Twelve minutes, five segments, seven centres. Read it straight through — the notes in brackets are for you, not the listener.
Settling and setting up
2 min[warm, unhurried — you are orienting someone who may know nothing about this]
Hello, and welcome. Over the next twelve minutes we'll move up through the seven chakras — the seven energy centres described in the yogic tradition, running from the base of the spine to the top of the head.
You don't need to believe anything in particular for this to be worth doing. Treat the seven centres as seven places to rest your attention, in order, with a colour attached to each. That alone is a complete practice.
Sit with your spine upright — cross-legged on the floor or upright in a chair, whichever you can hold comfortably for twelve minutes. The spine matters here more than usual, because we're travelling along it. [pause for 10 seconds]
Let your eyes close. Take three slow breaths, and with each out-breath let a little more of your weight settle downward. [pause for 20 seconds — three full breath cycles]
Root, sacral and solar plexus
3 min[low and grounded — give all three equal time, do not hurry toward the heart]
Bring your attention to the base of your spine. This is the root — muladhara. Its colour is deep red. It's the centre of steadiness, of being held by the ground.
Breathe into that place. Picture a slow red light there, no brighter than an ember. Let it be solid rather than dazzling. [pause for 25 seconds]
Move up now, to just below the navel. The sacral centre — svadhisthana. Orange. This is the centre of feeling and of making things. [pause for 25 seconds]
Up again, to the soft place beneath your ribs. The solar plexus — manipura. Yellow, like low sun. This is the centre of will — the part of you that decides and then acts. [pause for 25 seconds]
The heart
2 min[the middle of the journey — slow down and give it more room than the others]
Now the centre of the chest. The heart — anahata. Green. This is the midpoint of the seven, the hinge between the three below and the three above.
Breathe into the middle of your chest and let the green light widen with each breath — a little further out on every in-breath, staying where it is on every out-breath. [pause for 40 seconds]
If something rises here — warmth, or ache, or nothing at all — let it be what it is. Nothing needs to be different for this to be working. [pause for 25 seconds]
Throat, third eye and crown
3 min[keep your pitch level — the instinct to rise with the body is strong and wrong]
Move to the hollow at the base of your throat. Vishuddha. Blue — the blue of deep water. This is the centre of speech, and of saying the true thing. [pause for 25 seconds]
Up to the space between your eyebrows, just behind the bone. The third eye — ajna. Indigo. The centre of seeing clearly. [pause for 25 seconds]
And finally the top of the head. The crown — sahasrara. Violet, or white, or simply open. This one isn't a place so much as an opening. Don't work at it. [pause for 30 seconds]
The whole column, and closing
2 min[energy back in the voice for the last three lines]
Now let go of the individual centres and take in the whole line at once — base of the spine to crown, all seven lit at the same time. [long pause — 45 seconds]
One column, running the length of you. Nothing to adjust. [pause for 25 seconds]
Let the colours fade. Come back to the plain sensation of sitting where you're sitting. [pause for 10 seconds, then lift the voice]
Move your hands and feet. Roll your shoulders once. And when you're ready, open your eyes. Thank you for practising with me.