Tibetan Singing Bowl for the Crown Chakra

Purple is the signature colour of the crown chakra, but white also appears in some singing bowl correspondence charts. During a meditation focused on this chakra, you can visualise a pale purple or white light just above your head.

Its symbol is a thousand-petalled lotus, visualised at the top of the head or just above it. In its traditional depiction, this downward-facing lotus sits above Ajna, the third eye chakra, and its luminous petals bear the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet.

The bija, or seed mantra, of this chakra is traditionally silence, representing an unmanifest sound beyond audible chanting. In practice, however, the mantra OM often serves as Sahasrara’s bija because it leads towards that silence. Some traditions also use the syllable AH.

To use the mantra with your Tibetan singing bowl for the crown chakra, chant OM along with the bowl’s sound, then repeat the mantra several times. When the chanting ends, remain seated in silence for a few minutes.

Yogic tradition associates a blocked crown chakra with several signs, including difficulty connecting with spirituality and a need to control everything. It also describes mental fog, confusion, and a feeling of being cut off from the world, other people, and nature. Difficulty meditating and finding inner calm is another sign of imbalance. This chakra’s energy is described as hyperactive, normal, or hypoactive, and everyone experiences it differently. When they play their singing bowl, some practitioners describe a vibration at the top of the head, while many report a feeling of lightness or deep calm. No one can promise that you will feel these sensations, however. In the Hindu chakra tradition, these signs are prompts for personal reflection, not medical symptoms. Your bowl never replaces medical treatment.

The crown chakra’s name, Sahasrara, literally means “thousand-rayed.” It comes from sahasra, meaning “thousand,” and ara, meaning “spoke of a wheel.” The common rendering “thousand-petalled” comes from yogic imagery of the lotus, not from the word ara itself. Sanskrit dictionaries also use Sahasrara for an opening at the top of the head likened to an inverted lotus.

The stones traditionally associated with the crown chakra are amethyst, selenite, and clear quartz, a transparent stone associated with clarity and said to amplify the power of other stones. Amethyst is also used in practices intended to rebalance the top of the head.

If you have one of these crown chakra stones, such as amethyst or clear quartz, try holding it in your hand with your eyes closed while visualising a white or violet light at the top of your head. At Instruments du Monde, you’ll find glass and quartz bowls, including rose quartz, as well as frosted crystal and clear quartz bowls.

Sahasrara is associated with no material element, and Tantric tradition connects it to the universe. Earth belongs to the root chakra, water to the sacral chakra, fire to the solar plexus chakra, air to the heart chakra, and ether to the throat chakra. Sahasrara, in turn, receives thought. It is associated with pure consciousness, a state beyond the five classical elements.