The Crown Chakra – How to Boost Spirituality and Creativity

The crown chakra is the seat of spirituality and connection. It is the highest of the points of energy in the body and difficult to fully realize. You can activate and balance the crown with specific yoga poses, mantras, and meditations. When you open the crown chakra, you connect with the universe and realize a deeper spiritual purpose.

What Are Chakras?

If you have just started to get into yoga, you might have heard about the chakras. These are energy centers in the body that were first written about in the Vedas, an ancient Hindu text. They play a role in yoga practice, Ayurvedic medicine, and can be important in meditation. The seven chakras are:

• Root Chakra (Muladhara): Located at the base of the spine, it is associated with grounding, survival, and the feeling of being safe and secure.

• Sacral Chakra (Svadhisthana): Located in the lower abdomen, it is associated with creativity, sexuality, and emotional expression.

• Solar Plexus Chakra (Manipura): Located in the upper abdomen, it is associated with personal power, self-confidence, and the ability to make decisions.

• Heart Chakra (Anahata): Located in the center of the chest, it is associated with love, compassion, and connection to others.

• Throat Chakra (Vishuddha): Located in the throat, it is associated with communication, self-expression, and authenticity.

• Third Eye Chakra (Ajna): Located in the center of the forehead, it is associated with intuition, perception, and insight.

• Crown Chakra (Sahasrara): Located at the top of the head, it is associated with spiritual connection, enlightenment, and awareness.

Chakras are wheels that allow energy to flow through the body. They are associated with different aspects of physical and mental health, spirituality, and connections to others and the universe. 

When the chakras are in balance and free-flowing, you should experience overall wellness. When one or more is blocked or overactive, it can cause health problems, relationship conflicts, difficult emotions, or a spiritual crisis. 

Yoga is one way to connect with and become more aware of the energy, known as prana, that flows through your chakras. This awareness allows you to identify problem areas and take steps to restore good flow and wellness.

If you love learning about the chakras and want to guide others, consider becoming a yoga instructor. 

About the Crown Chakra

The crown chakra is also known as sahasrara. It is a bridge between the human and the divine. It connects you to the universe and its cosmic energy. It is the most spiritual of the chakras and the one to tap into when you’re looking for balance, connection, and a higher state of consciousness. 

The Crown is the Seventh Chakra

Located right at the top of your head where a crown would sit, this is the highest chakra, both physically in the body and spiritually. Sahasrara means thousand-petalled and it is symbolized a lotus flower. The crown chakra is connected to the brain and central nervous system, but through these, it connects to every part of the body. 

What is Associated with the Crown Chakra? 

Each chakra is often associated with specific characteristics, feelings, behaviors, colors, elements, and more. The crown chakra is associated with: 

• Divine consciousness

• The colors violet and white

• Clear quartz

• Spirituality

• Spiritual connection to the divine

• Connection to the universe

• Enlightenment

• Heightened consciousness

• Thought

• Understanding

• Intelligence and wisdom

• Self-knowledge

• Awareness 

• The pituitary gland

What Are the Signs of a Blocked Crown Chakra? 

If your crown chakra is blocked, it means there is not enough prana, or energy flowing through it. This is the most difficult chakra to reach, but it should never be totally blocked. If your crown could use more energy balance, you might experience these signs: 

• Poor physical balance

• Poor coordination

• Low overall physical functioning

• Sleeping too much

• Tension headaches

• Confusion

• Cynicism

• Difficulty focusing

• A feeling of disconnect with others and the world

• Lack of inspiration or creativity

• Greater connection to the material world than the spiritual

• Lack of purpose and meaning

Can the Crown Chakra Be Overactive? 

If too much energy flows through the crown chakra, or it is overactive compared to the others, you might feel cynical, apathetic, or self-destructive. It can make you feel like you are constantly searching for but never finding spirituality. You might become obsessed with spirituality. Physically, you may feel overly sensitive to sounds, sights, and other sensations. 

How to Tap Into the Crown Chakra 

Not many people are able to fully tap into the crown chakra. Building balance through the chakras means starting at the bottom, with the root chakra, and working your way to the top, the crown. It is impossible to fully align the crown chakra without working through all the chakras that come before it. 

This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. Connecting to your crown chakra can bring it into greater balance and improve your spiritual and overall well-being. 

Yoga Poses to Open the Crown Chakra

Start with yoga poses that activate and open up the crown chakra and your ability to connect spiritually with the universe: 

• Rabbit pose. Start this yoga pose by kneeling on a mat. Bend forward to bring the top of your head to rest on the mat. Reach back with your arms to hold onto your heels. Hold for a few breaths with your head lightly on the ground. Do not press it down firmly. 

• Supported shoulder stand. Sitting up on a mat, roll back, resting your weight on your upper arms. Bending at the elbows, put your hands on your lower back and lift your legs up, toes pointing toward the ceiling. Your legs should be straight and perpendicular to the floor as your hands on your back support the position. 

• Headstand. Inversions are great for the crown chakra. If you cannot do a headstand, work up to it with the rabbit pose and shoulder stand. Headstands require balance and core strength. Build these to be able to fully invert. 

• Reclined bound angle pose. This is a great restorative pose that also supports the crown chakra. Lie on your back and bring the soles of your feet together, bending at the knee. Let the knees fall to each side. 

• Corpse pose. Also very restorative is the corpse pose. Restorative poses open the crown chakra because they promote stillness and quiet. To do the corpse pose, lie on a mat and relax every part of your body as you feel your weight sinking into the floor. 

Improve your yoga flow with this guide to smoother transitions between poses. 

Other Ways to Tap into the Crown Chakra

Yoga is a good way to open the crown chakra, especially if you already practice regularly. You can add in some other activities to deepen the practice: 

• Pranayama. Asanas are just one part of yoga. Include pranayama, breathing exercises, to really activate your 7th chakra. Try alternate nostril breathing or skull shining breath. 

• Meditation. Meditating to transcend the material world can help you activate the crown chakra. Imagine a greater awareness and consciousness in the universe and yourself as just one part of it.  

• Mantra. Try adding the crown chakra mantra to your meditation. The simple mantra for this chakra is Om, thought to be the sound of the universe. 

• Affirmations. Repeat affirmations to connect with spirituality, the universe, and your own wisdom and creativity. Try ‘Divinity is within me,’ ‘I am guided by a higher power,’ or ‘I am guided by inner wisdom.’

Expand Your Understanding with Yoga Teacher Training

Opening the crown chakra is a noble goal, but it can take a lifetime to fully achieve. Start with these practices to begin fostering a deeper connection with the universe and your own spirituality. 

Turn your love of yoga into a career. The ISSA Yoga & Wellness Academy’s Yoga 200 Certification course is Yoga Alliance approved and everything you need to become a qualified yoga instructor.