The Business Development Chakra System

Over the past 3 months I have been immersed in the first term of a year-long journey into “Intuitive Awareness’ at the Awareness Institute in Crows Nest. Our first topic of focus has been the chakra system.Enrolling in this program was a great example of how the Reticular Activating Systems (RAS) in the base of your brain works. I’ve become increasingly interested in the topic of Intuition and the role it plays, often by default, in our Next Chapter Businesses and keen to explore how you can consciously harness and expand it’s power.Once you make a decision like that, opportunities tend to pop up and wave their arms at you. That’s the RAS in action. Books on the subject jump off shelves in stores – in my case that was “Put Your Intuition to Work” by Lynn Robinson. Opportunities to talk more deeply about it present themselves – I recently interviewed Lynn on my Next Chapter Podcast. Courses that have the subject at their core appear – The Intuitive Awareness program jumped off the page in a magazine I was reading.

Understanding the Chakras

The first term of the program began with understanding the chakras, the (largely) unseen energy vortexes that spiral around and above our physical bodies and interact with our emotions and organs as they constantly rotate, attracting, receiving and radiating energy. They are a core concept in many healing modalities and spiritual practices and if you’ve been to a Yoga class, you’re likely to have heard about them too.In this next Chapter of my own life, I’ve made a decision to stay open and curious about new things like energy healing and the like. So although I’m still a bit of a toddler in the spiritual world, bright eyed, eager to learn and often falling over in my enthusiasm, I’m always soaking up what I’m exposed to and seeing how I can link it back in a useful, valuable and supportive way to business and life.Thus, I’d like to share with you the Business Chakra System that incorporates my take on this.The image above shows the Chakra system in ascending order. The Root, Sacral and Solar Plexus Chakras are often referred to as the “Lower” chakras, and the Heart, Throat, Third Eye and Crown Chakras, as the “Upper” Chakras. They are all connected and each require attention and care for balance and optimal mental spiritual and physical health.I see a clear connection between their functions in life to their functions in business with the Root, Sacral and Solar Plexus Chakras relating to the foundation and structure of your business, the Heart and Throat Chakras relating to the expansion of your business, the Third Eye relating to your business alignment and the Crown, to transformation.For a fulfilling, energetic, successful Next Chapter Business, attention, connection and care for each Chakra is vital.

Root, Sacral and Solar Plexus Chakras

Your business foundation

The Root Chakra

The Root Chakra represents your foundation and feeling of being grounded and safe. It concerns your sense of identity, stability and security and when it is out of balance, you can feel restless, spacey, afraid of things not working and of not having financial security.In a business development sense, this equates to your business framework, pricing structure and your physical space.Some of the most basic areas this covers are:

• Are you clear on who a Most Aligned Client is for you?
• Do you know what TOMMPA (top of mind problem, pain or aspiration) are you addressing?
• Can you define the outcomes you provide to them through what means (your packages and programs)
• How will you be financially rewarded for this? Does your pricing feel aligned with your energy and experience?
• Have you set Trifecta Goals for your financial imperatives?
• Do you have a clear experience staircase for your clients to move with you from discovery to initial investment and beyond? (My Progressive Engagement Plan is a good example of how to begin here)
• Does where you are working from feel organised and conducive in a physical sense (comfort, light, equipment) and an energetic sense (joyful uplifting images, photos, books, music, crystals, your “Fabulous File”, and Joy List etc)

The Sacral Chakra

The Sacral Chakra represents your relationships and it is the centre of your creativity and sense of abundance and community.When it is out of balance you can feel overly emotional, have significant mood swings (from "this is a fabulous idea, I'm so excited", to "I will never make this business work"), feel discontent and as though you need to strive, strive, strive all the time.In a business development sense, this equates to your communication and marketing activities.Some of the areas to look at include:

• Do you have a regular communication plan, a Marketing Megaphone and Support Acts, to promote your business?
• Are you scattering your energy across all sorts of social media platforms, rather than focusing on the two or three that will be most effective for you?
• Do you have at least one Belief Buddy, someone who provides you with love and support on this entrepreneurial journey?
• Are you involved with a community of like-minded people who are on a similar journey as you and can offer connection and sounding boards?
• Do you have opportunities for creative expression in your business? Are you crafting blog posts, podcasts, videos or something similar?
• Are you happy with your branding and the position you are taking in the market, the way you and your business are being perceived by others?

The Solar Plexus Chakra

The Solar Plexus chakra represents your self-esteem and ego, your personal power and sense of self, your confidence and self-worth, the extent to which you rely on your own judgement and inner promptings and a feeling of contentment, that your unique self has value for others.When it is out of balance you’ll feel significant, persistent self-doubt, even when there is evidence of your ability and impact. You’ll fall into the comparison trap often, need constant reassurance and find it difficult to make decisions.  It is also common to feel “others” have the answers and to fall into the trap of following “guru’s” as opposed to hearing and acting on your own internal compass.Some questions to ask yourself include:

• Are you able to acknowledge and appreciate your strengths?
• Can you see how the experiences you have had in life hold so much value for you and your clients?
• Are you aware of any limiting beliefs that you hold and have a modality or approach to work through them?
• Have you claimed your area of expertise? Can you articulate this with a Captivating Statement?
• Do you fall into the rabbit hole of comparison online and feel you fare poorly compared to the achievements of others?
• Do you feel the need to follow the exact systems of coaches or guides or are you able to take a framework and adjust it with your own experience?

Opening and Balancing the Foundation Chakras for your business

I believe these three chakras, and the areas of business development they reflect and combine, form the foundations of your business. They need to be well defined for you to build upon – any challenges you are having with growing your business to meet your vision and goals are likely to relate to imbalances or gaps in these foundation pieces.From a practical perspective, pausing and reassessing your business model, and then seeing if engaging with a Business Mentor and/or Practitioner joining a Network or entrepreneurial community can assist are all considerations. You may like to get involved with my Your Next Chapter Community - it's an inspiring and welcoming online oasis. space :)From an energetic perspective, there are many actions you can take to help rebalance these foundational Chakras, Some suggestions are below.

Heart and Throat Chakras

Your Business Expansion

Once the foundation and basic structure of your business are securely in place, sustained growth and development is more likely to be experienced.This is not to say that the Expansion, Alignment and Transformation stages always have to wait the typical 1-3 years foundation takes as we oscillate, evolve and find our ground. We can often have glimpses and even long periods of dwelling in the upper chakras of our business. But I also believe that it is difficult to remain in these upper levels without focused attention to our foundation. When these chakras are balanced and healthy we can go beyond the basics of our businesses, expanding and refining our offerings, leveraging our unique experiences and sharing our stories and becoming more visible in the marketplace as a Leader.

The Heart Chakra

The Heart Chakra represents your sense of love and compassion, hope and harmony, enthusiasm and joy and when it is open and engaged you‘re energised to “follow your heart” and to create a business that is a true reflection of yourself and your desire to be connected and to contribute as you pursue your dreams.When it is out of balance you can feel anxious and fearful, with a core of loneliness, sadness, and disconnection. You may feel bitter about the work you do and the lack of care others have for it, feeling as though you have “lost your heart for it”. It’s also common to over give, to feel a heavy sense of responsibility for your clients and customers, and the need to fix them, not allowing them the space they need to possibly stumble and even fall, but ultimately to learn and grow.Consider the following:

• Do you feel you are “on purpose”, doing the work that you’re meant to, the work you love?
• Is your work connected to a bigger purpose, an issue or cause you feel passionate about?
• Do you feel comfortable with selling your services and products, understanding that sales are ultimately an open invitation to transformation for your audience?
• Do you feel connected to your core message? Does it reflect how you truly feel, does it “come from the heart” as opposed to what you think you should say and deliver?
• Do you feel balanced between “following your heart” and receiving payment for doing so, seeing an energetic balance between the two?
• Do you see yourself as a supporter of your clients, a link in their chain of support?
• Do you have healthy boundaries – giving openly, but not excessively?
• Do you fall into any victim patterns, blaming external circumstances rather than, where appropriate, looking internally for responsibility and action
• Are you holding onto any resentments against yourself or others? (perhaps that last launch didn’t go as well as you’d hoped and you’re still speaking to yourself harshly about it…)

The Throat Chakra

The Throat Chakra represents your self-expression and communication, the ability to speak your truth openly and honestly, to be open to the opinions and thoughts of others but not to be unduly influenced by them, or feel the need to adopt or compete with them. It’s about making clear choices and acting on them with integrity.Your creativity, based in your Sacral Chakra, seeks expression and manifestation through your Throat Chakra. On the flip side, this chakra is also about active listening – really hearing and understanding what another person has to say, not just listening with the intent to respond or only hearing what confirms your perspective or expectation.When it is out of balance you will hold back, stuck in procrastination or perfectionism caused by doubt about your truth and how it will be perceived. An off-shoot of this trap is to become too caught up in knowledge gathering – “one more course, one more qualification, one more program and THEN I will be ready to share”.  A block can lead to reticence about being seen and this can stop you from publishing blog posts and other forms of self-promotion, restraining your expansion.Consider the following:

• Are you getting your message, what you stand for, believe in and want for your clients, across? Consider your copywriting on your website, the way you communicate with your audience through blogging, social media posts, newsletters etc Is there a disconnect between how you feel and what you say?
• Do you feel your creativity is coming to life, expressed through your ideas, services and creative projects? Or do you feel stifled?
• Take a look at your hard drive – how many programs have you bought in the past but not completed? Are you stuck in the “knowledge gathering” trap?
• Is perfectionism stopping you from getting your work into the world?
• Do you find yourself searching online for “the right way to do xyz” as opposed to allowing your own message, voice and perspective to shape what you do?
• Are you afraid of being judged negatively for not having “the right answers”?
• Do you find it difficult to “ask for the sale” – for money, for your services?

Opening and Balancing the Expansion Chakras for your business

I believe that when these two chakras are attended too, they allow you to move beyond the “nuts and bolts” of business building and begin to expand into your deeper purpose and message. They are very commonly ignited in a Next Chapter Business, where we move into a deeper connection with our desire to contribute, to make a difference. When balanced, you can connect to your heart and confidently share your unique message with your audience, without the need for it to be “perfect” as you understand this is an evolution, not a revolution.From a practical perspective, taking the time to audit and assess your core service offerings and marketing messages and see if they are reflecting what you truly want to do and say is important. Where are you holding back or censoring yourself? Where do you have the urge to make a change, move in a new direction or to begin to do that thing that you really want to do but have been reticent because you’re not sure you’re ready or that your audience will relate? To coin a phrase (tune into your heart and) just do it! You may also consider joining Toastmasters or a similar workshop or experience to help you to speak with confidence.I also recommend “coffee dates” with your Most Aligned Clients, virtually or in person, where you ask questions to ascertain where they are at and what they are struggling with, Listening with an open heart to truly understand will help you to shape your gifts into services, products and programs that can really help.From an energetic perspective, there are many actions you can take to help rebalance these expansion Chakras, Some suggestions are below.

Your Business Alignment

Third Eye Chakra

This experience encompasses the maturing of your business, an alignment phase that opens to us during our entrepreneurial journey as we begin to recognize, deep inside, that this is about so more than meeting a market need or even following our hearts. It’s at this stage that our larger vision of what could be possible through the vehicle of our business emerges, and we align ourselves with that possibility – though please be aware that this does not equate with the size of scope of your business, "success" needs to be defined by you. There is no separation between who you are and what you stand for and deliver. There is no “this is me in business mode and this is me in other modes” – you are who you are, perfectly aligned at all times, authentic and open.Knowledge and awareness, often seems to just “arrive”, as fully formed ideas and solutions out of the blue. And sometimes that can be difficult to accept without question!The third eye chakra is all about perception, intuition, awareness, clear vision and guidance and that brings with it the need to trust the messages, thoughts and ideas you receive, to trust yourself. When it is in balance you understand, at a deep level, that you have the ability to create your reality and you more readily let go of old, outdated models of how things should be done and open to what’s possible.It is an exciting and invigorating time!However, as with all of the chakras, imbalance is not quite so enjoyable and can lead to closing down, not being able to “see the forest for the trees”, doubt and mistrust, frustration at the “shallowness” of the business world, an inability to look within and open to your infinite value and resourcefulness and instead, to fall under the spell of “guru’s who offer their way as the way to success. You can also spend too much time dreaming and imagining, rather than taking inspired action.Ask yourself:

• Do you honour and trust your intuition, acting on its guidance or do you tend to dismiss it, believing that it is not solid and dependable?
• When you are seeking a solution to a challenge, do you first look inside for that solution or do you tend to seek an external source of authority and experience?
• Do you allow yourself time to create or do you have a sense of urgency that it “needs to be done immediately”?
• Have you begun to let go of the way things “should be done” in your business and instead, feel you are often taking inspired action instead?
• Do you have a connection to the bigger purpose behind your business, beyond the services you provide and this feeling invigorates you?
• Conversely, are you feeling blocked or frustrated, trapped in a sense of being on the cusp of great things but not being able to break through?
• Do you over analyze things, getting caught up in too much thinking rather than simply feeling and going wit your instincts?

Opening and Balancing the Alignment Chakra for your business

I’ve found for myself, and the women I mentor, that there is always a deeper purpose behind what we do, a calling so to speak. Allowing yourself time and space to explore this by turning inwards and looking at your past experiences and stories and pondering the lessons behind them, and what you can share as a result is the place to start.And allowing your intuition room to breath and grow as a part of this alignment is vital. Learning to trust yourself, your inner guidance system that is always in support of your greatest good and, by association, the greatest good for your clients, is a significant lesson in your Next Chapter, especially if you have tended to subjugate your desires for the good of others, people pleasing, in the past, as so many of us do!From an energetic perspective, there are many actions you can take to help rebalance the Alignment – the Third Eye Chakra, Some suggestions are below.

Your Business Transformation

The Crown Chakra

The Crown Chakra represents the highest stage of our development, in business and in life. When we work through this Chakra, we experience a tangible connection with the divine and, as a result, feel peace, harmony, clarity, meaning and fulfillment and a devotion to the well-being of others.When we are transformed, we understand our Life Purpose and the way our business assists us in manifesting an aspect of that purpose through what we do. We recognise that everything and everyone is connected and that we have a unique role, even perhaps an obligation, to play in this beautiful dance.I believe that this transformation is not a destination, rather it is an evolution, a gradual uncovering of new layers of purpose in our work as we move closer and closer to our core and we are likely to dip into it many times throughout our Next Chapters.I also believe that when we are out of balance with our Crown we feel a loss of identity and purpose, we can feel exhausted and as though the work we do is meaningless and this produces great sadness, guilt and a sense of unworthiness.Consider:

• Do you allow space in your days for contemplation, or do you pile your appointments up against one another, with no time for processing what you have experienced?
• Have you let go of multi-tasking, scattering your energy?
• Have you ever tried to connect with a Higher Power, the Universe, Source, however you would describe your trusted source and asking for guidance in the work that you do? There is an exercise on my blog here that will help, you can access it here 
• Is it easy for you to stay anchored in the present, rather than “future tripping” or “Past pondering”? You can only create in the present moment – it is your point of power, receptivity, and creativity
• Do you consciously access inspiration? Places, people, music, spiritual pursuits that open you to the beauty of the world?

Opening and Balancing the Transformation Chakra for your business

Giving advice on how to access, open and balance your Crown Chakra feels a little too challenging for me! I feel I have experienced moments of the bliss that I associate with this – a feeling of open fluidity, of everything being right with the world, of being on purpose, on the right path, of making a difference in my small but unique way.And that is absolutely delicious, fleeting, but delicious!I believe exploring spiritual texts and destinations, tuning into your curiosity and being led by love are helpful commitments to make to stimulate and open this Chakra. Inviting wholehearted conversation with other like-minded, contribution focused individuals will help as well. Stay connected to your why and allow it to build and deepen over time and, if you feel the desire for additional guidance in your business, work with a Mentor who is equally committed to strategy and self-belief and respects your vision and alignment with your purpose.From an energetic perspective here are some actions you can take to help open and balance this Chakra for the transformation of you, and your business.

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Always learning

I freely admit that I am a novice in the world of Chakras, Intuition, and Consciousness and how they relate to business development. But I am honouring my curiosity and my desire to continue to step beyond pure business and marketing strategy when it comes to creating and expanding my own Next Chapter Business to ensure I have personal alignment and fulfilment. And, as is my usual way of showing up in the world, I’ll share all that I learn along the way with my community and clients and on my retreats.I welcome your thoughts, feedback and personal experiences that this post may inspire and I would love you to share it using one of the buttons to the left.Thanks also to the wonderful Heidi Drieschner from the Awareness Institute, our Teacher for Term One of the year-long Intuitive Awareness Program, who has opened the door to a whole new way of thinking about my business for me.By the way, if working with a Mentor who blends strategy and soul feels resonant with you, let's connect for a wholehearted conversation in a Business Breakthrough call - you can read more and book one here.Warmly,