October is the season of Chakras for ESPA. Celebrate the colour, meaning and purpose of each of your seven chakras, and learn how to live a more balanced and meaningful life. This guide is for total beginners to the world of chakras, keep reading to discover more about these powerful energies.
What are Chakras?
The word “chakra”, from Sanskrit translates to “wheel” or “disk”. Chakras are a spiritual energy centre within the human body, there are seven chakras which run along the spine, through the neck and head. If one of your chakras is blocked or misaligned, your wellbeing and perhaps even your physical health will be affected.
What is the purpose of Chakras?
Each of your seven chakras corresponds to a specific organ in the body, as well as physical, emotional, psychological, emotional, and spiritual states you experience during your life. Your chakras translate spiritual energy and manifest it into a physical experience.
How do you know if your Chakras are misaligned?
It is common to experience misaligned chakras, which can cause you to experience anxiety, a lack of creativity, low self-esteem amongst other negative feelings. If you are feeling a little down, seem to be struggling more than usual, or feeling emotional and you are unsure why, delve into the world of Chakras and unearth a restored version of yourself.
Discover the Root Chakra
The first chakra in your body is the Root chakra, located at the base of your spine near the coccyx. It symbolises your sense of security and grounding in your life and is connected to whatever essentials you require to ground yourself. E.g. food, water, safety, and your emotional needs. When your root chakra is blocked, you can experience anxiety, fear, daydreaming or feeling like your “head is in the clouds”. This blockage can also be associated with problems in the lower back or bladder.
When this chakra is balanced, you will feel a sense of serenity and peace when you think about your financial/living situation, anything that is essential to your happiness.
Discover the Sacral Chakra
The second chakra is the Sacral chakra, located just above the navel. It is responsible for our creative energies and has the element of water attached to it. It allows you to feel pleasure and passion, by aligning this chakra your body and your energy should feel natural and fluid. When your sacral chakra is misaligned, you could feel uninspired or unstable, fearing change, or notice that you are frequenting doing activities that aren’t nourishing for your mind or body.
When your sacral chakra is balances, you will be able to enjoy things in life without overdoing it, avoiding things like addiction or gluttony.
Discover the Solar Plexus Chakra
The third chakra is your Solar Plexus chakra, located at the base of your ribcage. It is the source of your personal power, willpower and self-esteem. This could be linked to your “gut feeling” about something. If your solar plexus chakra is blocked, you could feel low, suffer from procrastination or struggle to be decisive. This could potentially manifest itself as digestive trouble as well.
When the solar plexus chakra is balanced, you will feel a sense of power and wisdom, and experience the ability to be decisive. Many call this chakra the “warrior chakra”, with the confidence and wisdom to win. However, this chakra can become overactive which can cause micromanaging tendencies, a lack of compassion and the need to control.
Discover the Heart Chakra
The central chakra, located in the centre of your chest. This represents a union between the physical and the spiritual energies, and the higher and lower chakras in the body. It is about loving, forgiving and being compassionate, sending out good vibes into the universe. A closed heart chakra can lead to anger, jealousy or holding grudges. Holding onto hurt feelings can cause a downward spiral which leads to further unhappiness, so it is of paramount importance that you keep your heart chakra aligned.
When your heart chakra is balances, you are able to equally feel love for yourself and others, and can always see the best in people. However, this chakra can become overactive, which can lead us to lose our sense of boundaries in the quest for love and affection.
Discover the Throat Chakra
Your fifth chakra is located in your throat and ensures that your inner truths are eloquently communicated. It is linked to your ability to communicate and express yourself with clarity. It is the first of the 3 spiritual chakras. The first 3 are in your lower body and manifest themselves in your body in a physical way. If your throat chakra is blocked, you will find it hard to listen and stay focused and fear judgement. Have you ever tried to defend yourself and become choked up with a sore throat? This chakra, if misaligned, can cause a sore throat or stiffness. This chakra can also become overactive, which can lead you to interrupt or talk over people.
When your throat chakra is balanced, you will be able to speak clearly with truth and kindness and know the best thing to say in any situation. This will help you to inspire those around you.
Discover the Third Eye Chakra
This is your sixth chakra and is located between your eyebrows. It governs your natural intuition, allowing you to see clearly through drama. When it is blocked, you may struggle to recall facts, access your intuition and trusting your judgement. If your lower chakras are also misaligned, your third eye chakra will become so as well, possibly causing you to become more judgemental and introverted. Physically, the third eye chakra being unbalanced can cause headaches.
When your third eye chakra is balances, you will feel in tune with both the physical and the metaphysical world. However, it can become unbalanced and lead you to focus more time engrossed in astrology, horoscopes, paranormal experiences, things linked with psychic activities. This will eventually become overwhelming and distract from your human experience.
Discover the Crown Chakra
This chakra is located at the top of your head and when properly aligned, can help you to become more aware of the greater picture in life. More conscious of issues and feelings, and more spiritually connected. When unbalanced, the crown chakra could cause feelings of isolation or being disconnected. Unlike other chakras, the crown chakra is often opened fully only through yoga or meditation. This means that you can only be fully aligned with all chakras at certain points when undergoing these practises, not as an everyday occurrence.
A balanced crown chakra is the goal of every spiritual warrior, as it is not an easy thing to do. It is the journey to achieve this that brings happiness and wisdom, also aligning your other chakras. As this chakra is achieving universal conscious energy, it cannot be overactive. An under-active crown chakra is normal and natural, most people have it. Practising spiritual development will bring you closer to harmonious chakras.
How do I balance my chakras?
To balance your root chakra, focus on your connection to your spirit. Pray or meditate for a few moments daily, or you could volunteer or perform random acts of kindness. This guides overactive energies away and humbles you. Reconnect yourself with the earth, the very thing that physically grounds you by spending time outside, gardening or going for a walk.
To balance your sacral chakra, ask yourself a simple question before any action. “Is what I am about to do, good for me?”, and assess the benefits of your actions. Enjoy life more and spend time doing more activities that you find fun and enjoyable.
To balance your solar plexus chakra, think of all the things you are good at and make a list of them. Bask in the confidence you feel once reading back over your skills, and be empowered by that feeling. Create your own personal affirmations and begin a daily practise of telling yourself how talented you are.
To balance your heart chakra, focus on giving yourself some self-love. Take a relaxing bath, or treat yourself to a massage or facial.
To balance your throat chakra, think before you speak. As yourself, “is this true, necessary or kind?”.
To balance your third eye chakra, remind yourself of your human experience. If you have an overactive chakra, feel the sand in the toes, the mud in the garden, and connect your body to earth. If your chakra is under-active, focus on solitary meditation. Listen to your spirit and signals calling you that are outside of your physical body.
Using Chakra stones
Chakra stones are a powerful tool to align your chakras, the energy of the crystals combined with the energy of our bodies combine to affect both our mental and physical wellbeing. Place the stones on your body where each of the corresponding chakras lies.
- The Root Chakra – Hematite, Black Onyx and Smokey Quartz
- The Sacral Chakra – Tigers’ Eye and Sunstone
- The Solar Plexus Chakra – Jasper and Pyrite
- The Heart Chakra – Rose Quartz and Aventurine
- The Throat Chakra – Aquamarine and Sodalite
- The Third Eye Chakra – Amethyst, Fluorite and Lolite
- The Crown Chakra – Clear quartz, Amethyst and Moonstone
Incorporate chakra stones into your every day life, sleep with them under your pillow, keep them in your handbag or wear them as jewellery to dispel negative energy and promote positivity, wherever you go.
Make sure you also refresh and cleanse your stones between uses, as the stones absorb bad energies.
Thank you for reading.