THE CROWN CHAKRA: A YOGI’S GUIDE TO HEAD COVERINGS

This post was originally shared in the November/December 2009 Aquarian Times magazine.

The Master of Kundalini Yoga, Yogi Bhajan, wore a turban. We thought it was because he was a Sikh and a turban is one of the symbols Khalsa Sikhs wear to identify their commitment to live according to the path of Sikh Dharma. However, as a Yogi, he understood and shared with his students the practical reasons for covering one’s head—especially during meditation. Following is some of what Yogi Bhajan taught, and as you can see from the photos (below), the information was so convincing, turbans of many shapes and sizes started appearing on the heads of Western-born students!

Covering your head with a natural fiber cloth like cotton or silk helps to maintain the integrity of the 26 cranial bones of the skull, which are constantly moving. This movement impacts levels of calmness and anxiety. Most turban styles create a snug pressure at the temples and the base of the skull. This gentle pressure is conducive to concentration and in maintaining emotional stability, respectively. Covering the head provides a sense of containment and focus. It literally helps “keep your head together.”

Covering your head allows you to retain the benefits of meditation. It modulates the smooth functioning of the Crown Chakra, which is located at the top of the head. The Crown Chakra, also called the Tenth Gate, is the seventh chakra. It represents humility and vastness. Here is where we connect to our higher selves.

Covering the Crown Chakra also helps to regulate and balance the effects of the energy of the sun, including the electromagnetic energy, which can short circuit our much smaller electromagnetic fields.
Wearing a head covering helps us to command our minds; to be more aware of what we are thinking and how we are really feeling.

As an experiment, Yogi Bhajan suggested that you start a conversation bareheaded, and then excuse yourself, go into the restroom, and put on a head covering. Then come out and resume your conversation. Notice the difference.