WHAT ARE CHAKRAS?

This guide about chakras for beginners will help you learn about your energy points  and how they affect each of us.  Learning about these energy points could certainly help you feel your best.  Let’s take a look.

Most of us have been told that our bodies are mostly made up of water and oxygen.  While this may be true, its not the whole picture.  We have another component that scientist are just getting started on learning about and that’s energy.

Each of us also has our own energetic body.  This energetic part of us has seven main energy centers.  For us to really feel healthy, our physical body and energetic body must be working together.

In this guide, I want to give you a basic overview of what a chakras is, how each individual chakra regulates and influences us in reference to our body, mind and soul and how each of these energy centers can help you feel your best.

Subtle Energy

Chakras are seven subtle energy, focal points or energy centers in our bodies—that can be felt, but not seen.  It’s most commonly believed that these main energy points are located in the body, right in front of your spine.

They run from the base of our spines to just above our heads.  Each of these chakras governs the area around them.  For instance, the root chakra is found at the base of the spine.  So it takes care of the pelvic floor, the bottom of your seat, and even your legs and feet.

“Chakra” is a Sanskrit term and it means “wheel” or “disk”.  So, simply put, these spots in our bodies are spinning centers of energy and/or light.

Since these energy centers or vortexes reflect our spirtual, physical and emotions state, if one of our chakras is not balanced, our system feels it.  It feels like something is off.  We may not always know what is off, but we don’t quite feel ourselves.

WHAT DO THESE CHAKRAS DO?

Our energy centers have the job of taking in energy, blending that energy within us and releasing the energy.  This helps to keep us functioning at our best.  Some also consider them the blueprint for our own self-care.

Chakras trigger physical, mental and emotional energies in our bodies.  When our Chakras are balanced, we feel good in our minds, body and spirit.

However, if even one of our chakras are unbalanced or “blocked”, this stops the energy from flowing freely through our bodies.  Therefore, your body is unable to release the negative energy that our chakras keep at bay.  This negative energy comes about or results from emotional challenges you may be feeling and/or any traumatic experience you may have gone through.

Our chakras are responsible for keeping us going at optimal levels.  When one of our chakras is out of balance or blocked, we are more likely to get sick.  Chakras work much like the rest of our body.  If we don’t supply good nutrition, we get sluggish.

When we don’t acknowledge our feelings of anger or depression or do not speak our truths, we are blocking healthy energy flow for our chakras. 

Mindvalley is another good site on your chakras if you would like more information.

HOW DO THESE CHAKRAS AFFECT US?

Our chakras are focal energy centers in our bodies.  There are four components to keeping good flow of energy through our chakras to keep us vibrant and healthy.

These invisible wheels of healing energy are called Prana. “Our vital life force.”   We have to work on our emotional, mental, physical and spiritual selves.

Some ways to do this include, yoga, meditation and clearing out the clutter in our lives; mentally and physically.

Each chakra corresponds to specific organs and body systems in our bodies.  Just as physical elements affect your well-being, so do your emotions and spiritual state, at any given time.

When you have an untreated, blocked chakra, you can find yourself leaning toward illnesses in your physical body and/or emotional challenges.  This is why we need to make sure all our chakras are balanced.  We don’t want to become ill in anyway because we didn’t do some self-care on ourselves to ensure we are feeling our best.

HOW TO KNOW WHICH CHAKRA IS OUT OF BALANCE

To be able to restore balance in each of your chakras, first you have to be able to figure out which chakra is causing the imbalance.  It’s like trying to fix a car before you know what part is broke.

You need to learn about each chakra, what it affects, how that translates to effecting you and then what to do about it.  And remember, when one chakra is off balance, it can affect the others.

For instance, when you have low energy—target your navel (sacral) chakra to get your fire going again.  When feeling anxious about something, try grounding with your root chakra.

Do you have a friend you want to have a heart to heart with; make sure your throat chakra is in balanced.

LET’S LEARN ABOUT  OUR CHAKRAS, ONE BY ONE

With chakras, we start at the bottom and work our way up.  The first three start at the base of the spine and are chakras of matter.  These base chakras are more physical in nature.

ROOT CHAKRA

Color:  Red

Element:  Earth

Message:  Physical, “I exist”, Self Preservation

Physical Connection:  Reproductive Glands, adrenals, spine, kidneys, immune system

Mental & Physical Connection:  Family, ability to provide, stand up for yourself

Crystal:  Black tourmaline, black obisdian, smoky quartz, garnet

The Root Chakra is the foundation for our bodies.  It keeps everything connected; stable; supportive and sturdy are descriptive of this chakra, as long as it’s functioning properly.

It is found at the base of the spine and is associated with the earth.

This chakra is responsible for our individual sense of security and survival.  Our root chakra is connected to our basic needs such as water, food, shelter, safety and whatever is used to ground yourself.

Being connected to our safety, the root chakra is also connected to our emotional needs such as letting go of our fears and feeling safe.  We worry less when all these needs are met.

Signs of Imbalance:  Constantly feeling fatiqued or exhausted, lower back pain, arthritis, and low self-esteem.

SACRAL CHAKRA

Color:  Orange

Element:  Water

Message:  Emotional, “I desire”, Self Gratification

Physical Connection:  Testes/Ovaries, Sexual Organs, Pelvis, Bladder and Hip Area

Mental and Emotional Connection:  Creativity, honor, blame, guilt, money, power, control and sex

Crystal:   Carnelian, turquoise, fluorite, copper, imperial topaz

This chakra is located just below the navel and is responsible for our sensuality, sexuality, creative energies and pleasure.  It is also the center of our emotional well-being and feelings.

When this chakra is balanced and aligned you will feel passionate, well, friendly and have an abundance of pleasure and happiness.

When we keep our energy up and fluid, within sacral chakra, we honor our body and can express ourselves freely.  You are able to claim your dreams and how you desire to live.

Signs of imbalance:  Infertility, kidney problems, urinary tract problems, no creativity and feelings of despair.

SOLAR PLEXUS

Color:  Yellow

Element:  Fire

Message:  Ego, “I control”, Self-Definition

Physical Connection:  Pancreas, adrenals, digestive organs, parts of kidney

Mental & Emotional Connection:  Self-esteem, fear, personal power, self-criticism, confidence

Crystal:  Amber, citrine, tigers eye, yellow jasper

Our third chakra houses our belief systems that define our self-worth.

Our solar plexus chakra is the source of our personal power in the world along with willpower, self-esteem and commitment.  It is our action and balance chakra and rules over things digestive and metabolic.

This chakra is located between your navel and ribcage where digestion takes place.  When this chakra is balanced you will feel your power and control your destiny and happiness.

Signs of Imbalance:  Digestive problems, anger, difficulty finishing taskes and feelings of helplessness.

MIDDLE CHAKRA

This next chakra is our middle chakra and is the connection between our lower chakras (matter) and our upper chakras (spirit).  It’s considered spiritual, but is also a bridge between our body, mind, emotions, and spirit.

Working through and healing our bottom three chakras also contributes to the well-being of the other chakras.

I’ve got a post about how to use the Law of Attraction to make your life better.  This would also help to feel more yourself.

HEART CHAKRA

Color:  Green and pink

Element:  Air

Message:  Social, “I love”, Self Acceptance

Physical Connection:  Thymus, circulation, breasts, lungs, shoulders, arms and ribs

Mental & Emotional Connection:  Self-centeredness, relationship/healing, resentment, forgiveness and compassion

Crystal:  Rose quartz, malachite, jade, green aventurine, rosasite

Our heart chakra is our central chakra and is located in the center of our chest; the energy from this chakra should flow freely for others and for yourself.    Learn to be brave enough to love yourself.  Only then can you freely give others love.

This chakra is where our physical and spiritual selves meet.  The heart chakra is all about forgiveness, spiritual awareness, service and love.

When balanced, you feel love and compassion in abundance, both giving and receiving.  Appreciating beauty and nature helps your heart chakra stay balanced. Always be open to the love that is available around you and that you share with others.

Signs of Imbalance:  Problems with heart and lungs, high blood pressure, asthma, heartbroken along with trouble and difficulty staying in relationships.

THROAT CHAKRA

Color:  Blue

Element:  Ether

Message:  Creativity, “I express”, Self Expression

Physical Connection:  Thyroid, jaw, neck, mouth, tongue and larynx, lymph system

Mental & Emotional Connection:  Strong will, personal expression and power, addiction and judgment, perception and discrimination

Crystal:  Blue Kyanite, angelite, amazonite, aquamarine

If you are someone that rarely has trouble saying how you feel, then your throat chakra is probably spot on.  This chakra is our communication center and about speaking your inner self truths and rules over all communication both for your self-talk and to others.

Your throat chakra is the first of our three spiritual chakras.  When balanced this chakra helps us to listen fully and speak and express ourselves clearly.

Signs of Imbalance:  Problems with your neck, shoulders and thyroid, sore throat and difficulty showing/expressing feelings. 

THIRD EYE

Color:  Indigo

Element:  Light

Message:  Archetypical, “I am the witness”, Self reflection

Physical Connection:  Governs our pituitary gland, eyes, head and lower parts of the brain, nervous system

Mental & Emotional Connection:  Truth, emotional intelligence, self-evaluation, vision, learning from experiences

Crystals:  Lapis lazuli, azurite, tanzanite

Located right between your eyebrows, the third eye rules our intuition and our ability to recognize and then tap into our intuition.  Somewhere along the centuries we stopped paying close attention to our intuition.

This is the chakra that helps us cut through all the BS that may be going on around us and see the clear picture instead.  Listen to your thoughts and stay open to your inner guidance.   It takes practice but is well worth it.

Signs of imbalance:  You may have or get migraines, poor vision and have nightmares.  And you may have difficulty thinking.

CROWN CHAKRA

Color:  Violet or violet-white

Element:  Cosmic Energy

Message:  Universal, “I am that I am”, Self-Knowledge

Physical Connection:  Pineal gland, muscular system, skeletal system and skin

Mental & Emotional Connection:  Faith, ethics, values, trust life, courage, selflessness, spirituality

Crystal:  Amethyst, quartz crystal, herkimer diamond, white topaz, selenite

This chakra is located just above the crown of our head and is considered the center of our enlightenment and is our spiritual connection to our inner selves and to the Divine.

Connects us to the energy and university around us.  When aligned we feel awareness, consciousness, undivided and very expansive.

Signs of Imbalance:  Bad memory, difficulty sleeping, anxiety and depression.

Need a personal space just for you?  Learn how to put one together that is all about you!

WAY TO BALANCE YOUR CHAKRAS

Each of our chakras is very different, so you really need to look at each individually when trying to determine which needs attention due to imbalance or blockage.  But there are a few things you can do to help keep the imbalances at a minimum and to help unblocking your chakras.

Reiki is a old form of energy healing.  It can help release energy blockages and restore your emotional, mental and spiritual health.  Reiki is usually done by a Reiki practitioner or Reiki Master and a session doesn’t take that long.

Usually, in under an hour, a practitioner can totally unblock any of your imbalanced chakras and restore harmony.  They do this by calling on universal Divine energy and then share this energy with you over different parts of your body.  This is done by laying their hands on the areas where your chakras are located or by holding their hands just above these energy centers.

Himalayan Salt

This is a natural rock salt that has a pinkish/light orange tint to it due to its mineral impurities.  You can also find this salt in white, red, orange and grey.  Any of these colors has the ability to unblock your chakras and restore balance.  This is due to the high mineral content that helps to increase your energy vibration.

This type of salt has the capacity to help balance your chakras because of the salts naturally high vibration.  With frequent use of salt lamps, salt blocks and candle holders, your body and space will begin to feel clearer and refreshed.

A himalayan salt lamp will also release negative ions into the room.  This counteracts positive ions that collect in the room from the electronic devices that are around.

There is no scientific proof of this yet, so how do you know it’s working?  Just like with any type of energy—you feel it.

Think about a time when you have walked into a room and felt the tense energy and vibes from the other people there.  You can’t see anything specific, but you certainly know something is off or wrong with the energy in that room.

The “knowing” comes from your intuition and you’re feeling of the energy.  This is how it works with our energy centers and how we balance them.

Salt Lamp

When you turn on a himalayan salt lamp in a room, it purifies the room by attracting the water, dust, pollen and bad energy.  Try it sometime.  Get a himalyan salt lamp and turn it on in a room that you are goind to be in for an extended amount of time.  If you are tuned into your body, you should “feel” the difference.

Visiting a salt spa clears out the low vibrational energy from your chakras.  But you must also remember to drink plenty of water to help with the “release” process that takes place.

Cooking with himalayan salt will also provide your body with the extra minerals that your body needs to balance electrolytes, but this method will not affect your chakras.  The extra minerals are just good for your body.

Meditation

Regular meditation practice has many benefits (see Meditation for Beginners) and helping to keep your energies balanced is one of those benefits.  Meditation raises your vibration and in turn helps with balancing your chakras.

FINAL THOUGHTS

You may be someone that doesn’t believe in alternatives to the sciences we all know.  However, there are so many things we don’t know about in our universe that it may be worth looking at those alternatives once again.

Learning about our chakras and alternative, natural health benefits may just help you feel better when you can’t quite figure out what is wrong.

Give learning about your personal energy points a try and see if that helps.  My post coming next week will be about how to heal these unbalanced energy points.

You may be surprised at how easy it is to help yourself feel better physically, mentally and emotionally.

Stay Awesome

Cher

If you enjoyed my post, pin it and share it—it would be a wonderful compliment!!

Check out some of my other posts to the right!