How to Balance Your Chakras and Achieve Positive Polarity

Are you feeling off-kilter? (Who isn’t? After all, it’s 2020.) If you’ve tried everything else, why not try balancing your chakras?

According to Hindu practices, chakras point to seven different energy centers in the body, and when one is unbalanced, you might experience negative conditions. Blocked throat chakra? That might be the cause of your sore throat. Blocked root chakra? Perhaps you’ve got some anxiety issues.

Whether you believe that they actually exist as part of the body’s energy centers or use them as a metaphor for examining what’s wrong in your physical being—and your life—taking the time to balance your chakras can be rewarding. At worst, you spend some time doing yoga and meditation, which have been scientifically proven to lower stress and anxiety, and improve muscle strength, flexibility and mindfulness. At best, you could find a new spiritual practice that works for you.

How do you go about balancing these energy centers that you previously didn’t even know existed?

What are the chakras?

“Chakras” is Sanskrit for “wheels,” which is also a visual description of these energy centers. They correspond to seven different areas in the body and each have a different color. They are as follows:

• This chakra is deep red and resides at the very base of your spine. It represents our sense of security in the world, like having a stable home, finances and more. If this chakra is out of balance, you might feel anxiety, fatigue and be afraid to make necessary changes.
• The sacral chakra is bright orange, located in your genital area and rules those organs as well as your ability to feel connected to others. When the sacral chakra is out of balance, you might have trouble in your interpersonal relationships as well as sex.
• Solar plexus. Your solar plexus chakra is located right around your navel and glows yellow. When this chakra is out of balance, you might have trouble standing up for yourself or doing what you know is right. In fact, if you get sick to your stomach during conflict, that’s the third chakra out of balance.
• Your heart chakra is deep green (often portrayed with a pink lotus flower in the middle), and it rules the emotions and love. If you’ve had trouble opening up to people or have been betrayed in the past, your heart chakra might be closed off.
• Your bright, sky blue throat chakra represents communication. Do you have a hard time speaking your truth? That’s the provenance of an underactive throat chakra, whereas being too familiar and talkative might indicate an overactive chakra.
• Third eye. Ever get a gut feeling? That’s sixth chakra territory, or the third eye. Located in between your brows and a vivid indigo, this chakra is all about intuition, psychic abilities and more.
• Finally, your crown chakra is rich purple and located at the top of your head. It’s said to represent cosmic consciousness and interconnectedness to the world—so if the pandemic has you feeling disconnected, isolated and wondering what the point of everything is, your crown chakra is out of balance.

There are some etheric chakras, too—ones that go beyond the body and are firmly in the spiritual realm.

What does it mean to have polarity?

To have “polarity” between chakras is to have balance. Each energy center—or facet of your life—works best when everything is balanced and attended to. For example, you might feel safe and secure because you have a steady job, but if you’re having trouble expressing yourself to higher-ups, your throat chakra could be out of balance.

To balance your chakras, you can do a number of things. Many people enjoy yoga as a physically and mentally healthy practice—like meditation, it presents the opportunity for you to really consider where your body and mind need adjustment. For others, energy healing in the form of reiki, crystals and more are the key to balancing the chakras.

It doesn’t matter whether you believe that your body is made of an energetic rainbow—if you’re focused on the “woo,” you’re missing the point. Use the idea of chakras as a method of self-examination. Checking in with yourself periodically—and making the appropriate adjustments—is a good way to ensure mental and spiritual health that last a long time.