Career advice and spiritual advice are rarely given together, but Amber-Lee Lyons, creator of Chakra Girl Business School, is changing that. Through her online course, she teaches women how to further their careers based on knowledge of their chakras. Weaving together the spiritual, the logistical, and the emotional, the course covers how to hone your skills, build lasting life satisfaction, and make an impact on the world.
According to Hindu and Buddhist philosophy, chakras are energetic areas in different parts of your body that are geared toward different kinds of tasks. There are seven of them, according to Chakras.info: the Crown Chakra (wisdom, transcendence, universality), the Third Eye Chakra (extrasensory perception, intuition, inspiration), the Throat Chakra (personal truth, etheric, expression), the Heart Chakra (compassion, love, integration), the Solar Plexus Chakra (will, social self, power), the Sacral Chakra (emotions, creativity, sexuality), and the Root Chakra (safety, grounding, right to live).
"Our chakras are the core energy centers in our body that control everything from our emotions to the opportunities we manifest," Lyons tells Bustle. "You want to keep that energy flowing with minimal blockages to tap into your full potential. Every aspect of your career correlates to a different chakra. For example, the Sacral Chakra is where you creativity lives and your Third Eye Chakra is where intuition and clarity of mind exist. All the chakra energies are wildly important to your career and life, and doing the work to practice cultivating higher vibrations in your chakras amplifies your results, abundance, success, and happiness!"
Toward that end, here are some chakra-based ways to improve your career and life that Lyons teaches through Chakra Girl Business School.
1Root Chakra: Find Your Mission
Staying motivated is easier when you have a mission beyond yourself, says Lyons. To figure out your mission, imagine what the world would look like if you achieved it, then work backwards. Or, think about who your ideal client is. Often, this person is like you, but a few steps behind in a particular area, and your mission is to bring them where you are. Decide what you need to believe and what beliefs you need to let go of to achieve your mission.
2Sacral Chakra: Emotional Detox
To remove the obstacles standing between you and your mission, Lyons recommends rewriting destructive "stories" you've told yourself about money, success, relationships, and other areas of life. You might, for example, have learned growing up that money is scarce and you can't make enough by doing what you love. One way to "detox" yourself of these negative associations is to write down bad memories and burn them, or write down the opposite of the negative feelings from your past. If the issue is money, use up all your gift cards and coupons so you don't have that old energy lying around, says Lyons.
To begin manifesting a better version of yourself, identify your most positive traits and realize that this new and improved version of you is already in you — she's just weighed down. Then, get to work manifesting your dream career. You can do this by creating a page on your website that describes who you want to be, making folders on your computer for files you plan to create, and talking about your career plan like it's already happening.
3Solar Plexus Chakra: Raising Your Vibration
Negative self-talk keeps you at a low vibration, Lyons explains, which attracts negativity, makes tasks more tedious, and blocks off your highest wisdom. Prioritize finishing what you're working on and shipping it out over making it perfect, because perfectionism can send you down a spiral of self-criticism.
When you find yourself having a negative thought, ask yourself what limiting belief is causing it and challenge that underlying belief. To keep your thinking positive, you can even set an alarm. When it goes off, you have to give yourself a compliment. When you're writing or communicating about your work, make sure you're having fun so that your positivity spreads.
4Heart Chakra: Self-Love
Success requires being open to receiving, which is a lot easier if you love yourself. Lyons recommends the "seven-day self-love challenge," where you write down 10 new things you love about yourself every day. You can do five in the morning and five at night or write them all at once.
In addition, giving makes you more open to receiving, so practice random acts of kindness and generosity to show the universe that you deserve just as much as you're giving. This makes other people want to give you things, too, because they'll notice the vibe you give off.
5Throat Chakra: Embracing Vulnerability
Too often, fear of failure stops us from going after what we want. Lyons recommends addressing this fear head-on by imagining the worst-case scenario and becoming OK with that possibility.
For those moments when you feel like you're incapable, come up with a clapback you'd say to someone who pointed out your flaws, and use it toward yourself. Another exercise: Picture the most confident version of yourself, and when you're feeling insecure, count down from three and visualize yourself becoming that person when you get to one.
6Third Eye Chakra: Standing In Your Wisdom
Tapping into your inner wisdom requires listening to your intuition. To strengthen your intuition, Lyons recommends writing down your dream and what lessons it might be teaching you each morning. If it reflects something you've been stressed out about, for example, think about what you can do to improve that situation.
No matter who you are or what you do, you can be a top expert in your field if you're in touch with your wisdom and intuition, because nobody is putting out your message the way you're putting it out, says Lyons. So, be confident in your wisdom and go forth knowing you are offering the world something that nobody else is.
7Crown Chakra: Being Human
Even in a professional setting, people like you to be human, says Lyons. Being human means unapologetically embracing and owning your dark side. This gives others permission to be imperfect as well, which makes them want to be around you.
Connect with your clients and colleagues on a human level by admitting to your struggles and wrongdoings, and keep them up to date on what's going on with you. Even if you're in a position where you're giving advice, occasionally ask your clients or colleagues what they think so that they feel like you're on the same level.
There you have it, the way to use your chakras to get the career you want. Now get out there and make it happen.
