A Guide to 7 Chakras of your Business
Before ever working as a graphic designer I was a yoga teacher & long time meditator. I studied the Chakra systems and built a strength in my mind, body & soul that reflected in all of my life. Your energy can effect your business or brand in a big way. Your values not only communicate your brand but the more thriving you are individually the more your brand will thrive.
So today I was inspired to relate the foundations of branding to our energy centers, or chakras. In Sanskrit, the word “chakra” means “disk” or “wheel” and refers to the energy centers in your body. These wheels or disks of spinning energy each correspond to certain nerve bundles and major organs. To function at their best, your chakras need to stay open, or balanced. If they get blocked, you may experience physical or emotional symptoms related to a particular chakra. Or in this case a block in your business.
There are seven main chakras that run along your spine. They start at the root, or base, of your spine and extend to the crown of your head. Each chakra represents an energy in our body and within our life. Represented by colors, these chakras are our guiding light in this spiritual human journey and I believe that they can reflect in your business as well.
#1. The First Chakra “Root Chakra”
Message: Build the Root of your Foundation
Color: Red
The root chakra, represents our foundation. On the human body, it sits at the base of the spine and gives us the feeling of being grounded. When the root chakra is open, we feel confident in our ability to withstand challenges and stand on our own two feet. When it's blocked, we feel threatened, as if we're standing on unstable ground. The first chakra is about your sense of safety, not just in relation to the rest of the world but in relation to your personal security as well. Basically, the stronger your foundation, the higher and more sustainable your growth.
In branding, it is important to lay the foundation of what is the root of your business, what is your brand’s values, what is the root that it was built upon? As you begin to dive deeper into why you created your brand, what you want it to convey, etc… the stronger of an empire you can build upon it.
In spiritual terms, it’s about checking in with yourself and finding a daily ritual that grounds you. What is a daily ritual that you can build within your business?
You can start by setting goals every 1st of the month for your business, or on every Monday of the week. Or you could build a gratitude practice to rejoice in what you already have accomplished instead of dwelling on what hasn’t shown up yet.
#2. The Second Chakra “Sacral Chakra”
Message: Ignite your Creativity
Color: Orange
The sacral chakra, helps inform how we relate to our emotions and the emotions of others. It also governs creativity and sexual energy. Those with a blocked sacral chakra could feel a lack of control in their lives or are feeling stuck creatively.
In branding, really niche down what your creative spark is above your competitors. It’s vital to lay down a visual and curated creative energy within your brand. Not only thinking about colors, but what does your brand communicate, how can you create your brand in a creative way. How can you use social media creatively as a fun marketing tool and outlet rather than something you dread all day long.
To tap into your creative flow allow the flow of emotions to guide you into what you want to create. Get a piece of paper and a pen and do a stream of consciousness writing, which is essentially a creative writing exercise where you jot down all of your creative ideas for your brand and business that you can think of without holding back. If it comes to mind, jot it down. Let it flow out of you, even the ideas are silly, just write it down. Once you are done with this you can circle the best ideas or the ideas that you can execute this week and mark it in your calendar.
#3. The Third Chakra “Solar Plexus”
Message: Confidence is Key
Color: Yellow
The third chakra, the solar plexus chakra, speaks to your ability to be confident and in control of your life. If your solar plexus chakra is blocked, you might feel overwhelming amounts of shame and self-doubt.
Be confident in your work, be confident in your brand. When you hear that little voice of self doubt creep in DON’T LET IT. The focus of the third chakra is self-esteem and the value of the service or the product you want to bring out into the world. It’s time to silence that little voice in your head making you doubt yourself. As you free yourself from the false narratives that have been holding you back, you start building a brand that’s authentic to you. The other upside of higher self-esteem is it frees you up to calculate prices that resonate with the true value of your offering. Sometimes we’re afraid to ask for more money, as if we don’t deserve it. It’s beautiful to share, but at the same time you need some kind of return.
If you are feeling self-doubt within your brand or business write down affirmations that you can say every morning at your desk or within your meditation practice. Better yet, say them out loud when you are having deprecating thoughts. The more you can change your negative thoughts into positive and forward thinking the thoughts, the more of a habit it will become. And the more confident you are, the more your business and brand will reflect that inner confidence.
#4. The Fourth Chakra “Heart Chakra”
Message: Pour Love into it
Color: Green
The heart chakra, is the bridge between materiality and spirituality. This chakra can influence our ability to love. Someone with a blocked heart chakra will have difficulty feeling fully aligned with their purpose. With a wide open heart, full of love comes deep passion, compassion, empathy and excitement!
Image Credit: Noémi Ottilia Szabo
When working with brands I like to say that I align the “heart & soul” of your brand with your vision. Is your brand being true to yourself or itself? What is the heart and soul of your business? What do you love most about your brand and the work that you are in? How can you communicate this within your brand? What makes you passionate about the work that you are doing? They always say you can’t love another if you don’t love yourself. The same is true about your brand, if you aren’t clear about what you love about your brand, and if you don’t love your branding how will other’s feel the same?
And if you aren’t passionate about the work you do, maybe it’s time to seriously reconsider doing work that makes you genuinely happy.
Being an entrepreneur typically means facing a lot of rejection, self doubt, self deprecation, fear, etc. It can be hurtful, but we must hold space for every part of the adventure. Learn to trust that you’re doing what you feel called to do. The more you trust, the more you start attracting everything what you need to build. Try writing out an acceptance manifesto where you list everything you know about your business —likes, dislikes, worries, aspirations. Learn to accept everything on that list as a declaration of unconditional love for your work and for yourself, whether your business takes off instantly or not.
#5 The Fifth Chakra “Throat Chakra”
Message: Clear Communication
Color: Blue
The throat chakra, gives voice to the heart chakra and controls our ability to communicate our personal power. The throat chakra connects your mind and your heart. When it's functioning at full capacity, it allows us to express ourselves truly and clearly.
Image Credit: Yiru Wang for Peter Do
It is vital that your brand is communicating its message clearly. If you are having a hard time discovering the throat chakra of your brand, think about how you can communicate your brand with more transparency and with more honesty. How can you you use your passion and love from your Heart chakra to fuel the words and the backbone of the communication of your brand? If you are having a hard time finding your voice, do another stream of consciousness writing exercise and write down all of your brand’s keywords, values, and begin to write down sentences or slogans that feel aligned with your brand.
And just as the self-talk of your brand is important, the most important is the self-talk of the creator behind the brand. As you build off of the compassion of the fourth & third chakra, there is less room for negative self-talk in the mind. Negativity is going to deplete you and block you from all the magic that wants to come into your life. Think about how you talk to yourself and how you talk to others because it’s going to manifest in your business. If you are too accommodating and afraid to voice your truth, you may want to start a daily journaling practice as part of your morning or nighttime ritual to find your voice and express your throat chakra.
#6. The Sixth Chakra “Third Eye”
Message: Trust your Intuition
Color: Purple
The third-eye chakra, controls our ability to connect to our intuition and to see different perspectives. Think of it as the eye of the soul: It registers information beyond the surface level. Visions and intuitive knowings are not uncommon for someone with an open third-eye chakra.
Intuition is one of the strongest allies to have as an entrepreneur. If you are a freelancer, you may have an intuition to not work with someone but work with them anyways only to find out that they don’t want to pay you and were extremely hard to work with. This is your intuition at play, and you always want to listen to your intuition. When you honor your intuition you are honoring a deeper part of yourself.
Brainstorm ways you can use your intuition for your business… when have you used your intuition in the past? The stronger of a connection you build to your intuition the more it can be your strongest ally within your business tactics.
If you are feeling disconnected to your third eye, check in with yourself. Take a deep breath as you reconnect to the indigo light in your third eye, and set your intention with the following words: “May I be able to see beyond my physical eyes and their limited interpretations. May I be guided to trust what comes my way and rise to my true calling. May I become the person I know myself to be in my heart.
#7. The Seventh Chakra “Crown Chakra”
Message: Embrace & Surrender to the Divine
Color: Violet
The crown chakra, the highest chakra, sits at the crown of the head and represents our ability to be fully connected spiritually. As you do the work to center yourself, calm your mind, and keep your feet on the ground, feel free to embrace the unknown. At the end of the day, we don’t know how the Earth got here, why we exist or what is going to happen in our live’s or how things are going to manifest. When your seventh chakra is open and balanced, you feel present and you trust the unfolding of your life, conscious that everything is energy and that everything is indeed interconnected.
Don’t take life too seriously, surrender to the flow and to the ebbs and flows of business, ask for what you want from whatever higher power you believe in. Trust that it will manifest and forget about the rest. At the end of the day, we all want to be loved & feel like we have a deeper purpose in life. Whatever that feels like to you, chase that. Money will come and go but the mystery of life will always remain and the unconditional love of the Universe will carry you on it’s back and guide you to a space of endless love & support.
Remember and know that you are ALWAYS loved and supported and you are NEVER alone in this journey on Planet Earth.