Enhance Your Spiritual Energy By Learning About The Seven Chakras & Their Meanings
Chakras are the energy centers of the body. They are responsible for generating and distributing the ultimate pure healing energy or life energy, which is also known as Praana or Qi.
The chakras are located at seven specific points on the spinal column. Each one relates to specific emotional, spiritual, physical, and psychological aspects of our being. The 3 lower chakras are associated with Earthly matters such as survival, sex, and power. The top 3 chakras are associated with truth, purpose, intuition, and higher consciousness. The chakra in the middle bridges the two different worlds with love, compassion, and empathy.
A malfunction or blockage in the chakras can manifest as various mental, emotional, or physical disorders. Being consciously aware of these energy centers and learning to balance them is the key to good health and well-being.
The conscious awareness and the balancing of these energy centers on the other hand is believed to lead to well-being and good health.
First Chakra – The Root or Muladhara Chakra
Located at the base of the spine between the bladder and the colon, the Muladhara Chakra is associated with our basic needs such as security, self-sufficiency, stability, and ambition. It influences our vitality, passion, creativity, and above all, our basic survival instincts.
When the Root chakra is open and flowing properly, we feel confident, energetic, purposeful, fearless and safe. It invokes feeling of enthusiasm, happiness, and an unbounded zest for life. When this chakra is blocked or out of balance, we feel unstable, fearful, frustrated and ungrounded. It invokes feelings of insecurity, lack of purpose, and lack of interest in life.
The Root chakra is represented by the color red.
Second Chakra – The Sacral or Svadhisthana Chakra
Located between the public bone and the navel, the Svadhisthana chakra is our creativity and sexual center. It influences our ability to be joyful, creative, passionate, and compassionate. It also influences our sexuality and desires.
When the Sacral chakra is balanced and harmonious, we feel creative, satisfied, positive, intuitive, and compassionate. Our sexual desires have a joyful, positive quality. When this chakra is blocked or out of balance, we get into a creative slump and feel irritable, listless, and manipulative. We may be obsessed with sexual thoughts that have a negative connotation.
The Sacral chakra is represented by the color orange.
Third Chakra – The Solar Plexus or Manipura Chakra
The Manipura chakra is located between the navel and the breastbone and is our source of personal power. Considered one of the most powerful chakras, it influences our personal abilities and powers as well as our success in both the personal and professional spheres.
When the Solar Plexus chakra is flowing properly and balanced, we feel focused, energetic, productive, and confident in our abilities. When it is blocked or imbalanced, our negative emotions such as anger, aggression, jealousy, and lack of self-esteem work to sabotage our professional success and personal happiness.
The Manipura chakra is represented by the color yellow.
Fourth Chakra: The Heart or Anahata Chakra
Located at the heart right in the middle of the 7 chakras, the Anahata Chakra is the seat of balance within the body. It acts as a bridge between our body and mind, which is reflected in the lower three chakras and our emotions and spirit, which is reflected in the upper three chakras. This chakra has a major influence on our personal and professional relationships.
When the energy is moving up through the heart chakra, we feel more optimistic, understanding, compassionate and loving. The feelings are not towards any one person or think in particular but just a general acceptance of life. When the heart chakra is blocked or out of balance, we may struggle with feelings of anxiety, fear, jealousy, anger, and distrust.
The Anahata chakra is represented by the color green.
Fifth Chakra – The Throat or Vishuddha Chakra
The Vishuddha chakra, located at the base of the throat, is our source of verbal expression. It represents our true inner voice and the ability to speak our highest truth. This chakra influences our ability to communicate with ourselves and with others – to truly listen and empathize.
When the Throat chakra is in harmonious balance, it manifests through a profound sense of gratitude, appreciation, positive self-expression and deep-seated satisfaction. When blocked or unbalanced, we may feel restless, timid, unappreciative of things and generally unsatisfied and unable to express our thoughts and feelings.
The Vishuddha chakra is represented by bright blue.
Sixth Chakra – The Third Eye or Ajna Chakra
Located between the eyebrows, the Ajna chakra is our center of insight and intuition. It is associated with our sense of intelligence, understanding, and self-knowledge. This chakra influences our ability to rationalize and use logic to reach sensible conclusions.
Every one of us has an innate sense of intuition but most times we just ignore its messages and warnings. Opening the Third Eye chakra can help us hone this ability and be more aware of our surroundings, both on physical and subtle levels. An unbalanced Ajna chakra can cause two diametrically opposite results – non-assertiveness at one end and egotistical at the other. On a physical level we may experience blurry vision and headaches.
The Ajna chakra is represented by the color indigo.
Seventh Chakra – The Crown or Sahasrara Chakra
The Sahasrara chakra is also known as the ‘thousand petal lotus’. Located at the crown of the head, it is the gateway to The Universe and is associated with enlightenment, higher thought, and spirituality.
When balanced and flowing freely, the Crown chakra facilitates the inward flow of wisdom. It heightens our spiritual consciousness and provides us with that wonderful spark of joy that makes life worth living. We feel spiritually connected to our higher selves and to others, and ultimately to the divine. When blocked or out of balance, we may experience a persistent sense of frustration and destructive feelings.
The Sahastrara chakra is represented by the color white.
It’s only when we are successful in bringing our energy and awareness from the Root Chakra all the way up to the Crown chakra that we are able to experience great bliss and spiritual freedom. This can be achieved through various means including asanas, meditation, and yoga.
Written By Diana D'Souza