Poem and Illustrations ©2021 Joyce Borenstein
Meditation is meant to calm the mind and to focus it, thereby improving the meditator’s quality of life and by extension the lives of the people around him. I find that meditation is best achieved by concentrating on one’s breathing: mindful conscious breathing. A chakra is an energy centre in the body. Chakra means wheel in Sanskrit. It is believed that there are 7 chakras positioned along the spine. Each chakra has a colour and represents a positive character trait. While I meditate, simultaneous with the conscious breathing, I imagine the colours of each chakra and the personality trait that each chakra represents, and I do this to the rhythm of my breath, in a repeating cycle.
The following poem is to be read slowly, two inhale-exhales per line, and to imagine the colours unfolding in the mind’s eye.
Breathe-in inhale, breathe-out exhale,
The waves of the ocean, meeting the shore,
Ebbing and flowing, back and forth,
My heart beat accompanies, the rhythmic song.
My gaze to the horizon, where sea meets sky,
The sun’s rays sparkling, on waves hypnotic,
I imagine a fountain, surging through my spine,
A rainbow of colours, an infinite loop spouting,
The reverberating arpeggio, of an angel’s harp.
Red is for grounding, the Muladhara Chakra,
Orange for creativity, the Swadhishthana Chakra,
Yellow for determination, the Nabhi Chakra,
Green is for heart, the Anahata Chakra.
Blue is for voice, the Vishuddhi Chakra,
Purple for intuition, the Agnya Chakra,
Mauve for transcendence, the Sahastrara Chakra.
The colours are spiralling, within my mind,
Red orange yellow green, blue purple mauve,
A mantra, an incantation, a basso ostinato,
A lilting lullaby, to the here and now,
Swishing and swirling, twirling and whirling.
The day night cycle, the moon around earth,
The season’s cycle, the earth around sun,
These celestial orbits, in a vast spinning dance,
The macrocosm a mirror, of the microcosmic atom,
Echoes of the life force, pulsing through my being.
Breathe-in inhale, breathe-out exhale,
The waves of the ocean, meeting the shore,
Ebbing and flowing, back and forth,
My heart beat accompanies the rhythmic song.
Back to the beginning: da capo: repeat: