The 'Clown' Chakra
Originally published in Energy Magazine: The official Publication of the Healing Touch Program May Issue. The ‘Clown’ Chakra by Sharona Ben-Sorek, RPT, HTP
The enthusiastic new Level 4 apprentice stopped me in the cafeteria before breakfast on the last day of class. “Where is the ‘Clown’ chakra?,” she asked. “Some people said that you measure it here [she had her hand on her head], and others said that it was here [other hand near her clavicles] at the high heart. Where is it exactly?” “Well, it’s here at your upper arm – because that’s the humerus,” I replied. I didn’t understand at first that she was serious. She also didn’t get the joke. The “clown” chakra had been mentioned in her class the previous evening. Once I understood that she truly was 
having a hard time understanding, I tried to explain in more detail. In October 2007, I had the wonderful experience of having Mary Ann Geoffrey as my Level 3 instructor. During the class, she told a story about a student in a previous class of hers talking about the “clown” chakra. As Mary Ann was talking, an image came to me that I couldn’t ignore for much of the rest of that afternoon. In fact, it only left after I promised that I would do something about it.
The weekend after the class, I went to a craft store to purchase supplies, and shortly thereafter, Chakra Clown was born, complete with chakra indicators and coordinating attire. I mailed the doll to Mary Ann as a token of my thanks to her for all that she taught me in class. I thought that perhaps she would find it funny and set it aside. Never did I dream that it would go further than that, and was honored to read in her thank-you email that she said she wanted to take the doll to future classes.
The following year, as I prepared to go to my Level 4 class, there were several significant and stressful changes in my life. I realized that I needed some humor to help me deal with things, so I found a photo I had taken of the doll, and made a T-shirt with the picture on it. I brought the shirt to my Level 4 class and wore it.
Students in my class, as well as in the Level 5 class (which Mary Ann happened to be teaching at the same location) were curious about the background story, and several said that they would like shirts or dolls. I thought about the requests, but truly didn’t have the time to create the dolls for everyone, and said so.
I did wind up creating two more dolls for people who have been key figures in my journey toward certification. Each doll is hand-decorated, and unique, as it is made with the person in mind. It is a rather time-intensive effort and a gift from the heart. However, before I journeyed to my Level 5 class, I did make up a couple of T-shirts, intending to gift people with them. I was honored when one was used as an altar cloth, so to speak, in the Level 4 class that was meeting down the hall from us.
Bringing the shirts to Level 5 has indeed taken things to a higher level (pun intended); my instructor, classmates and many of the new HTPAs from the Level 4 class urged me – repeatedly – to market the shirts. (Yes, I have copyrighted it.) I am slowly coming around to that idea, as I had never intended Chakra Clown to be anything more than a personal gift to those who have touched my life deeply.
But how to explain this to a new Level 4 apprentice who wants to know where to measure the “clown” chakra? “Your ‘clown’ chakra is where ever you hold humor and joy in your body, but I’m not sure that a pendulum will measure its spin. It may be best measured by how often and how sincerely you laugh.”
About the author:
Sharona Ben-Sorek, RPT, HTP is a newly-minted Healing Touch Practitioner. As a physical therapist with over two decades of experience in many settings (from sports medicine to working with severely disabled children, and short-term rehabilitation to acute medical/surgical), she has learned the value of humor to help in the healing process. In fact, some of her most creative efforts spring from her somewhat off-center sense of humor. Currently, much of her Healing Touch work is done as a volunteer at DePaul Medical Center, as well as at community events in the Tidewater, Virginia region.