What is a Chakra and What the Heck do I do About it?
Do you ever have those days when you feel… off? Something’s not right, but you can’t put your finger on it. You feel fine health-wise and there’s nothing causing you grief or stress. There’s just something not quite right and you feel like you’re in a funk. Most people shrug it off and wait for the feeling to pass, and it eventually does. But a closer look at your chakras may give you the answers you’re looking for about why you feel the way you do.
What’s a chakra?
Chakra is a spiritual term, often used when discussing spiritual healing. A massage therapist practicing reiki or a holistic healer assessing your aura might comment on your chakras. The term itself is Sanskrit, meaning “wheel.” In the context of health and wellness, a chakra is a concentrated area of energy within your body. When activated or disrupted, chakras affect how you feel mentally and physically.
Get to know the chakras
The body has seven main chakras and as many as 114 minor ones. These energy centers are responsible for your holistic wellbeing, charged with directing flows (prana) to balance you. The main chakras are as follows:
- Mooladhara, located at the base of the spine. It’s the base energy source, feeding flows into all other chakras. It represents the indelible subtle energy system within you.
- Swadhisthana, located above the genitals. It’s a chakra commonly associated with pleasure—not just sexual, but the pleasure that comes with adventure.
- Manipuraka, located behind the navel. This is the ‘action’ chakra and when active, it’ll inspire you to go out and accomplish things—many of which will be creative.
- Anahata, located in your heart area. This is the meeting place for physical and mental chakras. When active, you’ll lust for freedom of mind and body—spiritual clarity.
- Vishuddhi, located in your throat area. It’s a powerful chakra that unlocks your assertiveness, not necessarily by speaking, but through decisiveness and confidence.
- Ajna, located between your eyebrows. It represents intellectual enlightenment and understanding. When active, you’ll feel cerebral, with a clear mind and thoughts.
- Sahasrara, located at the top of your head. This chakra activates to bring euphoric joy! It’s the realization of all chakras below it, coming together to help you feel enlightened.
This is just a basic overview of each chakra—each is very involved and multifaceted, having profound impact on your mind, body and overall wellness. What’s important to understand is that the seven chakras work together to channel energy, and that disruption to one or many of them will disrupt the flow of energy in your body. This is where that “off” feeling comes from.
Activating and strengthening chakras
Think of your chakras like muscles. If you work on them, you can flex them. They’ll grow stronger and more powerful. But if you neglect them, they’ll become weak and easily shifted aside.
Activating and strengthening your chakras takes a strong will and total concentration. It’s not as easy as picking up weights or doing a brain teaser. It’s about focusing on yourself and channeling your energy to achieve balance. Doing yoga is a great example—it requires physical and mental calm, and guides you through purposeful movements that connect mind with body. Meditation is another method for activating chakras and can help you declutter and clear out negative energy. On the physical side, massage—especially performed by a reiki specialist—can help redistribute your energy and unblock flows, bringing you calm and balance once again.
Being mindful of your chakras and your energy is important above all else. Mastering mental, emotional and physical health, and connecting these energies together, will put you in touch with spiritual peace. The chakras are your doorway for these energies.
Tips for balancing your chakras
In today’s world of distractions and stress, most people aren’t attuned to their chakras. As a result they feel lost, confused, stressed, foggy and a myriad of other negative emotions. Their energy isn’t balanced, which causes them to feel unbalanced. If this is you, take a moment to follow these tips and make daily chakra balancing part of your mindful approach to spiritual wellness:
- Meditate or practice regulated breathing for a few minutes at the start of each day
- Do hatha yoga or guided movements in a peaceful environment
- Schedule a massage with a certified reiki practitioner
- Have your aura red and consult with a spiritual healer about rebalancing your chakras
- Try a juice cleanse or fasting to detoxify your body
- Schedule time each day to be outside, with no electronics present
Getting in touch with your chakras should feel intimate. It’s a reconnection with your deepest, inner-most energies, with a focus on healing, strengthening and activating them. The more you take time to get in touch with your chakras, the stronger they’ll become and the more you’ll feel grounded, centered and whole.
