Chakra comes from the Sanskrit word cakra, meaning “wheel.” It’s a system of seven energy centers located along the spine. Each chakra corresponds to an area of the body, a set of behavioral characteristics, and stages of spiritual growth.
These seven chakras are associated with different parts of the body along the spine from your tailbone up to the crown of your head. Each chakra is linked to a particular body location, a color, an emotional or behavioral issue, as well as many other personal aspects including identity, goals, etc.
The seven chakras are:
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- Root Chakra, or Muladhara – base of the spine
- Sacral Chakra, or Svadhisthana – abdomen, genitals, lower back/hip
- Solar Plexus Chakra, or Manipura – above the navel
- Heart Chakra, or Anahata – chest
- Throat Chakra, or Vishuddha – throat
- Third Eye Chakra, or Ajna – in between eyebrows
- Crown Chakra, or Sahasrara – top of the head
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Chakra Healing
The art of chakra healing has been used for centuries to balance these energy centers in our bodies. We can use a number of different tools such as crystals, gemstones, or meditation during chakra balancing. The end result will be a physically healthier body and a happier, more peaceful you.
According to practitioners of chakra healing, we all have seven primary chakras that correspond with vital areas of our bodies and emotional and spiritual aspects of our lives.
For example, the first chakra is found at the base of the spine and is known as the root chakra. This chakra governs the spinal column, kidneys, legs, feet, rectum, and immune system. So, when this chakra is out of balance, it may lead to lower back pain, varicose veins, leg cramps, rectal conditions, depression, as well as immune-related disorders. A lack of balance in the root chakra may be caused by feelings of low self-esteem, insecurity, or family concerns.
In my case, the blockage was in my throat chakra, which manifested as hyperthyroidism, a thyroid disorder. It was related to self-expression and the imbalance was that I’ve had repressed emotions. I’ve had issues with communicating my thoughts and voicing my feelings.
There are several factors that may cause the blockage of a particular chakra. For instance, it could be a trapped emotion brought about by a traumatic incident. Or like most of us, having ingrained limiting beliefs that stop the “wheel” from spinning.
Each energy center must be vibrating at the proper frequency independent of one another in order for the entire body to vibrate in harmony. Therefore, each chakra is equally important to the optimal functioning of the body according to the chakra healing tradition.
Chakra Balancing
Through the movements and postures of yoga, you can learn to focus your concentration and energy on the various chakras in your body. This can allow you to compensate for areas that may be out of sync with the rest of your body. By balancing the energy among all seven of the chakras, the harmony within your body can be restored.
Since the chakras act as valves or pumps regulating the flow of energy through your system, controlled and purposeful movements such as yoga can be extremely beneficial in realigning your chakras in a way that can cause great benefits to you in your overall wellbeing.
Many other powerful tools can affect the vibration of the chakra, and that’s where chakra balancing comes into play. Chakra stones, the human voice, music, chants, mantras, and chakra meditation bring the frequency of the chakras back into proper vibrational alignment.
Because the chakras govern every organ and system in your body, chakra healing has far-reaching health implications. Chakra balancing can lead to improved heart, lung, brain, immune and digestive function and may also help with depression, anxiety, and other emotional imbalances.
Many believe that the chakras have the power to transform your life both physically and spiritually. It is only when our chakras are in sync that we can truly access higher levels of consciousness.
Chakra Meditation
Chakra meditation may also be used to open up your chakra centers and improve the flow of positive psychic energy in your body. During meditation, you simply concentrate on each of the chakras starting with the first one and working your way up to your crown chakra. By imagining the flow of energy from chakra to chakra, you are helping to remove blockages in each energy center that might be causing pain and disease.
In meditation we focus on the base center, bring a bright light up through each chakra to the crown center and back, taking deep breaths through our nose while focusing the light on each chakra.
It’s a wonderful way to cleanse your body of blockages. If one of your chakras is blocked, you will feel a strange sensation or an uneasy feeling. Just relax and continue focusing on that chakra until it starts to feel better.
When you do the meditation you need to be in a peaceful and quiet place. Sit with your feet on the ground and the palms of your hands facing up. Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths before you start so you can relax. Then visualize a bright light and begin your chakra meditation.
Chakra meditation helps to strengthen weak chakras and will benefit your health and happiness. If you need to recharge your body, mind, and soul, then using chakra meditation is an excellent way to revitalize you from the inside out.
How to Perform a Chakra Meditation
The first few times you practice chakra meditation, it’s helpful to practice with guided meditations, which are widely available on YouTube, Spotify, and other streaming platforms.
Start your meditation by sitting down comfortably in a quiet, dimly lit room. Make sure that your spine is straight, but not stiff. Close your eyes then take a deep breath and start to relax. Now, go through each chakra in turn…
- Starting with the root chakra: imagine you are drawing energy up from the earth, through the root chakra and that this energy is building up in the base of your spine.
- Then the sacral chakra: feel the concentration of energy building up around your navel and visualize a flow of warm lava out of this chakra center.
- Moving on to the solar plexus chakra: let your stomach muscles relax deeply and sense the movement of the energy through your diaphragm.
- Next is the heart chakra: imagine your heart getting stronger with every breath. See and feel a bright light radiating out from this area.
- Moving on to the throat chakra: breathe in deeply that it makes a bit of sound as you inhale. Then gradually relax your tongue, shoulders, and neck.
- For the 3rd eye chakra: keeping your eyes closed, focus on your “third eye” (the point between your eyebrows). Visualize this area even though your eyes are closed and observe what you are seeing.
- Finally, the crown chakra: visualize a beautiful lotus with a thousand petals blossoming from the tip of your head. As you visualize, see the color change from a deep violet to a brilliant white light.
Alternatively, since chakras are “wheels,” you can visualize each of the chakras like a spinning wheel. As you focus on each one, imagine the spinning motion getting faster and faster, turning their respective colors into radiant white light.
Repeat this process for each chakra in turn starting from the root chakra all the way up to the crown chakra until they form a singular line of pure white light, connecting heaven and earth. As above, so below.
This is a very powerful form of meditation that helps you to stabilize your body, and bring inner peace and harmony.
Chakra Affirmations
An easier yet powerful way of healing and balancing the chakras, and one that I’ve been personally doing for over a decade now, is using chakra affirmations.
Remember, chakras are energy centers that vibrate at a specific frequency. So they respond to our thoughts, which also emit vibrational frequencies. This is where positive affirmations come in.
When done regularly, it retrains our brains and reconditions our thinking patterns that align with the energy of the chakras, thus harmonizing them.
The Path to Awesomeness Starter Kit includes Daily AWEffirmations to do that exactly for you. The affirmations are accompanied by healing music specifically targeted to each chakra. All you have to do is plug in your earphones and listen.
And there you have it to get you started on healing your chakras, healing yourself.
Head over to Chakra Healing for an in-depth look at each of the seven chakras and other self-healing techniques you can incorporate to keep the “wheels” in healthy motion.
