Cords are energetic links between two people arising from interaction and communication. We may have a single energetic thread to a clerk at a store who helped us check out one time. We have many energetic threads to those closest to us, such as spouses, family members, coworkers and good friends. Through repeated encounters over time, the threads grow and strengthen, fusing into cords.
While cords are primarily to other people, they can also connect us to pets, a location such as our childhood home or a favorite spot in nature, or an institution such as a church or place of employment.
Cords in themselves are neither good nor bad. We form cords through the very nature of being human. Going through life without cords would signal a complete lack of feeling or attachment to anything.
If we were to visualize a cord, it might look like a rope or a strand of yarn running between us and the other person. Although cords can attach anywhere on our body, they will often be found in our chakras. Chakras are spinning vortexes of energy in our luminous field that help us assimilate the sensory input coming our way. The heart chakra, for instance, helps us experience love and compassion. We have cords in our heart chakra to everyone we love. The sixth chakra, or third eye, helps us access our intuition. A cord in the center of our forehead will somehow affect or interfere with our intuitive abilities.
We may have multiple cords to a person. For example, a mother is corded to her offspring in numerous places. Mothers and children have a natural biological connection in their navel and second chakras through the umbilical cord which sustained life during gestation. They would likely have a heart connection, indicating the mother-child bond.
Cords between people mirror the relationship, so depending on the circumstances, our cords to others may be healthy or unhealthy. If the mother in our example is a loving woman who provides nurturing and food and promptly changes dirty diapers, any cords between mother and child in the root chakra (the chakra connected to basic needs) would be healthy cords. As the child grows up, if the mother attempts to exert control through manipulation and guilt, there may be unhealthy cords in the third chakra (the will center).
When cords are unhealthy, they can result in a number of challenging circumstances:
· They can drain us of our energy or will.
· They can tie us in place to a relationship, job or dysfunctional situation that no longer serves us.
· They may cause physical pain where they attach on the body.
· They may represent a weak spot where heavy or intrusive energy may attach to our luminous field or enter our body.
· They allow us to take on the pain and suffering of the other person.
· They keep outdated agreements that no longer serve us alive and energized.
· They can keep intuitive connections open and active to people we no longer want in our lives.
If we experience any of the symptoms on the list above, we would examine our cords. Where we find old cords to ex-spouses, lovers, friends or business partners no longer in our lives, we may need to decord, particularly if the relationship ended acrimoniously. Where we find unhealthy cords to people active in our lives, we might decord and set new boundaries. We would remain mindful of our agreements and set our intention to re-establish healthier cords in future interactions.
There are many ways to work with cords, including self-guided meditations. In cases involving heavy energy or coercion, we can seek support from a shamanic practitioner to release the cords. To be effective, whatever method used should address the root of the cord. If we release the entire cord, including the tendrils of energy reaching into our body and energy field like roots, the cord is less likely to grow back in its previous unhealthy state. And to be effective, we also want to identify and shift the underlying agreements enabling the original cord.
As we bring awareness to our cords and release those that no longer serve us, the ties binding us in place to unhealthy agreements and relationships are gone. We are freer to move forward from a place of our centeredness and authentic power.