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Welcome to Roots of Arise with me , sarah . Today we've reached the seventh chakra , the crown and the final checkpoint for now in our journey through the chakra system . This is the center of spiritual connection , of meaning , of awakening to something greater than the self . So let me ask you are you a seeker ? Do you crave understanding but struggle with trust or discernment ? Do you ever feel disconnected from purpose or wonder what it all means ? If so , you're in the right place . Keep listening what it all means . If so , you're in the right place . Keep listening . We've arrived at the seventh chakra , but before we dive in , let me reiterate what I've said throughout you don't need to believe in energetic anatomy in order for an investigation into the chakras to be useful for you . Remember , the chakras can be seen simply as where we hold programming related to certain aspects of life . In the

Introduction to the Crown Chakra

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case of the seventh , our programming related to wisdom , knowledge and a connection to something larger than ourselves . While each chakra has its own programming , its own purpose , they're all connected . So you may find it useful to go back to episode 42 , which I'll link in the show notes where I laid the groundwork for this exploration we've been doing . That said , while I will briefly mention the energetic aspects of the chakra . My focus here is really to get you thinking about your relationship with gaining knowledge and trusting the divine , however you define that Now , to know everything there is about it . Mind you is not going to happen in 20 minutes , but we're going to get you started , so let's dive in .

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The seventh chakra is called oh and pardon my pronunciation , you know I'm not good at this Sahasrara , meaning thousand fold . It's commonly associated with either violet or white light and it's not located within the body , unlike the others that we've previously discussed . It's just above the crown of the head . This is significant because this chakra isn't about the tangible or the material . It represents transcendence . Its domain is wisdom , spiritual insight and higher consciousness . As I've mentioned , we carry all seven chakras at all times . They're all always here , but different stages of life bring each integrator focused For the seventh . This time is adulthood . That's when we begin sinking knowledge and understanding , not just because we have to , because we're in school , but because we want to . There's a deeper hunger for meaning and we start asking the big questions . Hunger for meaning and we start asking you know the big questions what is this all for ? Why are we here ? What's the point of it all ? This desire to derive meaning is a central function of the seventh chakra . It builds upon the sixth , where we began to observe our belief systems and ask you know , who am I here ? We take it further . We want to know why do I believe what I believe ? Are these beliefs serving me ? What's the deeper truth beneath it ? We want to know why do I believe what I believe ? Are these beliefs serving me ? What's the deeper truth beneath it all ?

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Everyone carries a desire to understand to some degree , and this chakra governs our right to know , to seek not only intellectual knowledge but also spiritual truth . It's our connection to the divine , however we define it . For some , that may mean religion , and that's beautiful if it resonates , but it doesn't have to be confined to religion . Many deeply spiritual people find their connection outside of traditional structures . So what do I mean when I say spiritual ? To me , spirituality is about deeply integrating the truth that we are all one . It's when we see through the illusion of separateness that we are energetically connected to all that exists and , moreover , that there is no separating spirituality from even the most mundane activity . Being able to find the meaning in the mundane , to me , is kind of the epitome of spirituality .

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Opening the seventh , the seventh chakra means surrendering . It means letting go of attachments , letting go of rigid belief systems , addictive patterns , the need to control . Can you see the connection to the root chakra , to our ability to feel safe and secure ? If we are experiencing incredible instability , it is no wonder that we reach for something higher to help us feel safe , like there is a plan . There is a reason why we are enduring whatever pain we're experiencing . We trust that there is something that we can't see that is holding us . But surrendering to this idea of a higher authority isn't always easy . It's deeply influenced by our early experiences with authority and power . As children , our parents or caretakers were our first higher powers . If we felt safe surrendering to their love and guidance , then the crown chakra often finds it easier to open . But if our childhood lacked safety or trust , surrender can feel threatening . These original trust wounds must be acknowledged and gently worked with , often over a long period of time .

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We have a need to connect with something greater than ourselves , and this

Consciousness and the Unified Field

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brings us to the idea of consciousness . We will talk , I'm sure , much more about this , but let's just briefly touch on it . I once read , and'm sure much more about this , but let's just briefly touch on it . I once read and I wish I could remember the source that consciousness is both our final destination and the means of travel . We tend to equate consciousness with thought , but thoughts are what consciousness produces , not consciousness itself . Consciousness is not perception , but the faculty behind perception , the part of us that observes , remembers , integrates and reflects . We feel the pull of consciousness through our emotions . But what is it that feels those emotions ? That's the mystery that lives in the seventh chakra . It's not something we solve , it's something we experience .

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Sages , mystics , physicists , they all agree now and describe consciousness as a unified field , a vast , intelligent fabric in which all of existence is embedded . We can tap into this field like how your phone or your computer connects to the cloud , but how much of that field we access depends on the quality of our internal apparatus , if you want to call it that , like a basic calculator can't access the internet . Different structures allow for different levels of consciousness , and within us there is a timeless part that can access this higher awareness . Us , there is a timeless part that can access this higher awareness . Often it's called the witness , this indestructible spark of divinity at our core . But , as we've talked about previously , things can get in the way of us having a clear connection . We'll get to that in a moment .

When in Balance

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When the crown chakra is balanced , we tend to feel open-minded , spiritually connected , able to integrate new perspectives . We're not stuck , we're curious , we're expansive .

Attachment: The Crown Chakra's Challenge

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But when it's imbalanced , one of the main signs is attachment . Now this gets tricky because attachment isn't inherently bad . It's necessary , especially for the earlier chakras . I mean , we need healthy attachments to our loved ones , our goals , our responsibilities . That's how we form commitments , that's how we build trust . But at the seventh chakra level , attachment becomes an obstacle because here we're trying to open , to expand , to transcend , and attachment binds . It's tough because for some Letting go becomes an excuse for avoidance . When things get difficult in a relationship , we let it go instead of working through the discomfort and , yes , that might feel freeing , but we also lose the opportunity for growth . We trade depth for distance .

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Attachment says I know what's best , I'm certain , but certainty can close us off . It leaves no room for the unknown , for the mystery , for grace , for surprise . Like all chakra demons , attachment is a teacher and as the saying goes , what we resist persists . So instead of trying to force detachment , we can ask what is this attachment doing for me ? What fear or pain is it helping me avoid ? What story am I using to hold it in place ?

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Sometimes attachment shows up in our belief systems . Think about it . People were once certain the sun revolved around the earth . Galileo challenged that belief and look what happened to him . Certainty can become one of the greatest tickets to ignorance . Another word for attachment is addiction . We become attached not necessarily because something is right for us , but because it serves some unconscious purpose , usually a way to avoid discomfort or growth .

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And then there is avoidance , itself a shadow form of attachment . We become attached to not having something . Most often we're avoiding situations that feel messy , vulnerable or beyond our control . But even in avoidance , we're still clinging to the illusion of safety or of perfection . In all of this , what's needed is a willingness to release , to either step into the experience or let go of the need to control it . This is often work we need to revisit at the third chakra level , our relationship with power , will and letting go , because when we don't , we tend to cling really hard to our beliefs , and that rigid grasping , especially of ideologies , identities or assumptions , is one of the clearest signs of imbalance in the crown chakra . So the work of the seventh chakra is a little paradoxical . It asks us to expand but not escape , to surrender but not collapse , to soften our grip without abandoning our integrity , to become willing to hold all parts of ourselves lightly , knowing that who we truly are is far greater than any of them .

Childhood Wounds and Spiritual Development

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So what can shut down the development of the seventh chakra ? Two big ones are withholding information and invalidating beliefs .

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Children are deeply intuitive . They can sense when something's going on , but they don't always have the context or language to understand what they're sensing . So what do they do ? They fill in the blanks . We've talked about this .

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If parents choose to withhold information , even with good intentions , thinking it's better they don't know , the child will almost always create a story to explain what they feel and invalidating beliefs . That happens all the time without the parents even realizing they're doing it . Anadeya Judith shares a great example . A kid is watching an old I Love Lucy rerun and asks his dad was the world black and white when you were little ? Now , that's such a sweet question , but imagine if the dad laughed , ridiculed the idea and told everyone about how dumb Johnny's question was . If that kind of response happens often enough , a child learns to doubt their own thinking and keep their beliefs to themselves , and the next time that child has a question they might hesitate to ask it . The more empowering response would be . That's a smart question . I can see how you'd think that , and then gently explain the difference between old TV shows and now .

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Children are hungry for knowledge . When we withhold information or ridicule their curiosity , they either make up their own truth or stop asking altogether , and either way the crown chakra begins to shut down . Another major block to the crown is spiritual abuse . This can happen when children are forced into unrealistic purity . It might show up as overly austere spiritual practices , angry tirades in the name of God , excessive authoritarianism or the demand for perfection . Sometimes kids are pushed into adopting beliefs that have nothing to do with their own .

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Unfolding Judith tells the story of a boy who was dragged door to door with his proselytizing mother . He wasn't old enough to process structured spirituality , and the exposure he did have was negative . So later in life , when he was struggling with heroin addiction , he rejected the idea of a higher power , even though a path like AA could have helped him heal . His early experiences left a bitter taste and he turned away from something that could have supported his recovery . Now things have changed a lot in some spiritual communities . I mean , many religions have done the work to offer age appropriateappropriate guidance , but for a long time much of what was offered wasn't accessible to children Sitting on hard pews , listening to a language they didn't understand or being frightened into submission . That's now not how young children experience spirit .

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Religion becomes damaging when it's used as a structure to deny our feelings , avoid life's messiness or control others . When it becomes about God-inflated righteousness rather than authentic connection , it actually negates spirituality . These are the traps of religion , what Judith calls the demons of attachment that masquerade as moral fortitude but actually obscure true connection . That said , I want to be clear . Religion can also be wonderful At its best . It gives us structure , community and a practice , something we can return to . That opens us to deeper awareness and growth . It offers rituals , songs , silence and belonging . It connects us to something bigger than ourselves and to each other .

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Now , another sign of imbalance in the crown chakra is overthinking the mindset of I think , therefore , I am . You know , these folks are often highly intelligent , maybe brilliant , but that intense focus on the intellect can lead to an overdeveloped mind at the cost of connection to the body , the heart or emotions . You might see it in the classic know-it-all or someone whose belief system is built around limitation . They say this is how I am , I will never change . Others struggle with the opposite problem overwhelm , too much information , no way to organize it . The crown chakra becomes flooded and suddenly we see symptoms like spaciness , confusion , disassociation . It becomes hard to learn , hard to change , hard to integrate experience . We can also see deep resistance to new information because that new information threatens the foundation of a rigid belief system . If we're over-identified with our beliefs , that new information it feels dangerous . It shakes our identity and instead of welcoming it we push it away .

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There's also something called spiritual addiction . This happens when we use spirituality to escape the more demanding work of the lower chakras . We chase the high , we run after the guru , we quote sacred texts , we bounce from one meditation retreat to the next . We might even rely on psychedelic experiences for that fleeting sense of unity or peace . Sometimes we see spiritual purity take over vows of chastity , poverty or obedience that come not from devotion but from a desire to suppress the lower self . It becomes a vow to keep the first three chakras deficient .

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Now let me be clear . I am not saying it's wrong to go to retreats , take workshops , engage in sacred practices All of that can be incredibly meaningful . But we need to ask what's the motivation underneath ? If we try something for six months , don't feel instantly transformed and then move on to the next shiny thing , chances are we're running , and often it's right , when things start to get uncomfortable , when the deeper work is knocking at our door , that we bounce and we lose the chance to actually heal . Then there's spiritual cynicism , which often arises from pain or disillusionment . If we can't open to spirit , we can't trust the unknown . There's a kind of heaviness here , a preponderance of doubt . Now , a little healthy skepticism is healthy . Without it we lose discernment . But too much skepticism , that's another form of attachment , a rigid clinging to not believing , to not hoping , and it closes the crown just as tightly as blind

Healing and Awakening the Crown

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faith . So I know you've been waiting for it .

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How do we heal the seventh chakra ? Well , healing isn't quite the right word here . Unlike the lower chakras , where we often work through trauma , wounds or unmet needs , the seventh is less about fixing what's broken and more about awakening a capacity that may have simply been asleep . It's about remembering what has always been true . The number one tool . Here is no surprise meditation .

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Meditation creates space for us to wake up , to expand , to witness the part of ourselves that's beyond identity , beyond preference , beyond time . When we live by habit , our awareness dims . We operate on autopilot , we check out , disconnect and life becomes something we move through mechanically . We've all experienced this , that sense of just being on a hamster wheel . When we live by presumption , we don't allow the present moment to unfold in its own way , we see it only through the lens of what we think , we know , and so the magic is missed . That's why cultivating presence is essential .

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Mindfulness practices that help anchor us in the now , combined with meditation techniques that purify and integrate higher states of consciousness that can truly accelerate our growth and our healing . If you haven't already checked it out , listen to the heart-based meditation episode I'll link below . That approach in particular can be so powerful because it brings awakening and integration into the heart , not just the mind . Yoga can be very supportive here because of the grounding effects , especially if the person feels kind of ungrounded or floaty . The movement and or breath work can be useful .

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Craniosacral therapy is another gentle but powerful modality . It settles the central nervous system and sometimes that's exactly what's needed in order to feel safe enough to access deeper spiritual awareness . In order to feel safe enough to access deeper spiritual awareness , because for most of us , the upper chakras won't open if our nervous system is still locked in survival mode . Lastly , any kind of belief-oriented therapeutic work can be incredibly helpful , whether it's traditional psychotherapy , spiritual counseling , soul mentoring . Anything that helps us explore and loosen our belief systems can open up space for new light to come in , because , remember , one of the main blocks to the crown chakra is rigid belief , beliefs that are no longer serving us but have become part of our identity . When we can gently begin to question those beliefs , to see them as stories rather than truth , then the space around them begins to soften and into that space insight can flow .

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I'll link a couple related episodes along these lines in the show notes .

Questions to Ponder and Coming Episodes

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So here are a couple questions to ponder as you explore the energy of this chakra . When was the last time you allowed yourself to not know and simply be present with mystery ? Do you make space in your life for spiritual connection , or do you need certainty and control in order to feel safe ? What would it feel like to loosen the grip , even just a little bit , and trust something larger than yourself .

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This week I've got two more episodes I'm really excited to share with you . On Wednesday , I'll be talking about how to view your life through two equally important and ever-present lenses the divine , spiritual being that you are and the very real , very human side of you too . This is such an important aspect of spiritual growth . If you get this , if you really get it , it can help you stop judging your progress , judging everything . Then , on Friday , I'll share my favorite questions to ask myself when I feel stuck or confused or when a situation just doesn't make sense .

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Thank you so much for being here with me today . If you learned something from this episode , please consider sharing it or leaving a review , and make sure you're following the show so you'll be notified when those new episodes drop later this week . If you have questions or thoughts , I'd love to hear from you . Just click the message me button If you're listening on Spotify or email me at rootsoftheriseatgmailcom . I hope you have a great rest of your day and remember , know who you are , love who you've been and be willing to do the work to become who you want to be . Just a quick reminder this podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only . I am not a licensed therapist and nothing shared here is meant to replace the guidance of a physician , therapist or any other qualified provider . That said , I hope it inspires you to grow , heal and seek the support you need to thrive .