong, this is when imagination can overwhelm you. So think about if you've ever had like racing thoughts or trouble concentrating or just been overwhelmed with, um, decisions or ideas. So I have this coaster, um, that says more ideas than time, which is, I feel like, literally my life sometimes, but it's, it's when, if you're in that, in that, It's a place of having more ideas than the time to implement them if you get overwhelmed by that, and as a result can't implement anything.

That would be the case. So the mantra associated with this, uh, chakra is sham. Now it's also in a lot of places you'll see om, um, but in the training that I did, um, it was sham, S H A M. Either one. Om. Um, again, just [00:16:00] vibrations that can help us really tune in internally, tune into that intuition and tune out the external world.

So how do we increase its energy? So think about spending time in the sun, um, all your devotional practices. I'm tapping, actually, the third eye, which I'll mention a little bit more in a moment because it's one of the practices that I do, consuming purple foods like purple kale, blackberries, grapes. Did I mention grapes?

We'll talk more about wine here shortly. If it's overactive and you're trying to comment, maybe rather than spending time in the sun, spend time on the stars. at night. Uh, scents can be helpful too. So, sandalwood or sage is helpful for this. And of course, we've got gemstones. So, um, oftentimes you'll hear amphias.

Um, Lapiz, [00:17:00] Azurite, some of the gemstones associated with this particular energy center. And then with your yoga asanas, anything that puts pressure on the third eye, um, like let's say hair pose, um, or anything that intentionally opens that up. And so think of postures where you're lifting your third eye up.

So, um, Cobra, for example. Um, or if you're in a bridge, um, so lots of different options within yoga itself and postures that we can put the body in. In terms of journaling, this is where we get into deep inquiry, right? Looking at, you know, how can I deepen my relationship with my. Higher power. How can I tap in more fully to my intuition?

Um, exploring some of those self inquiries and then affirmations. And so I'm going to share a personal practice that's been beneficial to me, which is a combination of [00:18:00] preparing myself for my meditation by going through, um, some mantras or some vibration sounds of the different, um, Uh, chakras. And with this one in particular, I actually pause and I do tap.

So if you just tap the center of your brow right now, it just helps you bring awareness to that point, right? And we actually have, um, there's an episode, um, if it's not out yet, it'll be coming out on tapping, um, EFT. So just notice how that feels, release the hand. So I, Okay. I tap while I sometimes say these affirmations.

So I'm just going to offer them up. These are ones that hit for me. My intuition is growing stronger each day. And then the other one is a distinction between mind and witness. So really, we're really trying to tap into that higher self, right? Um, oftentimes I'll actually call in guidance then for my higher power.

Um, so again, use the [00:19:00] words that resonate with you. For me, I'll, I'll ask for guidance. God to come in and support me, Jesus, I'll ask, um, my guides, I'll ask, uh, sometimes my ancestors, it just kind of depends on the day who I call in. Like with any of these, just try something, right? It's just information and it's up to you to experiment and see what works for you.

So let's talk wine, whereas I paired the throat chakra with the bubbly here, I'm going to say Use your intuition, close your eyes and choose your own adventure. Think about a wine that really you enjoy. Think about when you feel really tuned in, connected. What's a wine that's imaginative, insightful, um, or maybe a wine that's just easy to drink.

Or maybe we want to go with the color pairing, right? So if we're going deep ink, inky color, I'm going to probably go with a Petit Verdot. So let's move [00:20:00] on now to the crown chakra. So, uh, Saha Prra, or Saha Prra, it's again a tongue twister for me, so I'm gonna say the crown chakra. This is the space. above the crown of the head.

So I'm going to encourage you to place your finger on that soft spot on your skull. So it's like where the skull finally closed when you were a baby. So if you're a mama like I am, was always concerned that the babies when they were babies were going to hit their head there. So feel into that soft spot and just, um, put a little pressure on it your hand right now and then release that hand and then kind of feel that sense of awareness of that spot and then, um, go up a little bit above it.

And that's where your crown chakra is. So this is Again, our inner wisdom, but also our eternal truth that we are connected to all [00:21:00] beings and all things, right? It's that universal consciousness. Um, so it said when this is fully open and activated, it's pure bliss, right? And with all these, they're never really blocked.

It's just that we aren't necessarily accessing them or we're not necessarily optimizing them. Right. And so think about it when everything comes together. It's like the merging of the masculine and feminine energies. It's when we let go of all of our attachments, we step out of the illusions, step beyond the ego, right?

Beyond the desires. It's when we experience spontaneous fulfillment of desire and just liberation beyond description. So I know I'm not there yet. I don't know about you guys, but man, that is, it's, it's cool to taste it every now and then I get a little taste of it and it's a beautiful thing. So the element again beyond all the senses, um, in terms of the sense organ, pituitary gland, also connected to that pineal gland that's connected to the third eye.

I don't know if I [00:22:00] mentioned that earlier, but third eye is obviously connected to Um, you know, glam. So in terms of light, you'll often see it represented as light lavender or gold or white light or another text talks about all lights of all colors. So that kind of prism. So let's talk about what it looks like when it is optimized.

It's when we're super self aware and we're just connected to that inner compass, that higher self. But we just feel truly connected to all beings and our environment, and we treat all beings in our environment then with much reverence, right? And so it's just that full, what we would refer to as unity consciousness, being connected to all things and being extremely self aware, right?

Which all of these practices on these episodes are really driving us towards. So when it's weak, we might feel depressed, isolated, just disconnected. lack compassion, lack empathy. We [00:23:00] might have poor concentration and just lack direction too. So, um, been there and been in those places too. So when it's too strong, might find yourself overly materialistic, right?

Ego driven sense of identity is super rigid. The mantra associated with this is om. So that Sound that the universe is said to have made when it came into existence. Oh, so how do we, how do we work with this? How do we increase its energy? One option that's really easy to do is gratitude journaling.

Um, learning something new, our devotional practices, breath work. So I particularly like a three part breath to work with this. Um, to calm the energy, witnessing your thoughts rather than getting caught up in them, right? So that distinction between mind and witness, so that self awareness in terms of gemstones, you'll see Amphias, [00:24:00] Selenite, uh, clear quartz.

That's a really easy crystal to get ahold of. And in terms of poses, anything that puts pressure. on the crown. Um, so there's poses, um, like headstands, which I don't do because my cervical spine and I never recommend them unless, you know, you've got a good neck and you're with a really versed teacher helping you get into the pose.

Um, also some like bridge here, anything where we're going to be lifting the crown to the sky. Oftentimes if I'm teaching a class, I'll say, reach your crown of your head up to the sky. By doing that, we're lengthening the spine, we're creating space throughout the whole body, but we're also lifting from that.

So anything that's bringing awareness there. So that's half of the standing postures out there, right? What else about this one? I'm going to go back to affirmations on this one. It's just one of my favorite things, but the number one thing is probably meditation, which big surprise, right? I'm [00:25:00] always pushing the meditation, but so for an affirmation here, I am one with the universe.

I am divine. I'm connected to all things. Aham Brahmasmi is the Sanskrit, term translating roughly to I am universe or I'm one with totality. So that is the crown chakra. So what am I going to pair with this one? For me, I'm going to look for a bright white. When I think about this, I'm thinking about a wine that's just so light and bright.

It's off dry, maybe a lingering finish. Just something I can gently sip on and immediately makes me feel light and bright. So maybe a Vermentillo, maybe, um, I'm thinking, there's so many. Um, Albarino, there's, oh my gosh, I have so many different. Bright whites that I could throw out there. But I'm gonna pick one in particular that I recently had.

I picked it up it in Temecula at [00:26:00] Ponti Ponti Winery. So it's Ponti Winey cio. It's a 2022, and it was just super light. Had some citrus dried herbs in there, maybe a little stone fruit. Anyway, just phenomenal wine and. I'll include that in the show notes. I'll include the link to the tank, um, hippie, sippy in the show notes.

And we covered a lot. It's a lot of information on these energy centers again, with everything. Take what resonated, leave what doesn't, but experiment and explore. So for these top three chakras, the top two in particular for me, it's all about the meditation. So. One of the most beautiful parts of developing a dedicated meditation practice is that it has allowed me to have discernment.

By that, I mean, if I am getting guided by a particular individual, or if I'm hearing this from this individual over here, or let's say the media or a religious organization [00:27:00] or through work or anybody on the external world, that's not me, my higher self. It allows me to filter that information coming in and filter it through the lens of my higher self and my intuition and what is truth for me.

And so that is something that I wouldn't give up for the life of me. It's probably one of the most amazing things about that has been an outcome for me personally in my meditation practice. So with that said, um, use discernment when you hear about information like this, what resonates, what doesn't get curious.

Be open minded, because I think anything, a lot of teachings that are out there, regardless of what religion or sect or culture they come from, can tend to be fear based. And I'm just going to continue to encourage you through these podcasts to get curious, is does that feel like truth, a fear based teaching?

To me, um, that's one of my filters that I [00:28:00] use as part of this discernment process. So, with that said, I'd love for you to stick around. Um, I'll take you through a guided meditation, relaxation, um, focused on these few chakras. Thanks again for listening. All the details will be in the show notes and, uh, yeah, stick with me.

Hey friends, let's step away from our to do list for a few minutes and just get grounded. So I'm going to start as we always do. You're just. Checking in with how we're feeling in this physical form in this moment, and check in with what you're carrying physically. Where is the tension? Where is the stress?

We are going to look to create some length in the spine. We're going to look to bring the awareness to our feet and just feel that support of the ground underneath us. Just [00:29:00] undeniably holding space for us there at this. Allow the awareness. Now, with that reminder that you are supported in this moment, allow that awareness to go from tailbone up to the crown of the head.

So we're just going to get as long as we possibly can through the whole back. And then we're going to bring the awareness to the neck. So we're going to take a deep breath in and we're going to lengthen that neck as far as we can. And so like ET, just lengthening the head, reaching that head up. And exhale out.

Now take another deep breath in, and this time as you exhale, drop that chin all the way to the chest. Just let the head hang heavy for a moment. Take another deep breath in, and as you do, take that head all the way up, and then [00:30:00] tilt that head back so that the throat is now reaching towards the sky. Let the head hang this way for a moment.

Take another deep breath in, and then we'll slowly allow that chin to come all the way down to the chest again. Now on the next inhale, I'm going to invite you to slowly roll that head. Take a neck roll all the way around,

and when you find yourself back in the center with the chest supporting that chin, take another deep breath in, And out, and then on the next in breath, start going the other direction. No rush here, just letting out a little tension, [00:31:00] allowing this area of our vestudial throat chakra to be a little bit more open.

Now we're going to gently take that head back upright, and we are going to bring our awareness now to the center of our forehead, and we're going to take our finger, pointer finger, or middle finger, and just tap right in the center of the brow. Just feel the sense of your finger tapping that center. I'm just going to remind myself.

My wisdom comes from within. My intuition is strong.

Now I'll release that hand, and we'll bring awareness back to the throat.

We'll just remind [00:32:00] ourselves, I can speak my truth, and the truth I speak as easily received by others. I set boundaries that nourish my highest self, saying yes to things that really serve me and no to things that don't,

allowing that awareness to go back up to that brow. And we're going to tap one more time, just taking finger and just tapping in the center of the brow,

just reminding yourself, my intuition is strong. I let my true self lead the way. I trust my true self to lead the way. Now allowing that awareness to go up to the crown of the head. I'm going to take our finger and just feel [00:33:00] into that soft spot, that last part of our skull to close. Remove the hand but just still feel into that area as if your hand was still there.

Make sure that spine is still nice and strong. Lengthen that neck if you found it rounding. Take a deep breath in and a deep breath out.

Now in the next in breath, I want you to breathe into your belly and feel that breath rise up to the center of the chest and then sip in more air until it rises all the way up to the crown of the head and just retain it there for a moment and then exhale it out really slowly. We're going to do the two more times, deep in breath.

Sipping in more air from the chest, sipping in more air all the way to the crown of the head and slowly exhale out every last [00:34:00] bit, every last bit of breath. Last one like that, deep breath in from belly. Like we're filling up a glass of water, water rises up to chest, sipping in more air, all the way up again, sipping in so much that it reaches to the crown of the head, hold it there for a moment, and then exhale it all out very slowly, every last bit of air released.

And just remind yourself, I'm connected to all beings, I'm a divine creation.

We're going to slowly bring the awareness now back to the sense of being seated or standing wherever you're [00:35:00] at, maybe feel the fingers, the toes, and just notice what shifted for you. Thanks for joining me. Namaste.

Hey friends, thanks again for listening to the show. If you're not following it yet, please do. It'll really help it get heard by more people. And if something really hit for you, take the time to leave a review. Thanks and cheers, and here's to keeping it mindful.