"Before you speak, ask yourself: “Is it honest? Is it kind? Is it necessary? Is it the right time? Does it improve the silence?” - Sathya Sai Baba

Today, Erin and Sasha explore the 5th Chakra of speech, poetically named Vishuddha, meaning “purification of poison.” Vishuddha Chakra represents the Ether element, and the ability to turn poison into nectar - the process of purification. It is located in the throat, and is the seat of the power of the word. It brings Prana to the respiratory system.

“The more silence behind your word, the greater the impact.” You may find, upon personal practice, that the simple elegance of Silence can be prescribed to most internal challenges. This chakra represents the quality of honest communication, turning ignorance into awareness, transmutation, choice, alchemy, infinity, receptivity, sensitivity, self-expression, “finding one’s voice,” the ability to speak from the heart, and the ability to listen from the heart. Used properly, Vishuddha makes our words nectar, not poison. All poison becomes nectar when Vishuddha is strong and stable, developed and activated.

Our words create reality, and since they originate from thought, our thoughts create our reality. Therefore, words are not only descriptive, but creative. When Vishuddha is activated, everywhere you go, becomes better as a result of you being there. If too much noise is there, too much talking or too much thinking, Vishuddha cannot be stabilized, because the element it represents is Ether (spaciousness, emptiness).

The bija mantra for Vishuddha is “Hum,” which means “I am.” Because on a micro-level, we are God: the creator, preserver, and destroyer. Which brings me to the story of Samudra Manthan, the churning of the ocean. Once upon a time, the devas (gods) and asuras (demons) were on a quest to retrieve Amrita, the sacred nectar of immortality. In doing so, they had to churn the ocean using Mount Mandara as the churning rod, and Vasuki (the serpent King) as their rope. As they churned in what appears to be the original tug of war, Divine gifts emerged, like Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, and the celestial cow Kamadhenu. However, before the Amrita appeared, a deadly poison called Halahala surfaced, threatening to destroy all of existence. Terrified, the devas and asuras turned to Lord Shiva for help, and in an act of supreme selflessness, he took the poison to his mouth to prevent it from harming creation. But instead of swallowing it or spitting it out, he held it in his throat, where it turned his skin blue, earning him the name of Neelkantha (the Blue throated one).

This moment of holding and transforming toxicity without allowing it to spread, is the symbolic origin of the Vishuddha Chakra. Just as Lord Shiva purified the deadly poison without letting it harm him, Vishuddha governs the purification of thought, word, and energy. Shiva’s restraint symbolizes conscious speech, wisdom, and the power of truth.

The throat chakra teaches that life contains both poison (negativity, challenges) and nectar (divine wisdom). It is our ability to process, hold, and transmute energy that determines our spiritual growth. This chakra represents self-mastery, communication, and purification. Like Shiva, we must learn to hold challenges with grace, not letting toxicity consume us but instead transforming it into wisdom. When our Vishuddha Chakra is balanced, we speak with clarity, authenticity, and purpose, just as Shiva’s act saved creation.

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Today, Erin and Sasha continue our Chakra series with Anahata, meaning “eternal unstruck sound.” Anahata is the fourth chakra, located at the heart, which is the seat of love and compassion. It is also the location of Vishnu Granthi (the knot of Vishnu). Its element is air, color is green, planet is Venus, and Ishta Devata is Lakshmi. Having neurons and brain cells, the heart holds the highest level of electromagnetic energy, inspiration, devotion, timelessness, and joy without reason. When Anahata is in a knot, there is attachment, neediness, longing, co-dependency, and a “me and mine” mentality.

Vishnu Granthi converts once Anahata is developed and stable, and then there is an energy of immense clairvoyance, deep compassion, transcendence of fear, greater kundalini rising, experience of pleasure, and authentic connection. Lakshmi lives here, the goddess of Abundance and Prosperity. Abundance is a state, and in this state, all lack disappears. Anahata’s base value of Peace (Shanti) converts to Bliss (Ananda) and then into Compassion, which is really just pain held in love. The feeling of Grace, or knowing you are held in Love, only arises when Anahata is open and online. It is not only about having an abundance mindset of gratitude, but an abundant heart, and with the help of a strong spine; an open, ever softening heart.

So even when we experience personal pain, grief, sorrow, and despair, it makes us better people. When we go into deeper states within our heart, pain is not our enemy. It becomes maturity and compassion. Sensitivity is not weakness, it is our superpower. We must train it, not suppress it. Let the tears come, let them flow, and be grateful for them. This allows the heart to stay safe as it expands. And remember, where there is gratitude, there is Lakshmi, abundance and prosperity.

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Namaste from Boulder, Colorado! Today Erin and Sasha continue the exploration of the chakras with Manipura - the third of the seven chakras - which translates as “the shining sacred jewel.” It is associated with the Fire element, the planet Mars, the color Yellow, and the “Ishta Devata” Hanuman. It is located just above the navel and below the sternum, at our solar plexus — also called the celiac plexus — which is a complex system of radiating nerves and ganglia. It is found in the pit of the stomach in front of the aorta. It is part of the sympathetic nervous system and plays an important role in the functioning of the stomach, kidneys, liver, and adrenal glands.

This chakra brings Prana to the digestive system, also known as our second brain. From a Western perspective, this is known and expressed as the gut-brain axis (or GBA) - the network of nerves and biochemical signals that connect the brain and the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. It's a two-way communication system that helps maintain homeostasis. The vagus nerve is one of the main nerves that connects the brain and gut, sending signals in both directions.

From a clinical perspective, the GBA can impact disorders like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), mood disorders, anxiety, depression, and memory loss. The GBA can also be linked to conditions like autism, obesity, schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's disease.

The Manipura chakra is directly linked to our sense of self, self-esteem, sense of purpose, the seat of clear decisive action, vision, dynamic action, assertiveness, discipline, determination, passion, deepest willingness to go beyond, strong will power, courage, resilience, and vitality. When balanced, there is energy and insight, will power and and follow-through, self-reliance, vitality and health. It can only be as balanced as the first 2 chakras. When imbalanced, there is a state of self-doubt, fear, insecurity, wanting, anger, blame, victimhood, depression, and lethargy.

Positive affirmations, yoga postures that engage the core such as bow pose, cobra pose, or revolved triangle pose, and kapalabhati pranayama (or breath of fire) help strengthen Manipura when it is weak. We also get into ways of balancing an overactive Manipura, as Pitta-type individuals are prone to over exercising, overworking, and burnout. We hope today’s conversation illuminates the ways in which we can reclaim and maintain our personal power, and that it is not as much a process of creating it, as it is discovering that which has always been there and removing what blocks us from experiencing it.

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Live from New York, it’s Ojas Oasis. Today, Sasha and Erin got to chat in-person to deep dive into the second chakra, Svadhistana, located at the sacrum above the Muladhara, which abides in the tail bone or coccyx. The sacrum is a large, triangular bone at the base of the spine that connects to the pelvis and is made up of five fused vertebrae, numbered S-1 to S-5.

Now that we know where it lives, lets talk about what it means. Svadhistana translates as “the seat of taste/desire.” “Swa means taste, and “Stana” means abode or seat. It represents the Water element, relates to the physical reproductive organs and brings Prana to the reproductive system. This is where our desire comes from - for enjoyment, pleasure, sexuality, creativity and flow.

Desire is a fascinating thing. And an important thing at that, as far our basic evolution and survival go. But craving and aversion, become a relentless assault on the present moment if we fail to understand and master the nature of it. Aversion is essentially Anxiety, Resentment, Regret, All Addiction, Self-Hatred, all sense of Lack, the gap between who you are and who you want to be, what you have and what you want to have.

Desire is not the actual problem. Because we aren’t actually looking for a “thing.” We are looking for “the experience of the thing, the feeling of the thing.” That is the first level of balancing this chakra, or subtle energy center: Distinguishing what it is we ultimately truly Desire.

In Ayurveda, it is important to not suppress Desire. In Yoga, it is important to refine the experiencer, or the one experiencing Desire, so that the Desire becomes refined. As our Ayurvedic habits and Yoga practice deepens, toxic habits fall away, including toxic desires. And this is because as our human system becomes balanced, the tendencies of imbalance heal into harmonious tendencies. This is a whole nother level of healing.

When our Svadhistana is balanced, there is an energy of abundance, and understanding of timing. When imbalanced, there is guilt, self-hatred, a state of wanting or lack, self-harming, drama, holding of childhood issues, traumas, and sexual scarring, and a tamasic level of desire to relate but an inability to relate to anyone. Since our present relationships are all informed by our past, we must free ourselves from incorrect, unrefined information in our system. We must clean this chakra by learning how to activate it. Otherwise, Fear will show up to sabotage what it is we truly want.

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Today, we spend more time on the fourth kosha, Vigyanamaya Kosha. The word “Vigyana” means “knowing.” This layer is true intellect, intuition, wisdom, and higher awareness. Within this layer, one experiences union of Spirit, realizing they are a spiritual being having a human experience.

We also delve into the fifth layer, the Anandamaya Kosha. “Ananda” means “bliss,” so this is our Bliss Body. Love, peace, joy, connection, and bliss are all a constant experience here, without any reason, and it’s beyond just an emotion. Bliss is the experience we gain from connecting to the Atman (true self) without masks, opinions, ideas, or identities.

We begin exploring another part of the subtle anatomy, known as Chakras. Chakras are energy vortexes in the subtle/energetic body, located along the sushumna nadi, starting from the base of the spine, or tail bone, all the way up through the crown of the head. The first is Muladhara, which we felt required its own episode, as the strength of the rest of the chakras rest upon this foundation.

Muladhara translates as the root, whose energy flows to the rest of the chakras and sets the tone for our sense of self. Herein lies infinite potential but also fear, since all Fear is essentially about the Unknown, and the Unknown is also the Infinite Potential. A lot of our limitations are self-imposed, acquired through conditioning, so the muladhara represents the possibility of liberation when we realize we have the choice to change and evolve.

Daily practices and routines, often the simple ones we mention in today's conversation, help strengthen our inner stability. Disciplines, like yoga asana, anchor us so that experiences don’t lead us off path and away from our true self. A huge part of our inner work is with this chakra. Cultivating a base experience of Trust over Fear. This chakra represents the Earth element, and we hope you feel its grounding energy through this teaching.

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One of the most important aspects of walking the spiritual path - which is really just a path of freedom through inner refinement - is finding a good teacher. A good teacher enables us to stay connected to our intention by reminding us, again and again, should we forget that intention…whilst getting lost in the wild jungle of the untrained monkey mind. We are all together in this grand classroom, for our soul to play out the karmas that it needs to play out, to learn what it needs to learn on its way home, to the place beyond form, and beyond time.

On the heels of yet another holiday season, we close out 2024, and interestingly, this year we are doing it on a New Moon. What better time to take stock of our lives, as we enter this new moon and new year. What better time to realize the abundant nature of the Universe, the many gifts we have been given, and how many of those gifts are immaterial, and actually, in the form of teachers, healers, and friends. People we have learned from, people who have been our guiding light in times of darkness.

Today’s guest, is one such beloved teacher, healer, and friend to many. We could introduce Ramkumar as a Vaidya, a Vedic Scholar, and one of the founding doctors of Vaidyagrama, an Ayurvedic Healing Village in Coimbatore, India that has helped thousands of people heal from around the world through the ancient practice of Panchakarma. We could make a list of his keynote speeches at various international conferences, share personal testimonies of how his satsangs and teachings have impacted me and fellow students, patients, colleagues, and friends of his. But, none of these descriptions seem to encapsulate him. Because this would be describing someone who identifies with their ego, and Ramkumar simply does not.

What he is, or who he is, is an actual embodiment of Ayurveda; a living, breathing, flowing, channel of the Vedas, and we are so thankful that today, we get to share him with all of you. May you sit with this conversation, particularly his words, with an open mind and soft heart, and may the doors of curiosity continue to open you to places within yourself that have the answers that you are looking for.

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Welcome back to Season 6 of Ojas Oasis!

We are so happy to be back in our soul home of Mama India, held by the angelic peaks and valleys of her Himalayan Mountains. We took a long pause to honor a deeply transformative process, which we are happy to share a bit about as we continue to integrate. And the fact that we get to share our experience of Vedic and Yogic Knowledge and Wisdom straight from the source, is crazy grace.

Today, we also begin peeling back the 5 Koshas. The Sanskrit word “kosha” means covering, layer, or sheath. Starting from the outermost layer and moving inward to the core of the true self, each kosha comprises increasingly more subtle energy. From the physical body to the breath body, mental body, wisdom body, and finally, to our very core: the bliss body.

In Ayurveda, we focus on strengthening, balancing, and preparing the physical body via Ahara/Vihara (diet and lifestyle) so we can build higher levels of energy and expanded awareness. We must carefully consider what we consume, because what we consume, ultimately consumes us. We are not just this physical body, but we need this body. It is a sacred vehicle that consciousness depends on to experience itself.

As we venture deeper down the path of Healing with Yoga and Ayurveda, a skilled Ayurvedic Doctor, Yoga Practitioner and Teacher also knows the importance of integrating the more subtle aspects of the body. Because if we don’t step outside the lower vibrational layers we identify with, how will we ever truly know who we are? How will we ever experience the truth of why we are here? A deeper level of seeing needs to happen, to deepen our healing and evolution on an individual and collective level.

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Hemalayaa Behl is an internationally recognized transformation coach, yoga teacher, embodiment mentor and author of the EMBODY Oracle Card Deck. She is the co-owner and visionary of the Embody Costa Rica retreat center with her partner DTO, and has 22 years of experience in the fields of yoga, dance, and personal transformation. Her unique approach combines physical movement, mindfulness, and positive thinking to help individuals achieve their goals.

Hemalayaa has been featured in numerous publications such as NY Times, LA Times, Origin Magazine, Yoga Journal, and Shape, and has been featured on TV series such as The Bachelorette, and talk shows Ellen and The Today Show.

Today Sasha and Hemalayaa explore the acronym behind her EMBODY retreat center, the challenges of living in a fast-pace environment (aka the matrix), the importance of self-care and rhythms, embodying nature and shifting our mindset around breakdowns, or challenging life moments. Lots of magic in store for you today, including some guided visual meditation.

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