Yoga_Journal_Singapore_FebruaryMarch_2017

C H A

K R A

A L I G N M E N T

The new year is a good time to do an emotional-baggage check, to clear out

what no longer serves you and make room for what will. And your chakras—

the seven energy centers that run along your central channel—are a tool to

help you repack. Here, yoga teacher Giselle Mari shows you how to use your

chakras to resolve any negativity holding you back so you become a lighter,

brighter version of you.

WHEN GISELLE MARI graduated college with a

degree in clinical and counseling psychology, she

thought she’d done the work to resolve issues from

her childhood. “It was just me and my mom—my

dad wasn’t really in my life—money was tight, and

life felt unstable,” says Mari. “I was convinced I had

processed how growing up in that kind of

challenging environment impacted my beliefs about

myself and the world.”

Then, Mari started doing chakra work and

realized how deeply rooted some of those beliefs

were—and how that old anger and resentment were

keeping her from the ultimate goal of yoga:

a feeling of oneness (versus otherness). “Working

with the chakras using asana, mantra, and

observation is an efficient way to eliminate old hurt

and bad patterns,” she says. “When I looked at—

and let go of—my inner turmoil and pain, my life

shifted for the better. I don’t carry around that

emotional baggage, and as a result, that old karma

isn’t driving how I operate in the world.”

It’s a bold promise, and working with your

chakras is no easy task, says Mari, but the results are

worth the effort. Read on as Mari shows you how to

look at the karmic relationships associated with

each chakra so you can examine any issues that

surface and start to rewrite your old stories into new

ones that serve you on your yogic path.

STORY BY MEGHAN RABBITT • SEQUENCE BY GISELLE MARI • PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEFF NELSON

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february / march 2017

yogajournal.com.sg