Evolution of an Energy Portrait

Energy Portrait, FKA Chakra Portrait

The Chakra Portrait was born several years ago when I brought together my mediumship skills, coaching, and artistry in an effort to help those I worked with to better understand their creative process. At the time, it was truly about taking a look at what I have studied for years as the western understanding of the chakra system through my mentor and teacher Renee Brown, various yoga classes, and diving in to the book Eastern Body Western Mind: Psychology and the Chakra System as a Path to the Self.

This also came from a workshop I created that began as “Perfection Paralysis and the Role of Anxiety in the Creative Process”, which gave an outline of the steps of the creative process that we experience in our body that line up beautifully with the chakras as we tend to understand them. It evolved into “The Chakras and the Creative Process” and soon thereafter (a year or so?) I started the Chakra Portraits.

The Portrait experiences have expanded in the last year as I deepen my practice in helping folks increase their understanding of how their energy flows or stops, and support awareness of their unique gifts, skills, and coping mechanisms.

While I will continue to use my own understanding of creativity, energy, and the chakras as a framework for communication to express what I see in these sessions, my own artistic and spiritual expansion asks that a broader title be used to promote the evolving portrait experience.

Beyond this, I also have been meditating on the responsible usage of the term chakra. I am aware that the original understanding and teaching of the chakras in Buddhist and Hindu Tantric traditions has been adjusted and redefined for western application and yes, appropriation. I’m taking time to investigate in order to be certain that I come from a place of well-informed, thoughtful appreciation and utilization of an ancient system. Drop a line if you have any thoughts to contribute to the conversation!