A great idea, hard work, good counsel, research, and inspiration from others are great ways to find success in business. But sometimes, try as we might, we just seem… blocked… Energy flows through a business, much as it flows through a body. And things like momentum need that energy to ignite into tornadoes of business.
Hinduism and Buddhism have a lot of philosophies that have come into the Western world. One is Chakras. Chakras are points in a body where energy can get blocked. The word Chakra is Sanskrit for ‘wheel’ as the energy cycles through us. Four Chakras are present in the upper body while three are located in the lower body, and they act as a wheel to control our physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental systems.
Every Chakra has its own characteristics and each corresponds to glands in our endocrine system. And when Chakras get blocked, they keep our energy from flowing. Anxiety, stress, loss, guilt, and other issues block Chakras and can cause a variety of issues that eventually manifest into serious physical ailments.
And a business is the same. We get blocked, or energy doesn’t flow properly. Here are some minor aspects of keeping blocked paths from negatively impacting your organization, through a looking glass of The Seven Chakras.
The Root Chakra
A sound foundation is the first Chakra of every business. You must know the purpose of your business: what is your mission and its respective goals. Ambiguous goals will make your success doubtful or inaccessible. Just making money is not a reason for being in business. When the Root Chakra is flowing, everyone in the organization feels safe and grounded. If people seem listless, make sure they understand their mission and goals. Find out if anyone has unresolved concerns and feels safe in the mission and in their job. You can always bring in a dance instructor to lead a dance competition.
The Sacral Chakra
The Sacral Chakra involves our ability to accept others and new experiences. You don’t have the only ideas in the organization. Don’t judge. If there is something wrong with situations around the office, fix them. The energy of the business cannot flow if no one enjoys being there. Once they do, abundance is sure to follow. If you start seeing that different groups or individuals aren’t working well together, find out why, and address it. And hang a nice piece of art in the office while you’re at it.
The Solar Plexus Chakra
The Solar Plexus Chakra is our power center and urges us to use our powers for the growth of our business without diminishing the powers of others. Basically, if you are professional when it comes to competitors, employees, and customers then you won’t end up with bad energy from bad dealings. And you will have good self-esteem for spending time on moral high grounds, even when it’s easier not to. You can tell the Solar Plexus Chakra is blocked if sales isn’t converting leads. Find out why they feel insecure, and take everyone out for some relaxation time before addressing whatever the cause is.
The Heart Chakra
Healthy relationships with customers and partners is an indication of a healthy Heart Chakra. Successful business gains relationships and progresses in a well structured environment. Your staff will not be around long if they get are criticism, hate, and abuse. One of the hardest aspects here is to be sincere. Because sometimes the best way to appreciate is to give hard advice that makes us uncomfortable. If we cannot give the good and the bad together then we cannot stay healed. The Heart Chakra is one of the hardest to unblock. Emphasize the positive in the office. Make sure everyone receives your appreciation when due. And get everyone out volunteering in the community regularly, as compassion comes in many forms.
The Throat Chakra
The Throat Chakra, as you can imagine, is related to communication. We cannot inspire others if we cannot explain our purpose to them. The more effectively we explain the “why” the more positive energy we get. A balanced Throat Chakra also allows us to best work with our customers, colleagues and employees – key for even most transactional relationships! If you find that you’re having a problem communicating with others, make sure that your communication is honest and sincere, which means making sure you’re communicating properly with yourself.
The Third Eye Chakra
We need to use our intelligence, knowledge of market forces and those pesky trend lines in Excel to forecasting what the future holds. This is The Third Eye Chakra, which we think of as a sixth sense. Especially as you grow, it’s critical to detect upcoming opportunities and losses and be able to make shrewd decisions that allow you to stay in business. Some call it intuition, some call it awareness. I think of it as making sure all your bases are covered. People often focus on ants crawling through grass to work on their Third Eye Chakra. I wonder what trends you’ll see in your spreadsheets when you’ve got silent time to focus on them?
The Crown Chakra
If the other Chakras are in harmony, you will feel the unity in the office. You will feel a genuine connection and everyone will be on a mission together, with pleasure in their work, and feeling grounded. When things are clicking, and the energy is flowing, you know. You feel the momentum. Otherwise, you feel indecisive, listless, and even depressed. Let go of the material and focus on the first six Chakras. The crown will likely fall in place when you’ve found peace there.
Problems don’t sprout up overnight. Usually they’ve been building up over weeks or years. I’m not a new age kinda’ person, to be honest, but there’s some truth to applying various frameworks and models to try and find the truth in your organization. This is just one, and it’s pretty simplistic. If you’d like to focus more on energy and your organization, there’s a book out there called Fuel your Business that goes into a lot more detail on this aspect of business, and includes anecdotes about each from a wonderful author and fellow Huffington Post contributor, Gina Soleil.