What are the Chakras?

Deep down each one of us knows that we are more than merely a body. We feel our own essence – and the essence of others – underneath our physical forms. Quantum physics has shown quite clearly that matter is really just energy, which means that first and foremost you and I are vibrational beings.

The chakras are the key centers of your personal energy field that reside along your spinal column. They interface with your physical body through important nerve plexuses and glance, therefore they are the gateway through which your spirit affect your physical body.

seven chakras

In the most popularly accepted system, there are seven chakras that span vertically from your tailbone to the top of your head.  From the bottom up, they are the root, sacral, solar plexus, heart, throat, brow, and crown.

revolving doors

The word “chakra” comes from the yoga-related language, Sanskrit, and it means “wheel” or “spinning disk.”  This is a pretty apt name for these energy centers, since each one spins like a mini-vortex.  Still, it may serve you better to think of each chakra as a revolving door.

Just as revolving doors let people in and out, your chakras allow energy to move in and out of your body.  They continually take energy in, assimilate it, and send it back out.  In order for you to thrive, these doors bust be healthy and open, and your energy flowing.  When it is, you can live fully, taking in all that life has to offer and expressing all that you have to give.

energetic frequencies

Each chakra corresponds to a different energetic frequency, with the root being the densest and the crown being the lightest.  And each one relates to different aspects of your life – for example, wealth, power, sexuality, love, communications, psychic ability, and connection to the Divine.

The lower, more slowly vibrating chakras (one, two and three) relate to your physical existence, while the more quickly vibrating upper chakras (five, six and seven) relate to your spiritual experience.  They are associated with your highest purpose – your psychic abilities, and your connection to the Divine, respectively.

The heart is the sweet balance point of your chakra field, the bridge between your physical and spiritual aspects.  When your chakras are truly balanced and you are in your most energetically healthy state, you are naturally in a state of love.

the importance of assessing your chakras

One of the most common mistakes people make when working with their chakras is jumping right into “healing” without doing any diagnostics.  A man might decide, for instance, that he wants to increase his psychic abilities, so he starts doing healing techniques that are purported to expand his third eye.  Or he might feel he wants more money, so he starts working on his root chakra.

While there is nothing wrong with desiring to improve certain areas of your life through chakra healing, diving into healing before you understand the current state of your chakras is a misguided approach because shifting one chakra affects them all.

You wouldn’t dream of walking into your doctor’s office and telling her what treatment or prescription you wanted without first getting a diagnosis.  And your doctor would never give you a treatment protocol or a prescription without first asking you some questions, giving you a physical exam, and doing any necessary blood work or tests.

assessing yourself in a loving, supportive way

It’s not only imperative that you assess your chakras, but that you do so in a loving, nonjudgmental way that keeps your heart and mind open.

When you assess your chkras, it’s quite normal to fin that certain ones are underactive or overactive.  So you need to remember that you are already spiritually whole and you always be.  You aren’t trying to “fix” yourself or become someone different.  Rather, you are simply trying to experience your innate state of spiritual wholeness in an embodied way.

Think of your chakras as seven beautiful rooms in your spiritual mansion.  You own this mansion free and clear.  Nobody can take it away from you.  Your seven lovely rooms will always exist.  But do you have access to each and every room?  Or are some of them locked  Are others so full of old family heirlooms that you can’t get the door open?  Chakra balancing gives you the keys to every room of your mansion so you can inhabit all of yourself.

With chakra work, you’re not doing self-improvement, because you aren’t trying to change yourself.  Rather, you are simply becoming more of yourself by stripping away habits, patterns, and belief systems that aren’t you!

the goal is to balance

You don’t endeavor to heal an individual chakra until you have an understanding of its current relationship to all the other chakras, because your body’s energy centers never operate in isolation.   They are a system, and must be assessed and treated as a whole.  This is not to say that you can’t focus your healing on one particular chakra, because you absolutely can.  Focusing on a single chakra is a great way of heightening the healing impact though concentrated action and intention.

But before you focus on a single chakra, you need to diagnose all seven to ensure that boosting one particular chakra will take you closer to, rather than farther away from. balancing your entire energy field.

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