2. Your Seven Energy Centers (6 to 10) – Lesson 2
The Base of the Spine Energy Center
Overview of Lesson 2 for Children Ages 6 to 10
KEY CONCEPTS: Children will be learning about the base-of-the-spine chakra. The key concepts for this lesson are:
- The key word or quality for the base of the spine is PURITY.
- God is both Father and Mother.
- The light from God that is focused in the base-of-the-spine energy center is the mother part of God, who cares for us, teaches us and comforts us.
- The father part of God is the one who protects us, sets the laws and the rules, and disciplines us.
- All energy of life belongs to God .
- How beautiful everything is that God made! God made me, and so I am beautiful too!
MUSIC: Drum or Indian tabla music, such as:
- “The Stars and Stripes Forever,”by Sousa (Classic Marches, Leonard Slatkin, Conductor; RCA Victor)
- “Bhoop”. (Call of the Valley; with Shivkumar Sharma, Brijbushan Kabra and Hariprasad Chaurasia; Hemisphere)
CHAPTER: First Energy Center: Base of the Spine.
MATERIALS:
- Roll of white paper, several paper grocery bags or large sheets of paper taped together to the size of your child’s body. (This is for the ongoing energy center project.)
- Coloring sheet of the energy center (included at the end of this lesson for your child to color, cut out and place on the outline of his body)
- Crayons and colored pencils
- Non-toxic glue
- Flower seeds or small plant, small pots and soil (optional activity)
LESSON
In the first lesson, you learned about the “Chart of Your Divine Self.” You saw your Mighty I AM Presence and Holy Christ Self, and saw yourself surrounded by light. You also saw pictures of the chakras – the energy centers that connect God’s energies into your body. Our chakras spin when they are filled with God’s light and energy.
Do you remember why our energy centers spin? (Pause to allow child to respond.) Yes, the energy centers spin when they are filled with God’s light and energy.
Today we are going to find out about the first chakra – the one at the bottom of the chart, the base-of-the-spine chakra. Let’s look at a picture of the base-of-the-spine chakra.
Base of the Spine Chakra
What color is it? (White)
How many petals does it have? (Four)
__________
Each energy center has a special key word or phrase:
The key word for the base of the spine is PURITY.
Activity 1: Trace your child's body
We are going to get started today
by making an outline of your body,
which you can decorate and color in.
As we learn about our chakras,
we are going to make beautiful pictures
of them, cut them out and glue them
onto the outline.
Divine Mother
Mother Mary
The light from God that is focused in the base-of-the-spine energy center is the mother aspect of God, sometimes called the Divine Mother. The mother represents the one who cares for us, teaches us and comforts us.
What do mothers do for their children? (Discuss how mothers take care of us: they hug us, kiss our hurts, play with us, put us to bed, pray for us and teach us how to behave, etc.)
The light in the Divine Mother in the base-of-the-spine energy center is a pure white light. It is sent to us by God who loves and takes care of all of his children.
How do we take care of life?
For example, how do you take care of plants? (Water, fertilize, pull out weeds.)
Activity 2: Plant Seeds
Plant seeds or a small seedling and talk about the care it will need.
Do plants tell us what they need?
No, of course not! They can’t talk, but if we watch them closely, we can tell what they need. When a plant looks faded or yellow, it needs sunlight. When a plant is droopy, it needs water.
People who love us, especially mothers and fathers, can tell when we are faded or droopy and need a little love. They will come and give us a hug when we are not feeling well. Love is like sunlight and water to us.
Divine Mothers
Maybe you don’t always tell your parents how you are feeling, but because they love you, they watched you and noticed when you needed a hug. This is God’s mother energy working in your own house. Even fathers have the love of the Divine Mother when they are gentle and caring.
Kuan Yin
This beautiful white light of the Divine Mother can work in you too, whether you are a girl or a boy. You might notice a friend who is quiet and sad. When you go over to your friend and say something to make him feel better, that is the Divine Mother working through you.
Can you think of a time the mother light worked through you? While you are thinking about that, I will tell you a time when I felt the Divine Mother working through me. (Sharing your own experiences and your love of God is an important aspect of the spiritual education of your children. You are their role model. They need to see you expressing your spirituality.)
When we pray or sing to the Divine Mother, we receive more light and pure energy in the base-of-the-spine chakra. We are going to learn a simple prayer from India that honors the Divine Mother.
Om Ma Ta, Shri Ma Ta
Om Shri Ma Ta, Durga Ma
(repeat this several times)
God is both Father and Mother. But what does that mean? It is like the two halves of a whole. The energy of the Divine Father is like the one who teaches us the laws and the rules and disciplines us if we do wrong things. And the energy of the divine mother is like the one who cares for us and comforts us.
God cares for us and allows us to use the light and energy that He gives us. But it really belongs to God. All of nature is God, all of our body, all of the things we think about and feel. It is all God’s energy. Let’s say together:
How beautiful is
everything that God made!
God made me, and I am beautiful too!
Every moment of every day, you receive God’s energy and decide how to use it. When you are loving and kind, you grow stronger and closer to God. If you are unkind and thoughtless, your misuse of God’s energy takes you away from God.
Activity 3: Experiment
Bring out the materials for the demonstration: a clear drinking glass of water, a spoon, some dirt and a flashlight. Then turn out the lights.
Here is a crystal glass of pure water. This glass of water represents our base-of-the-spine energy center filled with the pure light of the Divine Mother.
-
- Ask the child to shine the flashlight through the water from one side of the glass.
- Do you see the light shining through? The light can shine through because our base-of-the-spine energy center is filled with God’s crystal pure light.
Each time we are unkind or thoughtless, look what happens to our base-of-the-spine energy center.
Put several small spoonfuls of dirt in the water, one at a time, as you say:
-
- “I told a lie” (spoonful of dirt)
- “I was unkind to my brother” (spoonful of dirt)
- “I borrowed my friend’s toy without asking him” (spoonful of dirt), etc.
Then mix up the dirty water with a spoon and shine the flashlight on the glass again.
What happens to the water? It turns cloudy or muddy.
Does the light shine through our energy center as well as before? No.
When we do good things with God’s energy, we feel happy and pure. When we do not do good things, it is harder to feel happy and to feel God’s love. That is why it is so important to use God’s energy that flows through our chakras for good and kind things.
Activity 4: Color the Base of the Spine Chakra
Hand out the outline of the base-of-the-spine chakra that you have printed.
Here is the base-of-the-spine chakra.
While you are coloring it with a white crayon,
I want you to be thinking about the Love of the Divine Mother
that God has put inside you with this beautiful chakra.
Once it is colored, you can glue it onto the outline of your body, right at the base of your spine. (Be sure to keep your child’s project in a safe place. Another energy center will be added to the outline with each remaining lesson.)
Conclusion
This week as you work and play, remember that you are beautiful and special to God! You are receiving God’s light and energy into your base-of–the-spine chakra. It brings you the light and love of the Divine Mother, and it is up to you how you will use it.
Activity 5: Review Activity
Here are some questions for an energy center quiz. Children love to be quizzed, because they love to show you that they know the answers. Through fun repetition of simple games comes mastery of knowledge. If your child is a reader, let him ask you the questions first. This is a powerful way to review the facts before he takes his turn.
- What energy center is filled with the light of the Divine Mother? (Base-of the spine-chakra)
- What is the key word or quality of the light in the base-of-the-spine chakra? (Purity)
- Who gives us light and energy? (God)
- Who decides how we each use God’s energy? (We do!)
- What are some of the ways we take care of our own body? (Eat right, get enough sleep, exercise)
- What are some ways that we show the light of the Divine Mother? and receiving love, praying, meditating or thinking about God, and helping others).