Sounds strange, doesn’t it? But Chakra (cakra in Sanskrit) means disk or wheel and were found in the Vedas, (a large body of religious texts originating in India) in the early traditions of Hinduism, between 1500 to 500 BCE. They are said to be shaped like flowers with many petals and are thought to be spinning disks of energy in specific parts of your body. The petals are associated with unique alphabetical sounds (phonemes) of the Sanskrit language. The vibration of each individual sound opens them up and the higher the frequency, the more in line they will be. It’s important that they stay open and aligned, as they correspond to bundles of nerves, major organs, and areas of your energetic body that affect your emotional and physical well-being. Their numerous focal points are used in a variety of ancient meditation practices, collectively denominated as Tantra, the esoteric or inner traditions of Hinduism. There are 114 different chakras in your body but I’m only going to touch on the seven main ones which are situated in your central channel. This channel runs from the base of your spine to the crown of your head, and each chakra with its different amount of petals, some facing upwards and some downwards has a specific place inside it. But I’m going to keep it simple and only talk about the specific place, and colour.
THE SEVEN MAIN CHAKRAS:
The root chakra – Muladhara
This is the first and primary chakra, believed to be red in colour, located at the base of your spine, and represents the earth element. It is thought to affect how you connect to the world and control’s your feelings of survival, ambition, dependency, and stability. As the primary source of energy, its unbalance can lead to feelings of deep fear and insecurity that harm your drive to succeed, causing feelings of frustration and lack of purpose. When the root chakra is balanced, it is thought to create feelings of security, positivity, energy, independence, and strength.
The sacral chakra – Svadhishthana
This second chakra is believed to be orange in colour, located below the navel and represents the water element. It is considered to be responsible for sexuality, creativity, intuitiveness, self-worth, compassion, and adaptability. When it is unstable, it’s thought to cause emotional outbursts, a lack of creativity, and sex-obsessed thoughts.
The solar plexus chakra –Manipura
This third chakra also called the city of jewels, is believed to be yellow in colour, found at the solar plexus, between the ribcage and the navel, and represents the fire element. It is considered to be the centre of self-esteem and emotions like ego, anger, and aggression. It is thought to present itself on a physical level through, liver problems, or diabetes. On an emotional level, if the solar plexus chakra is imbalanced, it is believed to cause feelings of low self-esteem. When it’s balanced, it would become a source of energy, productivity, and confidence.
The heart chakra –Anahata
This fourth chakra is believed to be green in colour, found at the heart, and lies in the middle of the cardiovascular system, and represents air. It directly affects the heart, lungs, chest, arms and hands, and connects the lower chakras to the higher ones. It is considered a link to compassion, trust, passion, and love for self and others. When it is out of balance, it is believed to cause anger, lack of trust, anxiety, jealousy, fear, and moodiness. An overactive heart chakra is thought to lead to high blood pressure, heart palpitations, and heart problems.
The throat chakra – Vishuddha
This fifth chakra is believed to be blue in colour, found at the throat and represents ether or space. It is thought to control the neck, mouth, tongue, and other parts of the throat area. It is tied to self-expression, communication, and confidence. Balancing the throat chakra is believed to regulate the flow of hormones and help inner thoughts to be spoken positively.
The third eye chakra –Ajna
This sixth chakra is the third eye or Ajna and is believed to be indigo in colour, set between the eyebrows, and has no elemental association. Often used as a focal point, it is believed to control your intellect, intuition, wisdom, and spiritual power. According to this belief system, an open and balanced third eye chakra allows you to notice the connections in this world and beyond. An underactive third eye chakra is thought to manifest as a headache, a migraine, or blurry vision. When balanced it is believed to free you from earthly attachments.
The crown chakra –Sahastrara
The seventh chakra is at the top of the head, is believed to be white or purple in colour and is the highest of the seven main chakras. It is also known as the “thousand petal lotus” chakra and is considered the most spiritual of the central chakras because it is tied to inner wisdom and the cosmos. Opening the crown chakra is believed to connect a person to their higher self since it’s the place of spirituality, enlightenment, and energetic thoughts. . When unbalanced, the crown chakra is thought to influence depression, disconnection from the outside world, frustration, and destructive emotions.
In this article, I will explain a simple but effective way to get in touch with all seven chakras.
- Finding a quiet place to sit, in nature would be ideal but a quiet, well-ventilated room will also be fine. Make sure you are wearing loose-fitting clothes, and then sit cross-legged. If this is not possible just sit in a comfortable position, on a chair or lay down. Most impotant is that your back is straight.
- Close your eyes, take a deep, steady breath in through your nose, and as you exhale, let everything go and relax fully.
- Follow your natural breath for a few minutes,and allow your mind to go inside your body as your breath moves through it.
- Gently shift your attention to the bottom of the spine and visulise your central channel with a red spinning ball of energy. If you feel adventurous you could even visualise this ball of energy as a wheel or a red lotus flower with vibrating petals.
- Imagine it vibrating more and more ferocity as you breathe into it, and allow it to hum.
- Stay with this visualisation for as long as you can, keeping the light spinning and humming while you breathe into it.
- Slowly move up to the next chakra changing to that chakras colour, and doing the same visualisation. Stay with the visualisation for as long as you can.
- Continue through all the chakras, changing to their colour until you reach the crown chakra at the top of your head.
- Rest here as long as you can, keeping your breath normal and relaxed, as you start to feel the new sensations all over your body.
- When you feel the sesson is over, give love and gratitude to yourself for creating time to do this meditation.
- Gently open your eyes and enjoy the new way you see the world and feel connected to the universe.
Have a great day.
