The power chakra or Manipura, which means “lustrous gem” is the seat of your personal power, as well as your individuality and self-esteem.

When this chakra is open, you’ll have a confident sense of yourself and your place in the world. This is also the place where your charisma is located.  However, without the grounding of the first chakra and the emotional balance of the second, this chakra can operate like a weapon.

The element of this chakra is fire, and I often think of it as the ‘fire in the belly’. Fire is also a source of energy, and so this can be the fire to get you started, to push yourself ‘out there’ and let the world hear your song! This is a powerful chakra to focus on because it is the chakra of self-acceptance.

For singers, all of the above issues come into play and are part of the singer’s path.  We live in a world where singers often can feel ‘not good enough’ or don’t claim their power as a singer. They can be reticent and retiring, and have difficulty finding the true power of their voice.

Do YOU acknowledge the POWER that singing has?

At the end of the First World War on Christmas eve, one German soldier began to sing “Stille Nacht” from his location in “No Man’s Land”. After a few moments, not only other Germans but also British soldiers joined in to sing, until they were all singing a medley of Christmas carols together. This came to be known as the Christmas Truce, and it all began with singing.

Singing gave African slaves the strength to endure their back breaking work; sea chanteys were sung by solders to help sailors with rigging anchors and sails.

Perhaps the most powerful moment of the past few years is the powerful singing of Rick Rescorla. If you’re not familiar with him, he was a retired United States Army officer of British birth who served in the Vietnam War.  On the morning of September 11, Mr. Rescorla was in Tower 1 and heard the explosion and saw the building burning beneath him. He directed employees down a stairwell from the 44th floor and calmed colleagues while they escaped the burning tower. What did Rick Rescorla do to keep everyone calm?

He sang.

Rescorla kept escaping employees calm by singing songs like “God Bless America” and the Welsh song “Men of Harlech”. He had done this in Vietnam all those years before, and his song would raise once again in this most monstrous of circumstances to sing to others and help them remain calm.

When we sing, we communicate through our actual LIFE FORCE: our breath. This is a powerful concept to keep near you at all times.

This chakra asks the following of your singing:

1. Do you recognize the POWER in your singing?
2. Are you an advocate for the power of singing?
3. Do you do the things you need to to be the singer you want to be?
4. If you’re not taking lessons and you want to sing, is something preventing you?

Take a DEEP BREATH and realize the POWER of singing in your life and in the world around you.