What are the 7 Chakras?
Chakra is a Sanskrit word meaning spinning wheel and the ancient yogis believed that we all have an invisible, energetic system made up seven energy centres located along the spine. Each chakra corresponds to an area of the body, a colour, an area of mental, physical and emotional health and stages of spiritual growth.
Where are the chakras?
There are seven main chakras, each associated with a different part of the body, situated along the spine from the perineum to the crown of your head. Some people believe there are other chakras, such as the soul star chakra above your head and the earth star chakra below your feet.
Each of the 7 chakras is associated with a particular body location, a colour, a central mental, emotional or physical state, as well as many other personal aspects including identity, goals, confidence, power and so on.
What are the Chakras called?
The seven chakras are:
- Base Chakra (Muladhara)- base of the spine (Colour is Red)
- Sacral Chakra (Svadhisthana)- abdomen, genitals, lower back/hip (Colour is Orange)
- Solar Plexus Chakra (Manipura)- in between ribs and naval (Colour is Yellow)
- Heart Chakra (Anahata) – heart area (Colour is Green and sometimes Pink)
- Throat Chakra (Vishuddha) – throat (Colour is Blue)
- Brow or Third Eye Chakra(Ajna)- brow (Colour is Indigo)
- Crown Chakra (Sahasrara)- top of head, cerebral cortex. (Colour is Violet)
How can we balance the chakras?
Practicing yoga can help you to align your chakras and get all the wheels spinning in the same direction and speed. You can also get this effect by practicing meditation and by using various tools to balance each chakra. Understanding how to fine tune and control your chakras, through yoga, meditation and other means, can help bring balance and peace to your mind, body and spirit.
Through the movements and postures of yoga, you can learn to focus your concentration and energy to and from 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, or not active at all. By balancing the energy among all seven of the chakras, balance can be achieved. You can do this by focusing your breath on each part of your body when doing the asanas (movements and postures).
This spiritual energy is known as Kundalini energy. In its dormant state, it can be visualized as a coiled-up snake resting at the base of your spine, the Muladhara chakra. 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 physical and emotional wellbeing.
Yoga is one of the best ways to balance your chakras as it is a moving meditation and each asana has benefits for certain parts of the body that are related to the 7 chakras. Guided meditations using colour breathing can also help balance the chakras as you imagine the colour that relates to each chakra becoming clearer and brighter as you imagine this colour as a beautiful spinning wheel. Each chakra vibrates at a different level with the lower chakras vibrating much slower as they are grounding chakras relating to real-life issues of security and confidence, whereas the higher chakras vibrate much faster as they are related to more spiritual matters. When you have issues in your life, it may be because of a blocked chakra.
If you want to find out more – check out my Chakra Balancing Practitioner Course here